Vauxhall XVR

This article is about the concept car of 1966. For the tuning division by Vauxhall, see VXR. For the four door sedan based by Holden, see Vauxhall VXR8.

The Vauxhall XVR is a concept car built in 1966 by Vauxhall. The name stands for eXperimental Vauxhall Research. It debuted at the March 1966 Geneva Motor Show receiving favourable reviews from press, but never went into production.^[1]

Vauxhall XVR
The surviving Vauxhall XVR Mockup
Overview
Manufacturer	Vauxhall
Production	1966 (three built)
Designer	David Jones (design director)
Body and chassis
Class	Concept car
Layout	FMR Layout
Doors	Gullwing doors
Powertrain
Engine	2.0 L (1,975 cc) Slant-four I4
Transmission	4-speed manual

Production

XVR (rear end)

Three prototypes of the XVR were built in total. Two were glassfibre rolling mockups with no engines, while one was a metal bodied, fully functional example, built by Motor Panels of Coventry. The fully functional car was the one displayed at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1966. In total, the concept took five months to design and build.^[2]

Only one of the mockups survives today. The running prototype was damaged while on display in Canada and was scrapped; Vauxhall also crushed the other mockup.^[3] The surviving car remains in the ownership of Vauxhall Motors and is currently on display at the British Motor Museum.^[4]

Specifications

The lone fully functional XVR was powered by a few different front mid-mounted engines during its existence. As the intended fitment was still undergoing testing, the XVR was fitted with a used 1.5-litre four, cleaned up and repainted, for the Geneva Motor Show.^[3] Once the 2.3-litre slant-four was ready, a tuned pre-production example of the variant model which was later used in the Vauxhall VX4/90 was installed. Upper management then decreed that development work be halted and had a 2.0-litre slant-four in standard trim replaced the car as it entered the show circuit.^[3] This engine produces around 100 bhp (75 kW).^[5]

The suspension was fully independent in the front and rear, and there were disc brakes at all four corners.^[5] With the 2-litre engine, the XVR was able to reach a top speed of over 100 mph (160 km/h).

Design

The design team for the XVR was directed by David Jones and also included Wayne Cherry, John Taylor, Leo Pruneau, and Judd Holcombe.^[6] The looks were inspired by the concept car by Chevrolet, the Mako Shark II which was introduced in 1965. The design incorporates the Mako Shark's split windscreen, pop up headlamps, and gull wing doors.^[7]