Hooniverse Rare Foreign Car Weekend – A 1965 Vauxhall Viva DeLuxe 2-Door Sedan

Jim Brennan September 3, 2011 eBay Insanity, For Sale, Weekend Edition

Continuing on with our Hooniverse Rare Foreign Car Weekend Edition, here is an utterly conventional car, with none of the quirks found in our last featured car. This is a Vauxhall Viva HA Basic Model, at least according to Wikipedia. From that site:

The Viva HA was Vauxhall’s first serious step into the compact car market after World War II. It was also the first new small car produced by Vauxhall since 1936. It was comparable in size and mechanical specifications to the new Opel Kadett released a year earlier in continental Europe, and Both the Viva and Kadett were sold alongside each other in many markets. No four-door or estate versions of the HA Viva were available.

Have you ever wondered about Vauxhall before they became just rebadged Opels?

The Vauxhall Viva was sold in Canada by Pontiac/Buick dealers, and was also badged as the Envoy Epic at certain Chevrolet/Oldsmobile dealers. This was the second best selling import in Canada right behind the VW Beetle. This car is for sale in Kewlona, British Columbia, and according to the seller:

I’ve owned this car for a number of years and only drove it in the summers. It is unrestored and pretty much in original condition. The front seats have been reupholstered and the carpet has been replaced. It has its original 1057cc engine that still runs good. The previous owner removed the generator and installed an alternator, the battery gets weak on charge after a week or two, it may just need the votage regulator adjusted, I just never got to it. I have numerous spare parts for it, ie, an extra windshield, a spare transmission, a wiring harness, radiator, a few drums, a distributor, a set of extra original hubcaps, a few headlight and taillight bezels, the original owners manual, a shop manual, 5 new oil filters, 2 complete engine gasket kits, a new clutch disc, a grill, a blower motor and fan, etc., these and any other parts I have for it will be included. If you ever need oem parts for it, they are plentiful and remarkably cheap on ebay uk.
The body is straight, the doors, hood, and trunklid are nicely aligned and close nice. The trunk seal and a couple window seals are original and due for replacement. There is a little bit of rust at the rear wheelwells, and at the rear valence, however, it has not progressed since I got the car. There is a coin size piece of rust in the spare tire well, but the surrounding steel is good.The rocker panels, shock mounts, doors, etc, are all rust free. Underneath has been rustproofed, it appears old, may be from factory, and is well adhered. The seams on the doors are nicely defined and show no rust. The paint appears to be an enamel, it loses its shine after a while but frequent waxes keep it up.It looks like its only been repainted once. The trunk and under the hood are original paint.

The Buy-it-Now price for this Viva is $1,400, which isn’t really too bad considering its rarity and condition. I would doubt that you will ever see one of these in the States, and you will have to get familiar with finding parts in the UK, but isn’t that the fun part of owning something like this? See the listing here.