Tony Ponds Old Chevette

[reddiesel]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335277042394?itmmeta=01...


I suppose for some , this would be the Vauxhall equivalent of Ari Vatanens RS1800 . What about the price ? It seems reasonable money to me

[Jordie Barretts sock]

LWB? Long Wheelbase?

I didn't think there was such a thing on a Chevette. Never heard of it before. They used a Viva HC chassis didn't they?

Lovely looking thing, but I can't see it making that money.

[TarquinMX5]

I've always quite liked these as they're just a little different from the more-common Fords; a similar one sold a couple of years ago for c£75k, but I've no idea what is was like.

IIRC, the 'LWB' was something to do with the front crossmember being moved forward, possibly engine mounted to body, but I might have that wrong.

[Jordie Barretts sock]

Ahh, thanks for that.

[aeropilot]

TarquinMX5 said:

I've always quite liked these as they're just a little different from the more-common Fords; a similar one sold a couple of years ago for c£75k, but I've no idea what is was like.

IIRC, the 'LWB' was something to do with the front crossmember being moved forward, possibly engine mounted to body, but I might have that wrong.

Yes, from long domant memory cells, the 'lwb' was to do with the engine mounting position, which was 3 or 4" or something like that mounted further back in the bodyshell compared to a road going HSR.


306W is the car Tony Pond drove on the 1982 RAC Rally......well, for day 1 at least until he crashed out on SS10 in typical Pondy fashion

It looks silly without pukka magnesium Minilites though.

[s m]

reddiesel said:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/335277042394?itmmeta=01...


I suppose for some , this would be the Vauxhall equivalent of Ari Vatanens RS1800 . What about the price ? It seems reasonable money to me

Seeing that makes me think of watching Man against Man rally video many times with my friends …… although that Chevette was a digit lower

[nismocat]

£115k...





Ahh, that is funny. I am a fan of the HSR but that is just silly.

[aeropilot]

nismocat said:

£115k...





Ahh, that is funny. I am a fan of the HSR but that is just silly.

That's actually quite cheap for any ex-works Grp.4 rally car with history.

[Mark A S]

Actually, compared with "works" escorts [ well the very few originals ] that seems a fair price to me, albeit there all over priced IMO.

Love the original interior, exterior needs a blast through a forest, and like Aero says, get it back on some pukka 13" minilites

[TGCOTF-dewey]

aeropilot said:

nismocat said:

£115k...





Ahh, that is funny. I am a fan of the HSR but that is just silly.

That's actually quite cheap for any ex-works Grp.4 rally car with history.

That was my thought too.

I've seen period recreation escorts not far off that.

[anonymous-user]

Expensive but not to a collector and it’s like you’re going to drive it every day. To some it’s an old Vauxhall, to others it’s a piece of motorsport history. I like it.

[reddiesel]

Its a lot of money and I wonder how you would get "out of it" when the time comes . Nobody has a crystal ball but can you imagine this Car at £150,000 ten years from now ? Strange times .

[CKY]

TGCOTF-dewey said:

aeropilot said:

nismocat said:

£115k...





Ahh, that is funny. I am a fan of the HSR but that is just silly.

That's actually quite cheap for any ex-works Grp.4 rally car with history.

That was my thought too.

I've seen period recreation escorts not far off that.

I would agree, however this car has been advertised for the past 12 months at least, with the price dropping from £135k to £115k in that time, so the fact it's still not sold suggests 'the market' for these cars would beg to differ. Looks a great bit of fun either way.

[reddiesel]

wormus said:

Expensive but not to a collector and it’s like you’re going to drive it every day. To some it’s an old Vauxhall, to others it’s a piece of motorsport history. I like it.

It must be a very limited marketplace Wormus ?

[aeropilot]

CKY said:

TGCOTF-dewey said:

aeropilot said:

nismocat said:

£115k...





Ahh, that is funny. I am a fan of the HSR but that is just silly.

That's actually quite cheap for any ex-works Grp.4 rally car with history.

