To celebrate, the blue...
To celebrate, the blue oval has presented the mechanics, including Alan Spencer and Bob Brown, with plaques. The Leicester pair worked for the Sandicliffe dealer group in 1965, when the Transit arrived. A spokeswoman said: "We decided it would be nice to do something for those who have given 40 or more years" service on Transit. We identified 28 staff, and the plaques were all signed by boss Bill Ford."
The all-wheel-drive...
The all-wheel-drive version is said to have caused an engineering nightmare for GM, because the Epsilon platform on which the Vectra is based was originally intended to be driven by the front wheels only. Early prototypes sat very high off the ground, as the car needed to be raised in order to accommodate the rear differential, but the latest version is now said to stand only an inch taller than the normal Vectra.
Our source revealed: "By using bigger wheels and wheelarch extensions, it"s hard to tell the new car is any different to a standard Vectra. However, you have to put a big, powerful engine in it to take advantage of the 4x4 transmission, otherwise it would prove flat and dull to drive." This wouldn"t be the first Vauxhall 4WD saloon - in 1989, the firm made the Cavalier GSi2000 4x4, which employed a viscous coupling to provide power to the rear wheels.
Meanwhile, a range of two-wheel-drive hot Vectras are tipped to arrive in 2005. Turbocharged 250bhp 3.2-litre V6 petrol and 200bhp twin-turbo 1.9-litre diesel versions of the Vectra GSi will debut by the middle of next year. Insiders have hinted that the newcomers are likely to wear the badging of Vauxhall"s new performance brand, VXR.