A series of photographs have revealed the fascinating history behind one of Britain’s oldest car manufacturers.
The images show the first ever car produced by Vauxhall in 1903 and shed a light on the company’s role in the war effort – with Winston Churchill seen examining a truck off the assembly line.
Photos also show King George VI, in peaked cap and white coat, inspecting a Churchill tank – the only British model whose armour could withstand the German Tiger tank’s 88mm tungsten carbide shot.
The company began life as the Vauxhall Iron Works Company in 1897, created to run the bankrupt engineering business founded by Alexander Wilson in 1859.
Having helped fight two world wars and given employment to tens of thousands of people, Vauxhall developed a reputation for producing sporting and luxury cars, and was eventually purchased by the American company General Motors in 1925.
Staff pose with the newly built Vauxhall Cavalier, built in August 1981. The Cavalier replaced the Vauxhall Victor, and was designed to compete with the Ford Cortina. One of the most successful Vauxhall cars ever launched, Cavalier started life in 1975, and became one of Britain’s best-selling cars. By the time Cavalier III bowed out in 1995, it had debuted ‘platform’ engineering, and SRi sporting models, 4×4 traction and the first V6 Vauxhall engine, and overseen the end of Opel/Vauxhall dual branding in the UK
In 1971, Ken Dodd helped Ellesmere Port staff celebrate the ‘first of the next million’ Vauxhall Vivas to be produced, although the target was not achieved. Vauxhall had never made anything so small, yet the Viva’s 1057cc engine found huge success. It was cheap to make, cheap to run, simple, reliable and strong. The early HA Viva gave way to HB and HC which lasted until 1979 after a 640,000 production run
Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Charles Bartlett in K-Block watching a MW truck on the K-Block line
King George VI, in peaked cap and white coat, inspects a Churchill tank during testing at Luton Hoo, assisted by Bertie Dean while Charles Bartlett (in suit) looks on Four years work was compressed into one in the design and development of Vauxhall’s war-time production tank – the Churchill Marks I – III. The Mark III Churchill of 1942 was the only British tank whose armour could withstand the German Tiger tank’s 88mm tungsten carbide shot
Images from ‘Vauxhall: Britain’s Oldest Car Maker’ by Ian Coomber show some of Vauxhall’s historic motors alongside some more recent offerings.
Another shows TV personality Noel Edmunds testing out one of the racing models on a racing track.
Author of the book, Ian Coomber, has been working for Vauxhall for the past 38 years, and has been with the company through thick and thin in that time.
And he says it’s nothing short of remarkable that the Vauxhall company has had the kind of longevity it has.
‘Vauxhall Motors has been making cars in Britain for longer than anyone else,’ he says.
‘Today, there are over 3.5 million Vauxhalls on UK roads. Your chances of seeing one are better than one in ten, and the Vauxhall brand has become a household name.
An early Bedford CA Dormobile camper van conversion by Martin Walter of Folkestone, showing the extendable roof
Television personality and Radio 1 DJ Noel Edmunds testing out one of the racing models – a Dealer Opel Team (DOT) Opel Commodore GS/E – on a racing track
Workers at the Vauxhall factory celebrate the 10,000th car which had been purchased in less than five months, as the company’s reputation for producing both luxury and everyday cars gathered pace around the world.
To the modern eye, the interior of the Vauxhall factory appears to be something of a health and safety nightmare. Belt-driven machinery was the order of the day, while skylights provided excellent natural lighting
‘For a company to survive for more than eleven decades in the same business is a notable achievement, but to do so in the motor industry is remarkable.
‘The journey has required innovation and adaptability as social and economic backgrounds have changed and the market for cars and commercial vehicles has changed with them. It has competed with some of the toughest businesses in the world and survived.
‘It has helped fight two world wars and given employment to thousands. Its history is rich in terms of the products, the people, and the effect it has had on the local and national economy.
‘The journey from the Thames to today’s modern marketing and global manufacturing facilities is a bumpy one, so you had better fasten your seatbelts.
‘It features a Plantagenet mercenary, a Victorian steam engineer, bedroom furniture, an early automotive design genius, an American corporate giant, a German bicycle manufacturer, a giraffe, and thousands of ‘Vauxhall people’ who created and nurtured their Vauxhall. This book is dedicated to them.’
- Vauxhall: Britain’s Oldest Car Maker by Ian Coomber is published by Fonthill Media. Buy it here