Vauxhall Chevette (1979) – Into the Wild

We have known Vauxhall for many years from Opels with different logos, especially for the British market. In the 1970s, the role of Vauxhall was even more extensive and you could simply buy various models in the Netherlands. In addition, the Vauxhalls then differed even more from Opels than today. For example, the Opel Kadett was joined here in the Netherlands by a British brother with a strikingly different nose. It listened to the name Vauxhall Chevette.

Like the Kadett C, the Chevette was available as a two-door sedan, three-door hatchback, four-door sedan and station wagon. Only the coupé remained exclusive to the Kadett. There were more differences than just the somewhat Manta-like nose. For example, on the Chevette the license plate was not on the tailgate but under the rear bumper, there was a slightly differently designed dashboard with the turn signal lever on the right side of the steering wheel (an indication of his British roots) and there was another engine in the nose. The Chevette had a just under 60 hp 1.3 four-cylinder engine that was also in the Vauxhall Viva and which was not available in the Kadett. The manual four-speed gearbox also came from the Viva.

The Chevette was therefore a nice and stubborn alternative to the Kadett and interesting for those who wanted something more than the 1.2 of the Kadett, but did not want to go directly for the 1.6. The Chevette also looked a bit sportier than the Kadett with its special nose. There were two choices with the two-door sedan as we have it in front of us in these photos: the E (Economy) and L (Luxury). This copy is a Chevette L, which means that it has a sports steering wheel, three-point seat belts, ‘sleeping seats’ in the front, two upholstered sun visors with card holders, fabric upholstery and rear window heating as extras compared to the Chevette E. Also not unimportant: there were sitting there. two ashtrays in the back and it had two wing mirrors.

In 1979 someone let themselves be tempted by all those goodies and bought this red Chevette. About 12,000 guilders was deposited for this at the time. Because it is a 79’er, the then new yellow number plates were added. Apparently the previous owners were so fond of it that these pre-GAIK copies were never taken off. In the past 15 years, the Chevette has changed hands no fewer than five times and they have all left the plates undisturbed. It also looks nice and nostalgic, although it is officially not allowed to drive around with these number plates. But hey, we won’t whine about that. It’s all about the overall picture and that still looks nice. The Chevette last changed hands just over a month ago and we hope it can stay a little longer this time around. As long as this special piece of British GM history remains on the road.