Topic: SOLVED: Djetset 1053 - Dormobile Vauxhall Viva HC hearse prototype, 1972

[Djetset]

As my last Rookie puzzle was solved so quickly (the SEAT Gredos, earning Alfa_Japan is very first AP point), here is another quick and easy Rookie puzzle...

The base car is simple, so no points there, but to gain a point, please successfully name who created this unusual version, and in what year.

[Alfa_Japan]

Sima/Chrysler 180 Estate, when production was moved from France to Spain. Estate versions apparently only from when they started building the Simca/Chrysler in Spain. I do find a reference to Heuliez for a Chrysler 180 Estate but that one remained at a sketch / design drawing stage.

P.S. are you adjusting your puzzles now to the Japanese time zone ;-)

[Djetset]

No, not a Chrysler/Simca, and not from France or Spain.

I am a bit of a night owl and light sleeper, so I seem to be more tuned in to Japanese time at the moment for some reason, despite being in the UK!

[Alfa_Japan]

Indeed not the Chrysler Simca now I realise. It's a Vauxhall Viva estate, but now the year and builder, the ones I can find so far are all 3-door versions.

[Alfa_Japan]

Found some reference to it here with the Google search string "Vauxhall Viva estate:<<Link removed>> According to that source a HC saloon converted into a hearse. Still no year and builder though :-(

[Alfa_Japan]

1972 Vauxhall Viva HC Hearse by Dormobile according to the famed "Autoshite" source.

<<Link removed>>

[Wendax]

Hello Alfa_Japan,

please no links in the puzzle section.

[Alfa_Japan]

Sorry I didn't know that and will of course obey. I'm new so probably don't know all the ins en outs yet. On Twitter you can find an interesting picture from the odd yet interesting looking rear end

Search string: #Vauxhall #Viva HC #Conversion #Hearse

[Wendax]

Alfa_Japan, you can attach pictures by clicking on "Attachment and other options" (see first picture below), then an extra panel will appear (second picture below) where you can add a picture below "Attach:".

[Alfa_Japan]

Hello Wendax, I will comply, no more links.

[Djetset]

I think you've got the message now loud and clear that links are not allowed here at Auto Puzzles, just as the use of Google Image Search, and other similar systems, is also very strictly banned (otherwise where's the fun and challenge as, after all, this is meant to be a website for car enthusiasts with a strong sense of curiosity and knowledge, rather than just simply gathering points).

Anyway, lecture over, and well found as this is indeed the five-door Vauxhall Viva HC hearse conversion, a one-off prototype made by Dormobile in Folkstone, Kent, England in 1972. Your second point is now awarded.

[nicanary]

I should imagine it was designed with smaller inhabitants in mind. There can't have been enough room for a standard sized coffin twixt driver and boot lid, surely? And what about all the DAD and football-club wreaths?

Hearses usually have alternative gear ratios fitted to the box, but all the same they travel at low speeds and the engine can get hot. An HC Viva owned by an old girlfriend had no water temperature gauge as standard, and subsequently she was surprised when the engine seized at speed on the A47 Acle Straight. Hope the funeral directors checked the water level before each "job".

[Djetset]

I guess those are the reasons this Dormobile prototype remained a one-off  .