Discussion
https://www.mathewsons.co.uk/auction/lot/lot-132--...
https://www.mathewsons.co.uk/auction/lot/lot-214--...
In period I was never a great Vauxhall fan but these are simply lovely and great to see . I never realised they came in two different engine sizes . When placed against the Fords of the same period is it fair to say that the Vauxhalls comparative rarity makes it that bit more interesting ?
https://www.mathewsons.co.uk/auction/lot/lot-214--...
In period I was never a great Vauxhall fan but these are simply lovely and great to see . I never realised they came in two different engine sizes . When placed against the Fords of the same period is it fair to say that the Vauxhalls comparative rarity makes it that bit more interesting ?
Edited by reddiesel on Friday 31st May 17:42
I'm a bit biased, but I like having stuff that's a bit unusual. The down side is that parts can be challenging, and because there are fewer cars to cater for, it's difficult to get companies to invest in having stuff made. But that's mainly stuff like body panels, mechanically there are solutions to a lot of problems.
t Viva estate that my parents had, it was rough-it would have been 1982 ish my dad used it as a deposit for a beautiful 1976 Daimler sovereign!! What a day that was !!in early 70s Dad exchanged a very good Rover P5 3 litre Coupe for a Vauxhall 1300L Viva 1973 ,, somehow squeezed mum , the three of us kids a boxer dog, and towed a trailer tent from Dorset to Whitby , must have taken 10 hours . had the horsepower of a rice pudding got stuck in a field in robin hoods bay !
bloody horrible car coming from the leather of a P5 ..... eventually he saw sense and traded it in for a 1974 mark 3 Cortina 2000 E estate ... which was the car i learned to drive in
Purosangue said:
in early 70s Dad exchanged a very good Rover P5 3 litre Coupe for a Vauxhall 1300L Viva 1973 ,, somehow squeezed mum , the three of us kids a boxer dog, and towed a trailer tent from Dorset to Whitby , must have taken 10 hours . had the horsepower of a rice pudding got stuck in a field in robin hoods bay !
bloody horrible car coming from the leather of a P5 ..... eventually he saw sense and traded it in for a 1974 mark 3 Cortina 2000 E estate ... which was the car i learned to drive in
Similar story: my granddad had an MG 1300 which he traded for a gold Viva 1300 SL. It was the quintessential grandparents' car, with a picnic blanket, trilby and tin of boiled sweets in the back. He went all over in that car, sometimes with my dad driving and with 4 of us in the back seat.bloody horrible car coming from the leather of a P5 ..... eventually he saw sense and traded it in for a 1974 mark 3 Cortina 2000 E estate ... which was the car i learned to drive in
It was traded for a purple Cortina Mk3.
Magnums were regarded as rather louche cars as I recall. As a car mad kid I remember being impressed by the 7 dial dash in the 2300, and the size of the engine, must have been one of the largest fours you could get back then.
My grandparents on my Dad's side had a string of Vivas (Magnum too flashy for them), always had a webasto roof fitted and sheepskin seat covers!
Last one was a Viva S, some kind of special edition in pale metallic blue with a side stripe, blue vinyl roof and - gasp - pale blue cloth upholstery.
They were quite roomy and comfortable but otherwise a bit carp. Terrible wheezy 1300 engines in particular, so the Magnums might have been quite a big improvement in that way.
My grandparents on my Dad's side had a string of Vivas (Magnum too flashy for them), always had a webasto roof fitted and sheepskin seat covers!
Last one was a Viva S, some kind of special edition in pale metallic blue with a side stripe, blue vinyl roof and - gasp - pale blue cloth upholstery.
They were quite roomy and comfortable but otherwise a bit carp. Terrible wheezy 1300 engines in particular, so the Magnums might have been quite a big improvement in that way.
Back in the early 80's we were doing a sprint at Lydden Hill in our RS2 only to have the clutch fail in practise. There was a nice chap in a black 2.3 Droopsnoot who very kindly offered to let me have a go in it, which i did.
I have to say, it was probably the worse handling car i have ever driven, i suspect this particular example might have been set up wrong, rear was very stiff front quite soft, no LSD, steering VERY heavy and it understeered like a pig.
Sorry to say that i put it in the bank on the bend that leads up Hairy Hill, very minor damage which the owner was absolutely fine about. We did pay for the repair though i seem to recall.
Nice looking cars, I'm sure they don't all handle like a bucket of lard though
I have to say, it was probably the worse handling car i have ever driven, i suspect this particular example might have been set up wrong, rear was very stiff front quite soft, no LSD, steering VERY heavy and it understeered like a pig.
Sorry to say that i put it in the bank on the bend that leads up Hairy Hill, very minor damage which the owner was absolutely fine about. We did pay for the repair though i seem to recall.
Nice looking cars, I'm sure they don't all handle like a bucket of lard though
Always liked the Magnum 2300. A mate had a very early one at the same time as I had my Panther (with a similar engine), lovely grunty things, for their day, and the motor to have in a CF... if you could afford the fuel.
I've also long fancied a Holden Torana, the Magnum is about the closest thing we had over here...
I've also long fancied a Holden Torana, the Magnum is about the closest thing we had over here...
sjabrown said:
They do look a positive bargain compared to anything with a Ford badge attached. Quite good looking things.
In general they are though the rarer ones are beginning to climb . As some of us have said before there was tremendous brand loyalty back then which I don't think really exists anymore . A lovely tradition Vauxhall had of shoehorning large engines into run of the mill cars . Here is another corker I came across whilst browsinghttps://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186445525557?itmmeta=01...
reddiesel said:
sjabrown said:
They do look a positive bargain compared to anything with a Ford badge attached. Quite good looking things.
In general they are though the rarer ones are beginning to climb . As some of us have said before there was tremendous brand loyalty back then which I don't think really exists anymore . A lovely tradition Vauxhall had of shoehorning large engines into run of the mill cars . Here is another corker I came across whilst browsinghttps://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186445525557?itmmeta=01...
reddiesel said:
A lovely tradition Vauxhall had of shoehorning large engines into run of the mill cars . Here is another corker I came across whilst browsing
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186445525557?itmmeta=01...
As a 10/11 year old I quite fell in love with a 3.3 Viscount (auto). https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/186445525557?itmmeta=01...
All because the Headmistress of the secondary school that my parents intended to send me to drove one and took three of us from my primary school to an open day at the new school.
I think my father had a 2.5 PI Triumph (manual) at the time but this sounded glorious in comparison.
With hindsight this could be either because my father drove like a snail or the Viscount had a two speed auto?
and31 said:
As nice as that is it’s serious money-I’d rather have a lovely series1 Xj6 for that sort of money
Funny you say that because as you can read from the Advert apparently the Viscount was named Businessmen"s Car of the Year or something in the mid sixties . Upon reading I immediately thought XJ6 before realising we were still a year or two away from Jaguars masterpieceGassing Station | Classic Cars and Yesterday's Heroes | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff