" Vauxhall's XVR from back in 1966 still manages to tweak the inspiration with its slick, 'vette-ish lines. We always were reminded of seemed to ape the imagined futurism of the Durango 95 from A Clockwork Orange (which was actually a Nova "
![](https://cdn-influx-wp.adrianflux.co.uk/uploads/2016/03/vauxhall_chevette_hatchback_1_1-960x540.jpeg)
Vauxhall Chevette
the Chevette was the Likely Lads hot hatch before hot hatches were hot hatches.
Shovel-nosed, Pinto-esque, uniquely strange and oddly appealing, the Vauxhall Chevette was a Likely Lads car before Likely Lads were Likely Lads.
And what am I talking about when I use the term Likely Lads?
We’re talking about kids who infuse their cars with a certain energy, the distinct sort of creativity that is born of living in a suburb with tasty A-roads, enclosed street systems on low-rise estates where few coppers dare to tread.
It might have been a made-over Opal, but in the early-mid seventies the Chevette was a really strange looking shape – especially the coupé. That droop snoot was of course closely related to the rarer bird that was the Firenza – and it was perfect for housing the goodies that turned your car into something greater than that consumed by the mass of men.
![Chevette-5](https://www.adrianflux.co.uk/influx/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/Chevette-5.jpg)
In rally homologation mode, the HSR model Chevette (above) was rarer than hen’s teeth – and you could see the beginnings of the true hot hatch in the Chevette’s lines well enough.
The Chevette was phased out and finally disappeared in 1983 – to be replaced with the Nova. More of that in next week’s feature thread…
Cars like the Chevette, stripped down everyman classics, laid the groundwork for a culture of car modifying that was a powerful force in youth culture.
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