If you mention you happened to see a Caleche most people will stare at you blankly. If pressed they might hazard a guess that it was a French car. Yet, the Caleche was an Australian-built convertible variant of the Vauxhall Velox and Wyvern ... dating to 1938. The word `Caleche' has various meanings but in general terms means a fashionable horse-drawn carriage or the folded hood of a horse-drawn carriage. Either way it points to a convertible.

The first Caleche was a Wyvern that accompanied the Vauxhall `14' and `25' stable cars of the mid 1930s in Australia. Our featured cars are later models of the six-cylinder Velox L-Series from 1950 and 1951. Where `Caleche' cars are significant is they were Australia-only builds, unique to the land down under. Being from the GM stable they were built by GM Holden using imported Vauxhall chassis and running gear. Vauxhall, like Holden, was taken over by GM and remains a member of the GM stable. The British company was acquired by GM in 1925, several years before Holden, an iconic Australian carriage and car body builder that started in Adelaide.

When introduced to the Australian motoring public in February 1938 the Wyvern was said to be the `Australian conception of a really effective small car.' If offered 40 miles to the gallon and a revolutionary ride with independent springing. Top speed was in the range of 60 to 65 miles per hour. Wyvern was always a four cylinder Vauxhall – later a small brother to Velox. These 1930s models were fitted with a three speed gearbox, 10 hp over head valve engines and Holden bodies. In 1938 the Caleche was said to be `Australia's smartest open car.'

The sales pitch for the first Caleche was economy and ride. On Australia's agricultural roads, small cars suffered more than the longer wheel-based cars as they tended to pitch giving passengers an uncomfortable ride. “Vauxhall has given a new riding comfort – replacing the usual small car's bucking, bumping ride with the billiard table glide of independent front wheel springing,” crowed Vauxhall dealer newspaper advertisements. “It has added to the ease of control of a three speed Super Synchromesh gearbox – safety of Lockheed hydraulic brakes – greater rigidity of an `X' braced chassis of a big car design. Holden body engineering has supplemented these Vauxhall developments with bodies specially evolved and designed to meet the needs of Australian conditions.”

The interesting part of this strategy is at the same time Holden were developing the all-Australian car which would in effect be a head-on competitor for the Velox, the 48-215 Holden, better known as the FX. The Holden straight six `grey motor' produced 45 kW of power compared to the Vauxhall's 2275 cc straight six that put out 40 kW. On top of that Vauxhall also had the more economical Wyvern which was basically the same body with a four cylinder engine.

The Caleche, which came out as a 18 hp six under the Velox umbrella and a 12 hp four as a Wyvern, broke the styling mould. In newspaper advertisements Vauxhall also sought to differentiate itself from Holden. “As English as England,' chimed the ads. Caleche was a particularly good-looking car in a traditional English way. It was not a sports car but simply a tourer, or convertible version of the Velox/Wyvern. But, it had character. It remained a four seater, but the doors were reduced to two, and these were styled or cut down to suit the car's natural profile contours and hinged from the rear as suicide doors.

There was no boot opening but the spare wheel seated into a well that inset into boot space. The car's rear badge `Vauxhall Six' was situated on what should have been the boot lid, behind the driving position. Both the 1950 and 51 models featured here – the red car is 1950 model and the cream car a 1951 model – feature a typical horizontal grille style with chrome bars. The interior rear view mirror is also placed in the near-useless position atop the dash instead of being suspended from the windscreen.

By 1954 the body style of the Vauxhall was starting to date, given it was launched in 1948, and in 1954 the Velox name was phased out with the Cresta E model introduced in that year, on what was effectively 1948 Velox body. By 1957 though the Cresta PA had a new, more American-style body with fins and a sleeker appearance overall, one more familiar than the old L-Series Velox.