Britain's first car with a Synchro-Mesh gearbox also wore a radiator mascot borrowed straight from the BOAC Speedbird logo.
Lead trim: Cadet VY 2.0 overhead-valve six (42 bhp at 3,300 rpm)
Vauxhall Cadet VYCADET-VY · 1930–1933
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Vauxhall Cadet VY yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactBritain's first car with a Synchro-Mesh gearbox also wore a radiator mascot borrowed straight from the BOAC Speedbird logo.
The Vauxhall Cadet VY was an entirely new model announced on 6 October 1930 (9,691 built to 1933), the first Vauxhall priced below £300 (standard saloon £280, £298 with sliding roof) and the first truly new Vauxhall since General Motors bought the business in 1925, an American-style car with local amendments; the mascot on the radiator cap became the BOAC Speedbird logo. It was the first British car with a Synchro-Mesh gearbox, fitted to all Cadets from late 1931, and its engine was a 2,048 cc six (67.5 mm bore, 95.25 mm stroke, four-bearing crankshaft, overhead valves by pushrods and rockers, timing chain, rubber-mounted at four points) making 42 bhp at 3,300 rpm with a 5:1 compression ratio. For export the car usually had a 3,178 cc 26.3 hp engine and was named the VX (1933). Wheelbase 107 in, track 56 in, kerb weight 26 cwt. Bodies: standard saloon, two-seater, sports and four-light coupés, and the Grosvenor de luxe saloon (£325), Tickford all-weather saloon (£335), Romney and Denton drophead coupés; for 1933 the bodies became more imposing, with chromium-plated bonnet flutes, lamps and bumpers, dual electric wipers and anti-dazzle headlamps. The Times' motoring correspondent praised the engine's turbine-like smoothness. The page gives the VX displacement as 3,178 cubic centimetres and no power.
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Trims & Figures
2 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cadet VX export 26.3 hp six (1933) | 1933–1933 | Inline-6 | — | — | — | RWD | — | — |
| Cadet VY 2.0 overhead-valve six (42 bhp at 3,300 rpm) | 1930–1933 | 2.0 L Inline-6 | 42 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
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