History
My first car (1979 to 82) - little did I know then how rare these cars are!! The rego papers from new described it as a Viva Brabham, so I believe it was a genuine factory model - it had all the ’Brabham’ accessories (high(er) compression motor, twin carbs, extractors, bonnet pins and correct badges) and the upmarket SL trim.
In NZ the HB Torana wasn’t sold new (we still had the Vauxhall brand covering the small GM cars - from the HA Viva in the mid 1960’s through to the Chevette in the 1980’s). Apart from the headlights (round on the Torana, rectangular on the Viva) and the instrument panel (again, round dials vs. rectangular display), the HB Viva and HB Torana were the same car - comfortable and well appointed, nice lines, quite good handling, but woefully under-powered. The Brabham enhancements made the performance a little more exciting (as much as you can with a 1.2 litre motor!!), but I eventually replaced the Viva with a VE Valiant to get the sort of power I really wanted. Ah, the folly of youth.....
