Vauxhall was founded as an iron-works in South London in 1857, and made its first car in 1903. It moved to Luton, where it is still based, in 1905, and made successful sports cars for hill-climbs, Brooklands speed trials and reliability rallies, including the 'Prince Henry' racer and the road-going 30/98 GT tourer, capable of 85mph yet cheaper than rival Bentleys and Bugattis. General Motors bought Vauxhall in 1925, and after WWII concentrated on mass-market cars including the popular Viva, Victor and Velox family cars, and American-influenced Cresta, with tailfins.
From 1979, all Vauxhalls were mechanically identical to left-hand drive cars made by Opel (GM's European division), including the Nova supermini, Astra and larger Cavalier family car - important models which revived its flagging fortunes. The Lotus Carlton saloon - fastest production car of its time - and Calibra coupe were Vauxhall's new sports cars, and the Omega a luxury saloon. But the Vectra - slated by Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson - was never as popular as the Cavalier. Vauxhall's current range includes the strong-selling Corsa supermini, Tigra roadster, Zafira MPV and new Insignia family car, plus Antara SUV.
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