Vauxhall

Vintage Car, News

Vauxhall marks Chevette's 40th birthday

Vauxhall is to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Chevette at the Footman James Sywell Classic - Pistons and Props motoring festival in September.

There will be several examples of the celebrated marque on display such as the Chevette HS2300 plus the Cavalier Mk1, also celebrating its 40th anniversary in 2015. 

All of the Vauxhall owners clubs have been invited to join the party. 

The organisers are also giving private owners of the Vauxhall Chevette the opportunity to get involved, with 20 places allocated within the Vauxhall Heritage display.

Denis Chick, Director of Communications at Vauxhall Motors, said: "We're delighted to be celebrating 40 years of the Chevette at Sywell Classic and look forward to showing some of our Vauxhall heritage fleet as well as meeting owners who have kept their Chevettes in such excellent order and still on the road today. The Cavalier will also join in making this a double anniversary celebration."

Also on show will be the Biggles Bi-Plane, a replica BE-2c aircraft from the 1914/18 war which is supported by Vauxhall. It was commissioned in 1969 by the makers of the film 'Biggles Sweeps the Skies'. As well as taking to the sky it will be displayed alongside an original Vauxhall 1914 D-Type army staff car and the striking Biggles liveried Vauxhall Zafira Tourer support vehicle.

Sywell Classic Event Director Tom Siddall added: "This is the first time a major manufacturer has supported Sywell Classic and we're thrilled to have them on board for a celebration of their strong heritage."

Bringing Vauxhall right up date will be an example of the all-new Astra, launched just two weeks before at the Frankfurt Motor Show. The Astra is British-built at Vauxhall's factory in Ellesmere Port, Cheshire. Vauxhall will also be showing the recently launched new Viva, a car that revives memories of its very successful 1960s predecessor. 

Now in its third year, Sywell Classic will be held at Northamptonshire's Sywell Aerodrome on the weekend of 26-27 September.

News

Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair heads to Margate

Vauxhall's Art Car Boot Fair is taking up residence at Margate's Turner Contemporary this August bank holiday for the first time.

Lured by the sea, the light, the eccentric and the eclectic, the Boot Fair will be in Margate for one day only, Sunday 30th August. Former home to renowned artists Tracey Emin and JMW Turner, Margate is both quintessential English seaside and vibrant town with a thriving arts and cultural scene with Turner Contemporary at its centre.

As such, Vauxhall says it's 'the perfect location' for this exuberant art event where famous artists make special works just for the day and turn up in person to do business with the public directly. With a line-up including Tracey Emin, Gavin Turk, Rachel Howard, Vic Reeves and Sir Peter Blake, all the highlights from the flagship London event, and welcoming a new array of artists and performers handpicked from the fresh scene of local talent, the event will be an un-missable day out for art lovers, day trippers and bank holiday-makers alike.

Not only will there be Art bargains, original works and special editions by leading artists, a host of classic Vauxhall motors will also be present. Vauxhall Motors will be dusting off its heritage collection and will be bringing along the PA Velox, Viva HA, Royale, Firenza and Ventora for artists to use for their pitches the event. 

Visitors are encouraged to bring their well behaved dogs on leads to take part in the dog show and the Dog in a Viva Boot Shoot. Events include; free custom screen-printing at The Copy Shop and a Vanera Camera Obscura - with a whole ex-NATO camper van turned into a pin-hole camera, taking portraits on giant pieces of photographic paper.

The Vauxhall Art Car Boot Fair will be taking place on Sunday 30th August at Margate Turner Contemporary's car park (CT9 1HG) between 12 - 4pm. Entry is £3.

Hatchback, Diesel, News

Vauxhall Insignia adds 1.6 Whisper Diesel

The Insignia is the latest Vauxhall to receive the new 1.6-litre 'Whisper Diesel' engine.

The new version of the mid-size turbo engine replaces the current 2.0-litre units and was developed. says Vauxhall, to deliver "exemplary responsiveness and low consumption with exceptional running smoothness".

The 1.6 CDTi (136PS) ecoFLEX version achieves a top speed of 130mph and 0-60mph in 10.9 seconds. When specified with 17-inch alloy wheels and ultra-low rolling resistance tyres (Design, SE, Tech Line and SRi models only) it emits 99g/km of CO2 and returns up to 74.3mpg on the combined cycle.

Also new to the Insignia range is the OnStar system which delivers a Wi-Fi hotspot for up to seven devices, emergency response notification if the airbag deploys and stolen vehicle recovery technology. Connecting drivers directly with a call centre advisor, it provides owners with a personal assistant 24/7. For example, with Destination Download, you can call your OnStar advisor in-car and they'll pinpoint your desired destination and send the address to your vehicle's navigation system. OnStar is available as standard on Elite, Limited Edition and VXR trims and as a £395 option on other models. 

In addition, the second generation Navi 900 IntelliLink that utilises Apple CarPlay, offers fast access to many entertainment apps for music and news, via the eight-inch colour touchscreen interface.

IntelliLink reads out incoming text messages and enables audio streaming, voice control and the watching of films and videos - when the car is stationary, of course. The navigation system features maps of more than 30 European countries and can be displayed two or three-dimensionally and controlled by voice command.

The Vauxhall Insignia powered by the 1.6 CDTi engine is priced from £19,534 to £26,114 on-the-road.