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A Car
For All Seasons
The F Type Victor
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To capture the spirit of the Victor name, the early publicity pictures were taken at RAF Wytan in March 1957, alongside what was then Britain’s most modern ‘nuclear deterrent aircraft’. This aircraft, was the modern-looking Handley Page Victor. It was fitted with four Bristol Siddley Sapphire 202 turbojet engines, and was actually the third of the RAF’s new V-bombers. The prototype first flew in December 1952, but it took until February 1956 for the first production aircraft to take to the air! |
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Introduced to the public in March 1957, the new Victor broke fresh ground by featuring trans-Atlantic styling featuring a wrap-round windscreen both front and rear. To allow this the door pillars were stepped back and this gave a fully panoramic view for the occupants!
The famous Vauxhall flutes were now ‘javelin-like’ on the sides of the front wing, after which they then tapered back along the front doors to end at a ‘vanishing point’ on the rear side doors. Another horizontal line ran from the base of a curiously scallop-shaped pressing in the rear doors. These features, along with the rake of the front and rear screens, and the sweep of the front wheel - all gave the impression of motion, a feature that can be determined even from the static pictures shown here.
The new car’s bonnet had two ‘ribs’, which swept down to a low, wide radiator grille that featured a honeycomb pattern. |
At the outer ends of this grille were situated the sidelight/indicators, which were set at the same slight camber as the outer ends of the radiator grill. This gave a harmonious, and stylish front-end appearance. Beneath this the otherwise plain bumper featured two ‘bullet-like’ projections on the outer ends. At the rear end, the taillights were incorporated in vertical units set into the rather high wings.
The wings themselves were level with the base of the rear screen, making for easy manoeuvring in reverse gear. The actual body was of unitary construction, with two longitudinal box-section members in the under-body.
This provided the mounting points for the rear spring shackles and a detachable front cross member. In turn this cross member carried the front suspension assemblies and the front engine mounting.
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The rear engine mounting was carried on another cross-member that passed beneath the clutch housing, and was bolted to the box section body members.
A transverse pressing acted as the cabin floor, and provided a frame for mounting the front seats. A second pressing gave anchorage points for the front end of the semi-elliptic rear springs. Further strengthening of the body was provided by a cruciform pressing between the rear wheel arches, and this both held up the rear parcel shelf and provided support for the back of the rear seat.
Whilst powered by a straight four-cylinder engine, which was based on the former Wyvern power unit, the Victor’s engine had a number of changes, including a new cylinder head. Bore and stroke were 99.37mm x 76.2mm, giving a displacement of 1507cc. A Zenith VN34 carburettor replaced the 30VIGH unit that had been fitted on the Wyvern.
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