This comparison test from 1981 contains a surprise double. Not only does the Volvo 244GLT have overdrive, but so does the Vauxhall Viceroy. And the other surprise – there was a full road test of the Vauxhall Viceroy. It would therefore seem only right for Curbivores to see this, and gain an insight into these (Euro centric) vehicles.
Most familiar will be the Volvo 244, in this case the GLT (not GTL as the cover of the magazine labels it – doh!). By the end of the 1970s, the Volvo 244 had created a definite impression and place for itself on the British market and its aspirant executive market. We all have our opinions on these cars (they’re not my favourites, but YMMV) but there is no doubt that the 244 and 245 could be seen as premium in the UK, if a bit stodgy and starting to age – after all it was a 1966 144 with a new engine, crumple zones and big bumpers, basically. But Volvo had successfully created a slot for themselves with a premium rating, ahead of, for example, a similarly powered Ford Granada, Austin Princess, Renault 20 or larger Datsun or Toyota. A sort of Swedish Peugeot, if you like. It lagged behind BMW and Mercedes-Benz, and was perhaps level pegging with Audi, until the 1977 Audi 100 C2 stepped past it, and then the 1982 C3 left it in the weeds.
But it was never a sports saloon. I realise US perceptions differed, but in the Europe it was safety, durability and the first aspirant estate car that were the selling points. The 244GLT was planned to change that, by adding some sports saloon or driver focussed features to the regular car.
The Vauxhall was another surprise. Vauxhall, by 1981, was fully lined up with Opel in terms of models if not fully on smaller engines, and the Viceroy was a match to the six cylinder Commodore, a derivative of the four cylinder Rekord with a longer nose to take the straight six, and fitted in the range between the Rekord and the 2.8 litre six cylinder Senator (or Vauxhall Royale). The Rekord E has been covered here before, and matched directly to the Vauxhall Carlton, give or take some styling details that did the Vauxhall no favours and a narrower range of engines and trim levels.
The Rover probably needs little introduction – it is an SD1 so we know it well. Here it is in six cylinder 2600 form, which never made it to North America. Engine apart, it is the same as the 3500 V8.
And the Granada? This is a Euro Granada, built solely in Germany and common across all European markets. It had the 2.0 litre Pinto four, or Cologne V6 at 2.3 and 2.8 litres, independent rear suspension, a huge range of trims from taxi to Brougham, a mightily practical estate version and a brand image that arguably lagged behind the car. It wasn’t flashy, unless you wanted it to be and bought a Ghia, but with the V6 was very capable and a pretty good value.
This comparison, from UK magazine Motor (now defunct after being absorbed into Autocar) makes interesting reading, and comes to a conclusion I didn’t expect – Ford, Rover, Volvo, Vauxhall. The Rover’s style and flair were outgunned by the Ford’s all round competence, the Volvo was let down by its ride and refinement, and the Vauxhall, the newest car of the bunch, by its economy and performance, and interior style (an area where several of the early Opel Vauxhalls suffered comparatively, as Vauxhall sought distinction from Opel, a British twist and value), and perhaps a lack of any great advantages overall.
Maybe that’s why Vauxhall sold fewer than 2500 Viceroys?
For reference £10,000 in 1981 is close to £40,000 now.
(Hat tip to www.vauxpedia.net for providing not only one of the best single marque sites you’ll see but also posting this test, where “their” car doesn’t shine.)
Don´t tell anyone or they will all want one.
For about a decade I´ve been buying old car magazines like this. They cost about the same as new ones but you will take much longer to read them. The last one I got was “Car” from c. 1987 and it´s a cracking read. I can´t say the same about the latest edition.
It´s interesting this test has a Vauxhall Viceroy; I´ve been trying to gather reviews on its sort-of successor, the Vauxhall Carlton aka Opel Omega. They are thin on the ground. It seems the Carlton improved on the Viceroy in lots of areas, especially the interior and handling. Overall, it´s a decent car so the lack of love for them is a bit disproportionate.
