Vauxhall Ventura

[ananthkamath]

Guys this is a version of the Vauxhall Victor...the car on which our own Contessa was based...Its called a Ventura V8...It has a 302ci (5-liter) Holden V8 which was massaged by Vauxhall tuner, Bill Blydenstein, to produce close to 500 bhp! This was in 1974.....













http://www.kolumbus.fi/makkesgarage/protos/car33.html

[moralfibre]

Nice looking car... Is Aditya around somewhere?

[turbo_lover]

vauxhal was selling the victor to HM as Contessa till 1972 when HM bought the model specifications and fully localised the contessa..

i think the conty would make a very good looking coupe ...

[sajo]

:drool:
I was always a big Contessa & muscle car fan. This is pure bliss for me.

Can anyone comment on the reliability of the Contessa's with the fuel injected engine?

[Aditya]

Awesome pics! Vauxhall Victor in the UK, Holden Torana in Australia, HM Contessa in Humara Hindustan! Unfortunately we have "Sleeping Beauty" HM who made and sold the Conti. So bad quality is "standard equipment". And R&D? What's that? We're lucky we got the 1.8L Isuzu powerplant. I dread to think of what life would be with an old Amby 1.5L engine in the Conti.
I would have love to see a coupe version with a big powerful V8.
MPFi Contessa reliability: The Contessa is a pretty reliable car in any case. Just service it at regular intervals and change vital engine parts according to user manual. HM obtained the MPFi system from Bosch, Germany and it seems to be pretty good. The main cause of concern is the electricals. I run a check on the lights, wipers, horn, fuses, etc. once in two weeks and so, have no problems.

[turbo_lover]

completely agree with Aditya ,

and those rear seats beat the best of the best ...the comfort of the conti put a lot foreign cars to shame ...

[ananthkamath]

Originally Posted by Aditya

. And R&D? What's that? We're lucky we got the 1.8L Isuzu powerplant. I dread to think of what life would be with an old Amby 1.5L engine in the Conti.

You're absolutely right...we still didnt get upgraded suspension...The comfort is there, no doubt, but that front suspension was designed for cross-ply tyres....The negative castor makes sure that the car doesnt like to go in a straight line at high speeds....

Ananth

[Mpower]

Originally Posted by Aditya

HM obtained the MPFi system from Bosch, Germany and it seems to be pretty good. .

hey I thought it was a Hithachi fuel injection.

[ajmat]

correction - the car was called the Ventora, not Ventura. Normal Victos came with a 1800 or 2300 4 cyl engine. This came with a 3.3 six cylinder. The V8 were one off conversions for racing etc. Car never did well, unreliable and rusted, the Ford Granada and Rover 2000 (this was what the BMW 5 series is today) trounced it and for a few quid more, you could buy an Jag XJ6 2.8

[Aditya]

Originally Posted by Mpower

hey I thought it was a Hithachi fuel injection.

I don't know if they shifted to Hitachi at some point, but, HM had definitely started off with Bosch.

[ananthkamath]

Originally Posted by ajmat

correction - the car was called the Ventora, not Ventura.

You're right, I'm sorry about the mis-spelling....This Ventora was nicknamed 'Big Bertha' by Bill Blydenstein, a famous British (or Australian?) tuner of Vauxhalls....He put in a Australian Holden engine...same as the Chevy 302 "small block"....spiritual predecessor to today's Corvette engine....

Ananth

[turbo_lover]

the Ford Granada and Rover 2000 (this was what the BMW 5 series is today) trounced it and for a few quid more, you could buy an Jag XJ6 2.8

the ROVER 2000 was thee Standard 2000 in india..as a kid i used go for rides in it as it was my dads office car ...i loved it..it had leather seats power windows (at that time was Royalty!!!)
but contessa survived the standard 2000 in the indian market ...

[v1p3r]

Where is the resident Contessa muscle expert?!

[Aditya]

Originally Posted by v1p3r

Where is the resident Contessa muscle expert?!

Probably in his workshop, trying to match and surpass the 500bhp produced by this car.

[ajmat]

Originally Posted by turbo_lover

the ROVER 2000 was thee Standard 2000 in india..as a kid i used go for rides in it as it was my dads office car ...i loved it..it had leather seats power windows (at that time was Royalty!!!)
but contessa survived the standard 2000 in the indian market ...

no no no, you are a few years ahead




http://img142.imageshack.us/img142/1...er200014na.jpg


This is the the Rover P6 Rover made between 1963-1977. It was one of the most innovative cars during its time. Came with a 2 litre engine with average performance and then Rover bought Buicks V8 and stuffed it in and it was the "bee's knees" . Most high speed police cars were Rover 3500 or Jags. The Rover you are talking about is the SD1 - again an innovative car but badly made - what they did to the car in India (vanguard engine etc.) was another matter - but you are right the ambience was unbeatable. Fed up with unreliable cars, the UK executive went for BMW's etc.

As for the Vauxhall, -it was never competitive - most of its success was in the aussie avatar as the Holden as cars do not rust there