The Vauxhall Velox is one of the Vauxhall entries the open record knows by name and by date — in 1948, and by little else. That is not nothing: a name in the catalogue is where a car's story starts to be recoverable.
The background
The Vauxhall Velox is a six-cylinder executive car which was produced by Vauxhall from 1948 to 1965. The Velox was a large family car, directly competing in the UK with the contemporary six-cylinder Ford Zephyr, and to a slightly lesser extent, with the A90, A95, and A110 Austin Westminster models. It was introduced by Vauxhall shortly before the London Motor Show in October 1948, as a successor to the Vauxhall Fourteen. Between 1948 and 1957 the Velox shared its body with the less-powerful four-cylinder Vauxhall Wyvern.
From August 1954 through to October 1965, it shared its body with the more luxuriously equipped Vauxhall Cresta, a tradition that ended with the introduction of the new PC Vauxhalls. The Velox name was discontinued at that time in favour of the more upmarket Vauxhall Cresta name, while a new flagship model, the Vauxhall Viscount, was launched. The Velox and its Opel contemporaries are remembered for having mirrored North American styling trends (e.g. the Ponton style of body) much more closely than other European models of the time. That was particularly apparent following the 1957 introduction of the PA version of the Velox.
Under the skin
The record carries the layout — and the layout: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The engine, output and weight have not yet reached the open record, and MotorJury does not guess at them.
Where it sits
Where it sits in Vauxhall's history is not in doubt: the Vauxhall Fourteen (J) came before it; the Vauxhall Cresta PC followed it; it was built at Luton, Bedfordshire, England. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Citroën 2CV, the Porsche 356, the Chevrolet Bel Air. Its Vauxhall stablemates include the Vauxhall 10-4 and the Vauxhall 30/98.
The money
There is no federal ownership record for the Vauxhall Velox — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.