I`d prefer the Opel version of the car; the Vauxhall revisions never improved on Ruesselheim´s work. For me a late 70s Opel suggests German cosiness and prosperity (I know it was a tough decade there too) whilst the Vauxhall suggests the misery of Thatcher´s first term in office and also the grimness of early 80s Dublin, Ireland, where I grew up.
Just this morning I was thinking about how I had been buying/collecting various British car magazines, including CAR, for nearly 50 years. I bought my first issue in 1973 and was so impressed by the writing and especially the artwork (for the first few years I bought CAR the front cover was a ” painting ” not a photo.). At one point I had nearly 20-25 years of issues saved. When it came time to move from an apartment into a house I decided it was also time to pare down my collection.
BTW, the same publishers of CAR also printed a similar magazine called (appropriately) TRUCK.
If I thought that I could have passed on my treasured collection I wouldn’t have recycled them.
I started with CAR in early 1976, and haven’t missed an issue. Used to cause confusion at the newsagents until I got a subscription.
Did TRUCK as well for a while in the early 1980s – more interesting than you might have precited.
I love the charts in this review. Specifically the cost of common parts, the diagrams and descriptions of the suspension and the dash layouts.
Looking at the dash layouts it gave me a new case of differing terms on different sides of the pond, using locker instead of glove box.
It does seem like they may have loaded the deck in favor of the Ford since it is ~10% more expensive, as tested, than the others.
The thing that blows me away from the charts is that it indicates that only the Volvo had rear seat belts as standard. Sure the fact that Volvo has them first isn’t surprising, the surprising thing is that they still weren’t required by law in 1981.
Also the lack of a standard radio in the Volvo is also surprising since it isn’t a base trim level and it is 1981.
Think rear seat belts had to be fitted by law around 1986, though weren’t required to be worn until a fair bit later.
But yes, is surprising that these quite expensive cars didn’t have them.
US required them for all seating positions in 1968, though apparently Wisconsin started requiring them in the front in 1962.
The first state laws requiring their use didn’t come along until 1986, but only 49 states have followed suit. New Hampshire is the sole holdout. Of those 49 states that do have laws in 18 of them it only covers front seat passengers.
And yes, having traveled to NH for business several times seat belt use is low there, but their official state motto found on their license plates is “Live Free or Die”.
US required them for all seating positions in 1968
Unfortunately, the rear passengers had to do with lap seat belts which were worse than no belts at all in many American vehicles. The US regulations didn’t mandate the three-point seat belts for the rear passengers until many years later.
In 1986 or thereabout, the 20/20 did the shocking segment about the lap seat belts. The lap seat belts caused the severe injury to the spines when their upper bodies moved forward and collided against the back of front seats, leaving most of them paraplegic or quadplegic.
The Swedish safety expert was astounded to learn that the lap seat belts were even called “safety seat belts” and denounced them. He explained why lap seat belts were more dangerous than not wearing belts.
That segment forced the Domestic Four to install the three-point seat belts for the rear passengers in the late 1980s.
A day late and dollar short…
Triggers retro road tests on Flickr have tons of these old Motor tests on their page. You have to fish thru photo albums of car shows as well, but it is so very worth it and crazy time period wealth of info. I hope I’m not doing anything wrong by linking the page, but it is astoundingly informative:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/triggerscarstuff/albums
I I remember visiting the UK in the mid 80s and quite a few of my relatives had aftermarket rear seat belts in their cars. They were terrible things.
They were quite often dealer fit
That’s about $55,000 for cars that don’t have air conditioning. We really were doing better in the US than the car magazines wanted us to believe. None of these ‘executive’ saloons would have been worth a big premium over what you could get in the US for the 1981 equivalent of $35,000 in 2021 funds to a meaningful percentage of buyers.
