Vauxhall is a British vehicle manufacturer based in Luton, Bedfordshire and is part of General Motors UK Limited. It was founded in 1857 by Alexander Wilson on Wandsworth Road, Vauxhall in London. It was originally named Alex Wilson and Company, then later on Vauxhall Iron Works from 1897 building Pumps and Marine Engines.
Vauxhall built its first car in 1903 with a 5hp single cylinder engine, it had two forward gears and no reverse. To help the company grow, Vauxhall moved its production to Luton in 1905, changing its name to Vauxhal Motors in 1907.
General Motors Corporation purchased Vauxhall Motors in 1925, for $2.5 million (US Dollars), it slowly changed the image of its company and the way it marketed their vehicles. Under the GM ownership it launched the Vauxhall Cadet in 1930 followed by the first Bedford truck.
Vauxhall has produced many models over the years, the more popular models included the Vauxhall Viva, Vauxhall Victor, Vauxhall Cavalier and the Vauxhall Astra.
In the 1970’s, General Motors started to merge production lines with Opel, the first vehicle was the Vauxhall Chevette in 1975 which was actually a reworked Opel Kadett, this continued over the years.
Vauxhall have competed in various forms of motorsport including rallying and British Touring Car Championships. In BTCC, between 2001 to 2004, Vauxhall Astra Coupe’s drivers came 1st in the Drivers Championship, drivers include Jason Plato, James Thompson and Yvan Muller.
For more information on the current Vauxhall model line up, please visit their website:
Vauxhall Car Range Website
