Vauxhall Victor - FE Series

FE Series

The last of the Victors, launched in March 1972, was the FE (1972–1976). Magazine and newspaper advertisements used the marketing slogan, "NEW VICTOR - The transcontinentals". The car appeared substantially larger than its predecessor, but was actually no wider and only 2 inches (5 cm) longer with much of the extra length accounted for by larger bumpers. Nevertheless, a higher cabin and improved packaging enabled the manufacturer to boast of 1.5 inches (38 mm) more leg room in the front and no less than 4 inches (100 mm) of extra leg room in the back, with virtually no loss of boot/trunk capacity. Useful increases in headroom and shoulder-level cabin width were also achieved through the use of differently shaped side panels and windows.

Most UK cars in this class featured manual transmission and with the FE Vauxhall belatedly fell into line with their principal UK competitor by including a four-speed gearbox - available only at extra cost on the old Victor FD - as standard equipment. The FE's extra weight presumably made this development irresistible. The four-speed transmission used the same box and ratios across the range, from the 1759 cc Victor to the torquey 3294 cc Ventora-badged version: contemporary road tests of the four-cylinder cars comment adversely on the wide gap - highlighted on the mountain roads included in the Portuguese route chosen for the car's press launch - between second and third gears.

Although the architecture of the suspension remained as before, numerous detailed modifications were made to counter criticism of the old model. Changes included an anti-roll bar as standard equipment on all but the entry-level models, and stiffer springs at the back, intended to compensate for the Victor's tendency to understeer. At the front the springing remained soft by the standards of the time: the track was widened (by 1.7 inches / 4 cm) and wheel geometry modified to incorporate "anti-dive action", improvements intended to address the Victor's tendency to wallow, which by then was attracting criticism from performance-oriented commentators.

The new Victor shared its floorpan with the Opel Rekord but retained a distinct bodyshell, its own suspension and rack-and-pinion steering as opposed to the Rekord's recirculating ball unit. The front end incorporated the then advanced detail of having the slim bumper bisect the grille, with a third of the grille and the side-lights (on quad headlamp models) below the bumper line. This potentially attractive feature was completely ruined in markets where the licence plate was mounted so as to conceal the lower part of the grille.

Comparisons between the Victor and its broadly similar Rüsselsheim built cousin were inevitable. An important difference from the back seat involved the rear doors. The Opel's door incorporated rear quarter lights and windows that wound fully down into the door whereas Vauxhall's designers preferred the "cleaner uncluttered look" arising from their elimination of rear quarter lights. The fact that back seat passengers could only open their windows down to approximately a third of their depth before further opening was blocked by the presence of the wheel arches was held out as a safety feature to complement the fitting of child-proof locks, given that back-seat passengers would no doubt include small children. Despite the absence of shared body panels anywhere that they could be seen, detailed investigation disclosed that minor assemblies such as the door locks and the wiper mechanisms were shared with the Opel Rekord D.

The FE Victor was the last Vauxhall to be designed independently of Opel. The engines were carried over from the FD range although enlarged to 1759 cc and 2279 cc. For a short period, the straight-six engine was used in the Ventora and 3300SL models, the latter effectively a Victor Estate with lesser trim than the luxury Ventora. The estates had a more sloping rear, similar to a hatchback, than the Rekord equivalent. The FE estate in fact had perfect 50/50 weight distribution.

1974 finally saw the introduction of a proper Ventora Estate, along with running changes for the rest of the range.

World energy crises, falling exports and an increasingly muddled image led to Vauxhall's decline during the early 1970s, such that sales of the FE slumped to 55,000 units before it was transformed to the VX series in early 1976.