Soon after, General Motors began offering automatic seat belts, first on the Chevrolet Chevette, but by early 1979 the VW Rabbit and the Chevette were the only cars to offer the safety feature, and GM was reporting disappointing sales.

This was a huge achievement for a tiny firm-Vauxhall had to make several attempts before the contemporary Chevette passed.

Vauxhall's sales began to increase in 1975, with the launch of two important new models – the Chevette, a small three-door hatchback that was the first car of its kind to be built in Britain, the Chevette carrying the name Opel Kadett in Europe, and Chevrolet Chevette and in the US and Canadian markets ; and the Cavalier ( Opel Ascona elsewhere ), a stylish four-door saloon designed to compete head-to-head with the all-conquering Ford Cortina.

The Chevrolet Chevette was introduced in 1975 as a two-door hatchback.

Viva production was scaled down after the launch of the Chevette in spring 1975.

The Chevette hatch was also sold as the Opel Kadett City, but the Viva remained on sale until the later part of 1979.

The Chevette was a supermini model of car manufactured by Vauxhall in the UK from 1975 to 1984.

It was Vauxhall's version of the family of small " T-Cars " from Vauxhall's parent General Motors ( GM ); the family included the Opel Kadett in Germany, the Isuzu Gemini in Japan, the Holden Gemini in Australia, the Chevrolet Chevette in the United States, Canada and Brazil, the AYMESA Cóndor in Ecuador and a badge-engineered Pontiac Acadian / Pontiac T1000 across North America.

The Chevette was the first British-built hatchback of this size, with Ford not responding with a similar product until the following year.

From 1975 until 1978, the Chevette was the UK's best selling hatchback as UK branded rivals failed to respond to the challenge of the imported Peugeot 104, Fiat 127 and Renault 5 until the arrival of Ford's Fiesta at the end of 1976.

Although the Chevette had a small engine, it was perfectly capable of sprightly performance.

The Chevette had a light steering, clutch and gearchange, as well as good visibility and was spacious inside.

The Viva remained on sale until the end of 1979, when the Opel Kadett D-based Vauxhall Astra was launched, while the Chevette remained on sale until 1984, itself being replaced by the slightly smaller Vauxhall Nova that was launched in 1983, with Chevette production being reduced in November 1981, when Astra production was moved to the Ellesmere Port factory.

This longevity led to the Chevette being exported to Germany after 1979, following the discontinuation of the Kadett C ; here the Chevette was an unusual small car in that it still featured rear wheel drive.

At the end of 1979, Vauxhall moved into the modern family hatchback market with its Astra, ( Opel Kadett elsewhere ) range that replaced the ageing Viva and Chevette models.

1974 – Vauxhall moves into the mini-car sector with the introduction of its Chevette, a rear-wheel drive range of hatchbacks, saloons and estates.

Despite the low production run, the aerodynamic qualities and styling of the " droopsnoot " were incorporated, with improved productionisation, into most of Vauxhall's remaining 1970s new models: the Chevette, Cavalier and Carlton.

They created a far more powerful Chevette variant by fitting the much larger 2. 3 litre Slant Four engine into the shell, using a sixteen valve cylinder head which Vauxhall was developing.

To keep the rally car competitive into the 1980s an evolution version, the Chevette HSR, was developed which held its own for several more years.

In 2000, Hot Rod magazine swapped a Cadillac engine into a 1980 Chevette.

It gives BL a long-awaited modern competitor for the likes of the Ford Fiesta and Vauxhall Chevette.

Other two-door station wagons in Europe included the Ford Escort, Morris 1100, Vauxhall Viva, Vauxhall Chevette, Fiat 127, and Saab 95.

1982 – Vauxhall announces the launch of the Nova supermini, which will eventually replace the Chevette.

The Vauxhall Chevette's shovel-nose resembled that of Chevrolet Chevette | its stateside cousin

Vauxhall Chevette, a rare HSR rally model in road-going trim

Vauxhall Chevette 4-door saloon ( pre-facelift )

In 1980, the Chevette underwent a facelift with flush fitting headlights, giving it a " family look " alongside the larger Vauxhall Cavalier.

The Chevette was the last Vauxhall sold in France.

The Vauxhall 1. 3L ( from the Viva and Magnum ) was the standard engine unit for all Chevette models.

A similarly constituted copy of the Vauxhall Chevette was created to replace the original Grumett.

In conjunction with Blydenstein Racing, who ran Dealer Team Vauxhall, the nearest thing to a ' works ' competition effort, they developed a rally version of the Chevette.

However, the merger of the Vauxhall and Opel marketing departments had already resulted in Dealer Team Vauxhall and Dealer Opel Team ( DOT ) joining to form GM Dealer Sport ( GMDS ); with the Chevette soon to be obsolete, Opel were able to force the cancellation of the HSR rally programme in favour of the Manta 400.

It was based on the GM T platform Vauxhall Chevette estate, however unlike the Chevette it had a flat rear floor, no rear seats and panels in place of the side windows.

* August 1983-With the introduction of the Nova four months earlier, the Chevette range was reduced to just the Chevette L 4-door Saloon and 3-door Estate.

This resulted in the entire Chevette range being re-suspended on wider tyres, and tuned suspension, giving the car superior handling over its rivals.

A panel van and three-door wagon were also added to the range, the rear bodywork pressings being from the British Vauxhall Chevette / Bedford Chevanne range.

In 1981 the TE was introduced to New Zealand, replacing the British-sourced Vauxhall Chevette range.

The Sunbeam's main competitors in the UK, the Ford Escort, Vauxhall Chevette and Austin Allegro were produced in different body styles to cater for a broader range of customer.

Although the Chevette was largely a rebadged Opel Kadett C with revised front-end ( detailed below ), it did use the 1256 cc overhead valve ( OHV ) engine of the Viva instead of the Kadett's units, which were produced by Opel.

S Africa also saw a three-door hatch developed off the Viva rather than taking on the then new Chevette / Kadett City ( see next paragraph ).

The Astra name originated with Vauxhall's 1980 model, though the car had originally been launched almost a year earlier as the Opel Kadett D. This model replaced the Vauxhall Viva in the UK, along with some versions of the Vauxhall Chevette.

It was revised in 1978 as the 1. 9 L became a 2. 0 L engine and the 1. 3 L OHV engine from the Vauxhall Viva and Vauxhall Chevette was used to create the entry level Cavalier 1. 3 variant.

Along with the 1971 – 1979 Vauxhall HC Viva, 1965 – 1971 FB and FC Victors, and 1976 – 1981 Vauxhall Chevette ranges, and Austin Allegro, Maxi and Princess, the Avenger was one of several British models to be sold in New Zealand but not Australia.