The air is thick with the aroma of black coffee, Panatellas and Tabac aftershave. Inside the Maker Space café in Nuffield, an important business deal is being hammered out. The future of a coffee bar, two licensed victuallers and the management of Danny and The Rotavators, Southampton's premier beat combo, are at stake. Meanwhile, the cars parked outside are testament to their respective owners' standing in the community. Not just anyone can own an Austin A110 Westminster, a Ford Zodiac MkIII or a Vauxhall Cresta PB.
The last-named is our trio's rarest. The debut of the new Velox and Cresta PB at the 1962 London Motor Show was a significant talking point: gone were the wraparound windscreen and tailfins of the outgoing PA. Instead, as the in-house journal Vauxhall Motorist accurately described, its new lines were 'clean, simple and restrained'. The 2.6-litre engine was the same as its predecessor's, but front disc brakes were now standard equipment. An entry-level Velox cost £822 4s 7d, but the range-topping Cresta justified the additional £94 13s 4d with the fitment of fog and reversing lamps, leather trim, a clock, a heater, a cigarette lighter and windscreen washers. Not to mention the headlamp flasher and duotone paintwork.
With a wonderful lack of modesty, Luton claimed that the PB was 'very nearly perfect. To increase public awareness of the car, Vauxhall arranged for the Cresta to guest-star as villains' transport in The Saint, as well as appearing in a number of British B-films. In The Earth Dies Screaming, the PB out-acted the human cast and, for sheer style, little could surpass Leslie Nielsen driving a Cresta in the endearingly inept Night Train to Paris.
Esta historia es de la edición April 2023 de Classic & Sports Car.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor ? Conectar
Esta historia es de la edición April 2023 de Classic & Sports Car.
Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.
Ya eres suscriptor? Conectar
RAY HILLIER
Double-chevron oddity proves a break from the norm for this Crewe specialist
SHORT BACK & GLIDES
Eccentric enthusiast Captain RG McLeod's series of Manx-tailed Bentley Specials reached its zenith with this unique S2 Continental.
People's choice
The diminutive but multi-million-selling Fiat 850 packed a remarkable diversity of form and function into its compact footprint
PLASTIC BREAKS FROM THE NORM
Glassfibre revolutionised niche car-body production, but just occasionally strayed into the mainstream.
A SENSIBLE SUPERCAR
The cleverly conceived four-seater Elite secured Lotus a place at the big players' table, but has it been unfairly maligned since then?
"I had a habit of grabbing second place from the jaws of victory"
From dreams of yachting glory to the Le Mans podium, via a stint at the top of the motorsport tree, Howden Ganley had quite the career
Still going strong
Herbert Engineering staked its reputation on the five-year warranty that came with its cars. A century on, this Two Litre hasn't made a claim
One for the kids
General Motors was aiming squarely at the youth market with the launch of the Pontiac GTO 60 years ago, and its runaway success popularised the muscle-car movement
A NEW BREED OF HERO
Launched at the turn of the millennium, the GT3 badge has already earned a place alongside RS, CS and turbo in Porsche lore.
Brits with SIX appeal
The straight-six engine is synonymous with a decades-long legacy of great British sports cars. Six variations on the sextet theme convene for comparison