I’ve never been a Volvo fan, but I think they did a very good job of federalizing their engines for the US market. Their four cylinder naturally aspirated engines performed as if every one of their 103 or so horsepower was accounted for, at a time when there were US V8s that couldn’t keep up. Everything else about their cars was too sterile and inert, but they definitely had some skillful engineers in their four cylinder engine department.
.England wasn’t hot enough to warrant A/C back then so wasn’t missed. Perhaps a novelty in an American import no more.
The volvo in GLT trim would be the most collectable forty years on followed by the Rover. The Granada lacks the style and class of the mk1 but is a rare 2.8i S..
A/C is also beneficial for defogging windshields and ensuring an adequate supply of fresh air in a car when the windows are closed. Many European cars were faulted for their inadequate ventilation in non-air-conditioned trims as late as roughly the time this article was written. The Ford Cortina was an early adopter of North American levels of ventilation, but it wasn’t until 1977 that small BMWs offered effective forced fresh air ventilation. Less premium cars lagged until the end of whatever model cycle they were on.
The cars in the test are described as executive cars, and their prices are consistent with a level of exclusivity. When you’re talking about expensive cars that aren’t particularly fast, or efficient, or luxurious, or beautiful; they could have at least included air conditioning. Who doesn’t want to take their big car on an occasional trip to the south of France or Italy?
The number of people driving to the south of France was small, even fewer would be driving to Italy.
AC is something that wasn’t seen as remotely desirable. My parents still complain if told to close their window because the AC is on. Remember virtually nobody has it in their houses either.
We drove to the south of France, Italy, Yugoslavia etc for summer vacations from Germany (where it gets hot too in the south) all through the 1970’s, usually in an Audi 100, sometimes caravanning with another family with a Granada wagon. No AC, when it was hot in the cars we had a window opened or just dealt with it. It was fine. You’d be surprised how you can handle heat when you aren’t acclimated to having the A/C on 24/7. The rest of the world didn’t see A/C as a common thing in cars until pretty recently.
Grew up in Israel in the 60s and most cars did not have AC – even US made cars. When my uncle bought a 65 Buick Skylark with one the whole neighborhood came around to make sure he wasn’t trying to pass a stronger ventilation system as something else. Few luxury coaches had air but those were for tourists, not the great unwashed, we just opened a window if it was hot…
Many folk don’t understand why us Brits like A/C but also want an opening roof. If you had to choose, you’d keep the opening roof and ditch the A/C.
In Canada of 1981, air conditioning in cars was not at all common. It was easy 10% the price of the car and it doesn’t get very warm, or at least in those days.
Air conditioning was not common on European cars of the era. Mercedes even used Harrison Air on its W116 cars since they had no experience with it themselves.
I live in the Wet Coast and I have had many cars without a/c. The last non-a/c car was Kia Rio I leased as a commuter. With the two front windows cracked and the fan on hi keeping windows clean is not a problem.
Paulson, I spent 12 years in the UK (1989 – 2001) and I can confirm AC was not common even on things like Jaguars, it really was not needed. I had a Renault 25 Injection which was top of the line for Renault and it did not have AC (it had everything else). It was not something I thought about other than perhaps on the odd day when temperatures were really high. Nor can I recall any issues with defogging during winter. Nowadays it’s very different – here in Austria I don’t think you can even buy a new vehicle without AC anymore…
I had an ’85 Audi 5000S which had automatic climate control and ran its A/C compressor at all times to dehumidify the air, even when the heater was on.
Such a car until about 1993-5 would have had a sunroof, usually a tilt and slide and often glass. These filtered down to practically everything, and then A/C followed from the late 1990s. Sunroofs are very rare now.
I’d probably go for the Rover, “probably” because I’ve never seen the Ford or Vauxhall, and I’ve never cared for the Volvo. I’ve only ever seen a few SD1s in the wild but did get a chance to sit in one and check it out. They are very rare in the U.S., having only been sold in 1980 and maybe 1981, mostly through a thin dealership network straining to sell MGBs and TR8s, and giving up after having sold less than 1200 cars.
