A WANDER around the 1962 Earls Court Motor Show was enough to convince that Vauxhall was going places.

The motoring arena had already witnessed the arrival of a completely restyled Victor model, which was a much more British influenced car than the American-looking predecessor which had created a somewhat unsavoury reputation for itself over rusting.

Vauxhall had done its best to tackle the rust problems with a complete redesign and the new car signified a new beginning in the family motoring sector.

But Vauxhall had a surprise up its sleeve with a slick performance version, the VX4/90 which was billed in the Motor Show guide as the Sunday-suit Victor with a Sunday punch.

A somewhat flowery description, but in a lot of ways true.

It looked smarter than the standard model, featuring a coloured stripe down the side, revised grille, and larger tail light clusters.

Under the bonnet there was a very pleasant surprise. The 1,508cc engine featured twin Zenith carbs and the car had 90 mph in its sights. Not quite as fast as the big six-cylinder Cresta and Velox models, but certainly getting there.

Vauxhall eventually coaxed 81 bhp out of this engine and the car was a very lively drive for its day.

The engine featured an alloy head, high-compression and nitrided crankshaft. And stopping was assured with the addition of servo assisted brakes.

It was available only in saloon form and a major departure was the substitution of the standard three-speed column change with a floor mounted gearstick giving four speeds.

Other features included 14-inch wheels, front bucket seats, full instrumentation including mechanically driven tachometer and heater. Vauxhall later upgraded the engine to 1595 cc and changed rear axle ratios, ensuring that the car could easily exceed 90mph.

Now largely forgotten, the VX4/90 was a major milepost for Vauxhall. Some regarded it as a niche customer magnet to lure customers into Vauxhall showrooms, but it was much more.

The VX4/90 was a pioneer of the modern affordable sports saloon and definitely one of Vauxhall's better ideas.