The 1903 Vauxhall 5HP that can crack 155mph

“Light commercial vehicle” and “Festival of Speed” don’t normally trip off the tongue in the same sentence, but Vauxhall has put a rocket under that idea.

LCV of the FoS weekend has to be the Luton firm’s new VXR8 Maloo. This supercharged V8 pick-up truck (or “ute” in deference to its Australian upbringing) has always been fast and lairy, but in new LSA form with another 100hp it promises to be a real beast. Vauxhall says it’s the most powerful and fastest LCV you can buy. We say we can’t wait to see, and hear, it take on the Goodwood hill in the First Glance category over the big weekend.

But probably not with its ancestor in its load bed as the pictures show… That’s a neat photo opp to neatly showcase Vauxhall’s performance bookends 113 years apart – and also to show that, with a payload of 500kg, the latest Maloo is still a hauler at heart. The 1903 Vauxhall 5HP weighs just 272kg.

What’s under the bonnet will be of most interest to FoS fans though: nothing less than the latest 6.2-litre V8 from the Chevy Camaro ZL1. With 536bhp the Maloo has 107 times the power of its forebear! And there’s almost 500 foot-pounds of torque as well; no wonder this cataclysmic commercial will be relying on its launch control system to get off the line cleanly at FoS.

Performance? A top speed limited to 155mph and 0-62mph in an estimated 4.3 sec. Vauxhall also estimates it will be able to despatch the hill in around 55 sec – about three minutes quicker than the 1903 car.

One other figure shows the difference 113 years makes: the 5HP cost 130 guineas, the new Maloo LSA comes in at £54,520…

Since its launch here in 2012 the Maloo, made in Australia and based on the VXR8 hot saloon that Holden makes for Vauxhall, has been what you could call a niche player (just a handful have been sold). But we have a feeling that for a few minutes every day at FoS it’s going to be a real hero…