That was my thought too.

I've seen period recreation escorts not far off that.

I would agree, however this car has been advertised for the past 12 months at least, with the price dropping from £135k to £115k in that time, so the fact it's still not sold suggests 'the market' for these cars would beg to differ. Looks a great bit of fun either way.

The problem with the Shoveit is the engine, and the rarity of the parts for it if you are going to abuse it in competition. This is why you don't really see them much in historic rallying, despite being one of the best of the last era 2wd Grp.4 cars.

I don't even know now who the go-to engine builder would be for the 16v Vauxhall lump with Bill long since gone...?

[anonymous-user]

reddiesel said:

It must be a very limited marketplace Wormus ?

Bargain compared to something like this
https://cars.bonhams.com/auction/27997/lot/237P/19...

[droopsnoot]

Jordie Barretts sock said:

They used a Viva HC chassis didn't they?

No, Opel Kadett GTE I think. Not the same as Viva, in any case, though there will be similarities.

There are engine people around, I know Stuart Anderson at Magardsport does a lot with Chevettes but I'm more into my HCs, so I don't know who he uses for that kind of thing now.

[ds666]

aeropilot said:

CKY said:

TGCOTF-dewey said:

aeropilot said:

nismocat said:

£115k...





Ahh, that is funny. I am a fan of the HSR but that is just silly.

That's actually quite cheap for any ex-works Grp.4 rally car with history.

That was my thought too.

I've seen period recreation escorts not far off that.

I would agree, however this car has been advertised for the past 12 months at least, with the price dropping from £135k to £115k in that time, so the fact it's still not sold suggests 'the market' for these cars would beg to differ. Looks a great bit of fun either way.

The problem with the Shoveit is the engine, and the rarity of the parts for it if you are going to abuse it in competition. This is why you don't really see them much in historic rallying, despite being one of the best of the last era 2wd Grp.4 cars.

I don't even know now who the go-to engine builder would be for the 16v Vauxhall lump with Bill long since gone...?

How similar to the Lotus 907 engine is the Vauxhall ?

[aeropilot]

ds666 said:

aeropilot said:

CKY said:

TGCOTF-dewey said:

aeropilot said:

nismocat said:

£115k...





Ahh, that is funny. I am a fan of the HSR but that is just silly.

That's actually quite cheap for any ex-works Grp.4 rally car with history.

That was my thought too.

I've seen period recreation escorts not far off that.

I would agree, however this car has been advertised for the past 12 months at least, with the price dropping from £135k to £115k in that time, so the fact it's still not sold suggests 'the market' for these cars would beg to differ. Looks a great bit of fun either way.

The problem with the Shoveit is the engine, and the rarity of the parts for it if you are going to abuse it in competition. This is why you don't really see them much in historic rallying, despite being one of the best of the last era 2wd Grp.4 cars.

I don't even know now who the go-to engine builder would be for the 16v Vauxhall lump with Bill long since gone...?

How similar to the Lotus 907 engine is the Vauxhall ?

Err. 4 cylinders that happen to be same bore centres.....and they are both slanted arrangement, but after that, nothing.

People think they are similar as the coincidence of the slant arrangement (as both were designed with intentions of being doubled up to a V8) and the fact that Lotus when they found out the bore centres were the same, used a Bedford CF van as a test mule for their own head development.
Vauxhall also installed a Lotus engine in the Chevette in early chassis development of the rally Chevette before their own engine was ready, so people think there is inchangeability between the two as regards parts, but there isn't. Heads are very different, as just looking at them is clear.

[reddiesel]

aeropilot said:

The problem with the Shoveit is the engine, and the rarity of the parts for it if you are going to abuse it in competition. This is why you don't really see them much in historic rallying, despite being one of the best of the last era 2wd Grp.4 cars.

I don't even know now who the go-to engine builder would be for the 16v Vauxhall lump with Bill long since gone...?

Fascinating and interesting that bit of information about its comparative absence from Historic Rallying