The XVR two-seater that premiered in Geneva in March 1966 was the first Vauxhall concept car ever to be exhibited in public.
The XVR showed “the future trend in world design” according to David Jones, the then Vauxhall’s Director of Styling. Most of all, it expressed the new means and power allocated to GM’s European design studios in the 1960s.
The XVR two-seat sports coupe was “inspired by parent company GM’s work with concepts in the U.S.—including the ’65 Mako Shark II—the XVR (Xperimental Vauxhall Research) had a simple purity of line, gull-wing doors forming a unique split windscreen, a clam-shell bonnet, and pop-up headlights.”
Unfortunately only three cars were built, including a 100-mph drivable vehicle with a 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine producing 74 horsepower. It was mated to a rear-wheel, four-speed, all-synchromesh gearbox with limited-slip differential.
The car never reached production, design cues like the ultra-slim rear lights could later be seen in Vauxhall’s Viva HC and Firenza models.
