Vauxhall cars for sale

Overview

Vauxhall is Britain’s Opel — since the 1970s the two have sold essentially the same cars under different badges. Its Australian relevance is indirect but substantial: Holden drew on Vauxhall designs for years, and several early Holdens and Vauxhall-badged models were sold here.

History

Founded in 1857 by Alexander Wilson as Alex Wilson and Company, building pumps and marine engines. Its first car followed in 1903 — a five-horsepower single-cylinder machine steered by tiller — and most production moved to Luton in 1905. It took the Vauxhall Motors name in 1907.

General Motors acquired the company on 16 November 1925 for $2.5 million and converted it from a luxury marque into a mass-market one, adding Bedford commercial vehicles in 1931. From the 1970s "Opelisation" made Vauxhalls into lightly restyled Opels. PSA Group bought it in March 2017 for €2.2 billion, and it has been part of Stellantis since January 2021. The historic Luton plant closed on 28 March 2025.

In Australia

Vauxhall was a serious presence here long before most people realise. Through the 1930s it had its own Australian dealer network, and Vauxhall and Bedford were between them the country’s best-selling British car and truck of that decade. Rolling chassis were shipped out and bodied locally for the Big Six from 1934 to 1940.

The Holden relationship is the interesting part. After General Motors bought Holden in 1931, Holden assembled GM’s products for the Australian market — including Vauxhalls, which were positioned above every Holden model in the range. Australian assembly of the PA Cresta began at GMH in May 1958; the Cresta was sold here until 1965 and the Velox until 1966, after which the marque faded from the local market.

Buying a classic Vauxhall

Australian-assembled Veloxes and Crestas differ in trim and detail from British cars, and the locally bodied pre-war models differ more substantially again — so establish what a car actually is before valuing it.

Rust in the sills, floors and lower guards decides most of these cars, and body parts are hard to find because local assembly volumes were modest. The mechanicals are straightforward, so as with the other British marques of the era, buy the soundest body and worry about the engine second.