Now that we’ve seen the very shrunken, American-influenced F-series Victor, let’s take a look at its successor, the Victor FB. With the FB, Vauxhall finally gave the Victor its own styling identity rather than adapting American styling cues. With its improved quality, Vauxhall hoped the FB would redeem the marque’s reputation, which had been severely damaged by its problematic predecessor.
Although the F-series Victor sold in large numbers, it soon gained a reputation for inferior build quality and easy susceptibility to rusting. The rust bucket knock would dog Vauxhall for many more years, but by most accounts the FB series, introduced in 1961, was a well-built and generally solid car that resisted the dreaded tin worm as well as (or even a little better than) its contemporaries.
The old F-series Victor was looking quite outdated when the new FB, looking crisp, fresh and up-to-date, came along in 1961. For the first time, an in house-designed estate (station wagon) was offered alongside the four-door saloon; yet again, there was no two-door model.
Much of the old F-series mechanicals carried over to the FB, albeit with updated specifications. The 1,508cc four-cylinder engine gained both power and fuel efficiency, thanks to a boost in compression and a revised exhaust manifold. In mid-1963, its displacement was bumped to 1,594cc, and compression was boosted further to take advantage of better quality fuels now available in the UK. A three-speed column shift was standard, but a floor-mounted four-speed was available as an extra cost option.
Inside, the Victor hadn’t completely lost its American roots: The base car featured both a column shifter and a bench seat, although buckets were available. This sensible wagon buyer opted for the front bench.
It’s hard to believe, but prior to its acquisition by GM Vauxhall’s lineup had included quite a few sports cars; now, with the introduction of the FB series came a sportier variant of the Victor. Given the tongue- tying name of VX4/90, it offered twin Zenith 36 WIP-3 carburetors and was rated at 71.5 hp and 91 lb-ft of torque.The 1963 displacement bump boosted these numbers to 78.3 hp @ 5,200 rpm and 98.7 lb-ft of torque @ 3,200 rpm. A revised alloy cylinder head, camshaft, bearings and a toughened crankshaft rounded out the engine upgrades. Despite 2,208 lbs to haul around, performance was increased: Zero-to-60 came up in 15.7 seconds–slow by modern standards, but certainly competitive at the time.
The heavier duty suspension featured 33% stiffer coils up front and 35% stiffer springs at the rear. It was also fitted with the anti -roll bar from the estate, as well as 14” steel wheels vs. the usual 13-inchers. Interestingly, wheels are not swappable between the models: Five-bolt wheels were specified for the VX4/90, instead of the four-bolt wheels on the regular Victor. The VX4/90 also got a pull-handle brake lever located between the seats instead of the dash-mounted pull handle of the standard Victor. Cosmetically, the VX4/90 was distinguished by a glitzier grille, larger tail lights and color-keyed body side striping.
The independent front suspension featured a-arms, coil springs and telescopic shocks; the rear setup comprised a live axle suspended by leaf springs and telescopic shocks. In addition, there was Burman recirculating-ball steering and, initially, front and rear drum brakes. In 1963, the power-assisted discs from the higher-performance VX4/90 became available as an option on other models.
The FB series was offered in the United States for only a short time preceding the introduction of GM’s home-grown compacts, the Buick Skylark, Oldsmobile F85 and Pontiac Tempest. Naturally, Pontiac dealers were much more interested in selling their own Tempests than British Vauxhalls. Vauxhall stopped exporting Victors in 1962, but a few leftovers were sold as 1963 models.
In Canada, the Victor remained available, in both Vauxhall and Envoy guises, for the rest of the FB run, which ended in 1964. Essentially, Vauxhall applied the VX4/90 cosmetic changes (but not the mechanical upgrades) to differentiate the Envoy, which Chevrolet dealers sold as the Special.
I quite like the funky door handles.
The estate we have here is a rare sight, especially in left-hand drive form. Instead of the sedan’s 3.9:1 rear axle ratio, the wagon uses a 4.13:1 ratio in order to offset the impact on performance caused by its added weight. Estate models also received a standard front anti-roll bar. This example, with the base three- speed column shift and bench seat, is a 1963 model.
From the date of this inspection sticker, we can assume that this Victor at least made it through 1969 as a roadworthy vehicle, and I also found a 1990 registration in the glove box. Although it’s missing the front bumper and showing a little body damage, let’s hope someone finds this Victor interesting enough to save.
Thanks for taking me down memory lane yet once again. Excellent write up.
Just like the F series…these FB’s were everywhere back in the day, here in Winnipeg, Manitoba. Alas, no more.
Good thing I don’t live any closer than 2 provinces away or I’d be sorely tempted to load up the transport trailer.
These later Victors were better than the F, but Vauxhall still had inferior rust proofing and poor quality steel- something not really rectified until the ’88 Cavalier/Vectra. The only thing is, by the ’60s, Ford, Rootes and BMC had refined their unibody so that it didn’t need to be as over-built and could use thinner steel. Thus, it wasn’t that Vauxhalls rusted slower, but rather that Fords and everyone else could rust just as quickly. The Harry Potter Anglia was one of the rustiest things made- probably worse than Vivas- Ditto the BMC 1100, and later Hillman Hunters. This is why early Ford 100e’s, Morris Minors and Hillman Minxes were quite rust resistant- they were overbuilt and used very thick steel. The F Victor was the first of the ‘make it only as strong as it needs to be’ unibodies. Thin steel combined with the myriad of rust traps in the F’s very complex shape are what made it the ruster it was. The FB were much better in that they eliminated the rust traps, although the steel and paint weren’t much better.
