A Vauxhall history lesson from the cheap car insurance experts

It was Christmas Day 1985 and tiny three-and-a-half-year-old me was wrapped up in mittens and a bobble hat, running around giddy and excited, taking time out from kicking leaves at my big sister to stare in wonder at the shiny thing sat on our driveway.

That particular shiny thing was a brand spanking new Vauxhall Cavalier, 1800cc of awesome power under the bonnet with ultra modern electronic fuel injection and the whole shebang. It was Dad's company car, arriving only a few days before and still an object of wonder to my little eyes.

To be honest, I don't remember any of this but Dad must've been so chuffed with his new Vauxhall that he borrowed a video camera and spent ten minutes extolling the virtues of his recently acquired chariot.

Now it's not such riveting viewing, a boxy looking 80s car and a grainy video tape, but I suppose it's all valuable history and at the time it really was a top of the range motor car.

And that's what we're going to take a look at here, the history of Vauxhall. Because no longer am I a bobble-hatted munchkin but now a proud employee of duck2water Car Insurance Services. And working for a company that excels in providing specialist cheap car insurance for Vauxhall owners, it's only right to take a quick glimpse back at the past of this esteemed car manufacturer.

The beginnings of Vauxhall
Not surprisingly, the firm was founded in Vauxhall, London, way back in 1857 and originally built pumps and marine engines. When motor cars began appearing on the scene at the turn of the twentieth century, Vauxhall got straight in on the action and turned out a five-horsepower machine that was steered by a tiller and had two forward gears but no capacity for reverse.

Going backwards became possible with Vauxhall's next release and the company started growing from strength to strength, moving from their humble plant to a new factory over in Luton. They were initially known for their sporty models but after the First World War started to produce more austere models.

The American influence
They had risen to such international prominence by the mid twenties that American firm General Motors (GM) paid $2.5 million to take control of the business, leading to the beginning of a sixty-year trend that saw Vauxhalls take on a rather US style of design.

America seemed to have rather a lot of influence at this time and the 1929 Wall Street Crash led to Vauxhall setting up their own van subsidiary, Bedford Vehicles, as a response to US imports becoming too expensive. Lorries and vans produced by Vauxhall's Bedford plant went on to be sold all over the world and proved to be enormously popular.

Vauxhall go to war
The outbreak of the Second World War saw Vauxhall cease building cars and put their all into the war effort, gearing up their production lines to manufacture Churchill tanks. More than 5,600 of the tanks were built and played a monumental part in taking the war to the heart of Nazi Germany.

With victory ensured, Vauxhall reverted back to producing cars although now ensured that their vehicles were of a type more available to the general public than they had been in 1939. This, combined with the fact that cheap car insurance was reasonably easy to get hold of, saw the company expand rapidly.

Rust and the modern era
In 1960 a manufacturing plant at Ellesmere Port in Cheshire was opened but the 60s weren't an easy time for Vauxhall with the company gaining a reputation for producing rust-prone cars. This was somewhat justified but, in fairness, most other car manufacturers of the period also had similar problems with rusting bodywork.

This reputation dogged them well into the 1980s but they managed to shake it off thanks to advances in corrosion protection and nowadays Vauxhall is one of the foremost car companies in the United Kingdom.

Cheap Vauxhall car insurance from duck2water
From Astras to Corsas and from Vectras to Zafiras, Vauxhall cars are popular with today's drivers everywhere and the future is looking more than rosy for the firm that started out making boat bits in a small London factory way back in the 1850s.

Here at duck2water Car Insurance Services we've done a special deal so that we're able to offer all Vauxhall drivers an unbelievably cheap motor insurance quote. You'll be amazed at how cheap your premium could be so click on the quote button right now to get a fantastic deal for your Vauxhall. You won't regret it!