Ooooh! Now you have opened a can of worms that I'm all to happy to digest!
I'll start on the 2-Strokes -
First, let be known Victa was bought out by Briggs and Stratton in the late 2000's. Ever since, less and less models were available with the Victa 2-Stroke engine.
From memory, Victa announced they would stop making 2-Strokes around 2015/2016. Production lasted a bit longer than that as demand seemed to be high, I was told "they
found some more engines". In the last years of production, that engine was made in China, then assembled in South Australia.
I bought two brand new 2-Stroke Victa's for keepsakes, a Mustang in 2015 and the second one a MasterCut was in April 2018, one of the last. Both have at least paid for themselves three times over in that time.
Mustang (Absolutely nothing gets in the way of this thing!) -
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Mastercut 460 (They are only this clean once!) -
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Check out the long range fuel tank on this model. I accidentally snapped the fuel tap on tank, emptying the better part of 5.4 litres of 2-Stoke fuel into the tray of my ute, was not happy after that! Had to replace the whole tank too.
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In terms of other engines Victa has used over the years, there have been a couple.
For a period during the 1990's, Victa were fitting Tecumseh engines. These were a direct competitor to B&S engines, they even had side-valves and similar cubic capacity. These were not popular engines on Victa's. Tecumseh is no longer either.
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Honda engines have also been used on and off, they were available up until recently on their commercial mowers. I guess B&S didn't want the competition. Both the OHC GCV 160 and OHV GXV 160 were used.
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For a brief period to get a lower price point, just before B&S bought Victa, they were using a Chinese made OHV engine they called the V40.
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In the same vein, Victa currently have a selected range of models fitted with a similar Chinese made engine they call the V127, V144 and V170, the numbers denoting the cubic capacity. These engines are sold up $100 less than their B&S equivalents.
https://www.victa.com/au/en_au/produ...ette--400.html
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What annoys me is that Victa as a brand is the orginator of the lawn mower as we know it. Why do they cheapen their brand image with cost driven models that are nothing more than cheaply re-branded crap, both engines and mowers overall. The Sonic and Corvette V127 are prime examples.
https://www.victa.com/au/en_au/produ...ers/sonic.html
https://www.victa.com/au/en_au/produ...ette-v127.html
I know they are doing this to compete with the Aldi and Big W specials, but it cheapens the brand that should be proud to make and sell a premium product, with premium engines.