I never really understood who these sold to in the day. BMC, Rootes and Ford had much more interesting cars at the time, and in 1963 England, if looking for a mid-sized car, I would be hard pressed to choose one of these over a Humber Sceptre, Consul mk3, or indeed even the antique yet still very stylish BMC Farinas in Wolseley or Riley spec.
My guess, and I hope others who were around might know more- is that like Vauxhall today, the majority of these were purchased en masse by fleet managers for their workforce as perks of the job. (In the UK, company cars were not (and to some extent still aren’t) taxed the same as wages, so instead of getting a salary increase that would bump you into a higher tax bracket, you’d be rewarded with a nicer car.)
Terrific find and write-up. These cars have always been an abstraction to me, something to read about in old Auto-Parades and such. I’ve never seen one in the flesh, and I was somewhat surprised to learn the FB was actually sold in the States, albeit very briefly.
The styling is rather odd, especially the down-curved rear end: shades of the Infinity I30. That looks decidedly out-of date for 1961. And I like the dash.
I think you mean the Infiniti J30, the I30 was the Maxima clone.
Quite right…alphabet soup mix-up.
Thanks, David, I’ve never seen this car. I was regularly riding my bike to check out the dealers and their lots in ’61 and ’62, and never saw one of these, I think I’d remember if I had. It’s handsome, and strikes this Yank as properly British without doing the full Wallace & Gromit.
What’s up with side mirrors halfway out to the headlights? I’d only seen that on Japanese cars, didn’t know the Brits did it too sometimes.
That door handle is a hoot! Imagine working it with your left hand, it’s positively ergnomic. I wonder why no one else did it that way?
A schoolmate’s mother had an FB Victor sedan in the early 80s, I was 8 or 9 at the time, and those door handles were very difficult for little hands to operate!
Brits were into that, as well. When we lived in the Canary Islands, my dad had a British 1970 Ford Zodiac that had mirrors on both sides mounted like that. I’ve never understood the logic of said mirror placement. Unless they had remote adjustment, they must have been a pain to adjust.
My 1992 Nissan Laurel had the JDM mirrors way out on the front guards. They were electrically-adjustable, so no dramas there. They were endearingly ugly, but you know what, they were brilliant when towing a caravan! I could see the entire caravan with ease, much better than the strap on extenders for door mirrors. I’m guessing there were JDM design rules that required them way out there. From memory Nissan was the first JDM manufacturer to offer door-mounted mirrors in Japan, in the early 80s on the Leopard, Laurel and Cedric/Gloria I think.
I suspect the JDM mirrors may have been a hangover from the British designs that were built under license in the 1950s in Japan. Our 1975 Datsun 180b had funky little silver caps covering the holes in the front panels where the JDM mirrors would mount!
That side mirror location was common on many British cars of the era, leading to the common term here “wing mirror,” which is still heard today even when referring to side mirrors mounted on the doors. At the time of this car, wing mirrors were still an optional extra on many cars.
I thought about buying this one but a few too many bits of body damage. I wouldn’t be surprised if they happened in the storage yard either.
I’m certainly not saying these are rust proof as they certainly aren’t but miles better the earlier Victor and no worse than say an equivalent Austin or British Ford.
I quite liked the dash as well. The steering wheel was particularly nice.
It isn’t uncommon to see a Victor with the front fender mirror placement. An option maybe?
That last picture sure reminds me of the ’63-’66 Valiant wagon.
That was my first thought. The car looks like a cross between a Rambler American and a 2nd Gen Valiant.
A most exquisite turd.
Fascinating find and write-up David! Victors were once very popular here in New Zealand – FB and FC particularly, though the FD was also assembled here. Vauxhall remained here until 1980ish – by that stage it was just the Chevette left – when Holden became GM’s sole entry into the Kiwi market.
Still see the occasional FB sedan around, but its been years (decades?) since I’ve seen the wagon. They weren’t a car I liked particularly, so I didn’t pay a great deal of attention at the time, but I do remember riding in a schoolmate’s mothers’ FB in the early 80s. It would have been nearly 20 years old at the time, but it felt positively ancient. I’d forgotten about the door handles until I saw your pic above. As I replied to MikePDX above, those handles weren’t easy for 8 or 9 year old hands to operate! The VX4/90 taillights were positively odd:
I know so little about this car that I cannot comment. However, hope you are going to do something with the car that appears to be an immediate postwar studebaker that sits right behind it. First car was a 46 stude and it was not the best I ever had but I do like to read about them.
This was a Matchbox I Had in Light Yellow, The Hatchback went up.
I liked to pretend it was a Pontiac I imagine.
The doors and doorhandles are shared with the larger Velox There were never many Victor Wagons in NZ and worldwide few survive, well worth restoring as its now quite a rare car
As a lover of old wagons, I find this fascinating. Another car I never knew a thing about. The variety of British cars found in Canada is quite interesting, and of course, quite logical given the ties between the two countries.
Hello,
I am a great enthusiast and also a proud owner of Vauxhall Victor FB 1964 from Pakistan, at the moment undergoing restoration for quite sometime now.
Hi,
I am also a great enthusiast of Vauxhall FB, and had 8 of them also an Estate.
Now I have 2 left, and will start up restauration of them, but it´s hard to find good parts 🙂
I have a LHD FB Estate 1962 in Sweden. Wonder How many there are left in the world? How many were made??
I currently own a 1962 Victor Super, with 39,000 original miles. I have owned it for the last 15 years. I bring it out of winter storage in early May, and drive it until the snow comes in November. It hums along quite nicely at 50 mph (80 kph), but due to its age, I don’t drive it on the 401 here in Ontario. I only wish I could find an estate of the same vintage, and my dream would come true!! My Victor is one of the most fun cars I have ever driven, and gets plenty of stares whenever I drive it around town (Brighton).