The Vauxhall Wyvern is a medium-sized family car introduced by Vauxhall in 1948 as a successor to the Vauxhall 12. The name comes from the mythical beast the wyvern, and may be due to a misidentification of the heraldic griffin on the Vauxhall badge.
In August 1951 a completely new Wyvern was launched, featuring a modern Ponton, three-box shape in a unitary construction body. In spite of the abandonment of the old RAC horsepower tax system which favoured long stroke engines, the old long stroke four cylinder 35 bhp (26 kW) engine from the L-series was retained and permitted a claimed top speed above 62 mph (100 km/h) despite the car's increased size. As before, a more powerful Vauxhall Velox was available with the new body.
- Wyvern EIXW
After only six months production of the rebodied Wyvern the car received, in April 1952, Vauxhall's new short stroke 1508 cc four-cylinder engine. Along with its six -cylinder Velox version, the new engine had a bore of 79.3mm and a stroke of 76.2mm, identical measurements (and therefore capacity) as the rival Ford Consul/Zephyr engines introduced two years previously. With a power output of 45 bhp (34 kW) at 4,000 rpm, maximum speed rose to 72 mph (116 km/h). More performance was available from the six-cylinder Vauxhall Velox and (from 1954) Cresta versions.
The EIX series Wyvern received a new bonnet and grille in 1955, a wrap-round rear window in 1956 and another new grille in 1957.
The Wyvern sold well on the UK market until Vauxhall abandoned the six seater four cylinder market and replaced it with the smaller but more radically styled Vauxhall Victor F-Series in 1957.
A car with the 45 bhp (34 kW) engine tested by the British magazine The Motor in 1952 had a top speed of 71.6 mph (115.2 km/h) and could accelerate from 0–60 mph (97 km/h) in 37.2 seconds. A fuel consumption of 30.4 miles per imperial gallon (9.3 L/100 km; 25.3 mpg‑US) was recorded. The test car cost £771 including taxes.
Wyvern EBX
The EBX model code was applied to the Australian "chassis only" variant of the Wyvern EIX.[9]
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