My father owned a Rover 3500 (probably a 1978 car) and a Volvo 240 (1984). The Volvo was superior in terms of comfort and reliabilty. The Rover is nice to look at but a menace to own.
The Ford looks fantastic, I’d forgotten about the optional round driving lights. It’s so much wider than the rest of them too, visually it just works. And apparently driving it does as well, one of my favorite Euro ’70’s/’80’s cars.
The illustrations are excellent too, so much can be gleaned at just a glance, especially as regards suspensions set up, 80’s British magazines were excellent back then, even if you could confidently bet a week’s wages that the Volvo was never going to win without even bothering to open the magazine. It is something of a shock that the Rover, (the British-est) didn’t win, but second is close enough I suppose and as far down the order as could ever be expected 🙂
Thanks for this, Roger.
There are reasons for the Rover being lower than the Ford, partly factual and partly not.
The magazines and press generally liked to either be “BL bashers” or slightly out of step and contrarian, hence picking the low image Ford over the higher image Volvo, and nudging it higher than the Rover. The Rover would likely win on style and pure showroom appeal though.
But then, the Ford cost 10% more, had IRS and 160bhp, so perhaps it should have won. And, to be fair, this Granada was a pretty decent car hiding behind a low image badge.
I agree about the Ford´s design. It´s tidy, serious and very well proportioned: two slabs with the wheels nicely placed. I have to say they don´t wear that well. Any time I see an example I notice how the quality of the product didn´t live up to the promise of the geometry. That said, I still like and admire these cars which were regarded well for their handling (challenging BMW, no less).
The 1978 Granada has got to be one of the best facelifts done on a car.
From the European Native point of view I got to admit most cars came w/o a/c by 1981, though serveral ‘premium’ brands offered a/c, pwr windows, heated seats, pwr mirrors and more as options for the customer willing to pay a lot more than his neighbor.
Very few were willing – it was an Opel only after all, reselling poorly in comparison to Mercedes or Porsche.
In Canada of 1981, air conditioning in cars was not at all common. It was easy 10% the price of the car and it doesn’t get very warm, or at least in those days.
Air conditioning was not common on European cars of the era. Mercedes even used Harrison Air on its W116 cars since they had no experience with it themselves.
I live in the Wet Coast and I have had many cars without a/c. The last non-a/c car was Kia Rio I leased as a commuter. With the two front windows cracked and the fan on hi keeping windows clean is not a problem.
Good grief, Vauxhall Viceroy! That’s a new one on me.
Surely, you’d have to have been a bit of a retired suburban curtain-twitcher to want to ponce about the neighborhood in something so pretentiously titled: Vauxhall probably made the engine a bit noisier to cover up the whine of the owner’s hidebound and irritating views. and anyway, the last one of that title, old Battenburg, had left India in a bloody mess thirty years before this car, and I suspect the entire supply of old pen-pushers and military types from the Raj had sunk well beneath the gin by 1980.
Well, all but less than 2500 of them, it seems.
I’ve seen at least 0.04% of them then; back in the early 1980s someone round the corner from me had one in maroon. I wonder if the the cross motif was the same as used on the FD Envoy & VX4/90, turned upside down because the grille sloped the other way. If so it might have been the single biggest British component as these were built by Opel.
From memory, the best things about the Rover SD1 were the styling and the aluminium V8. Replace the V8 with a good straight-six and the car lost some of the gloss – and Rover didn’t have a good straight-six.
My first impression from the cover photo is that only one of those cars stayed on the road long enough to be recognized 40 years later by someone in their 20s. But then, I don’t live in England so I’m not sure if this is correct.
Those Volvos became such a cult classic here that their boxy styling seems far more contemporary than 1981.