RE: PH Carpool: Vauxhall Nova GSI

RE: PH Carpool: Vauxhall Nova GSI

Monday 18th February 2013

PH Carpool: Vauxhall Nova GSI

This week's Carpooler looks beyond the Nova's image and saves one with some interesting history



Name: Ben Nightingale
Car: Vauxhall Nova GSI
Owned since: 2007
Previously owned: Vauxhall Nova SR, GSI, Peugeot 205 1.9 GTI. Along with company cars and my current VW Golf GTI

Grist connection makes for added interest
Grist connection makes for added interest
Why I bought it:
“Having owned Vauxhall Novas in the past, for some reason you get to love them. When you sell one, and are for a short period without one, it’s not long before you want another.

“I briefly moved onto a 205 1.9 GTI. A one-owner barn find that my intention was to restore. The car was great and but never 100 per cent finished so it had to go and free up room for...

“My Nova was previously owned by Nicky Grist and was used as his toy/commuting car during his world rally winning year of 1993. In 1996 it was bought by someone who knew him and was stored, with little use, until 2007 when I took ownership of it. The car had 70,000 miles, and the previous owner had kept all MoTs and even all tax discs. It was another barn find that I couldn't resist.”

What I wish I’d known:
“As with any car, when you have owned a few you get to know them inside out. But truth is this car had been so well looked after brushing the dust off it was like new. If I had to think of one thing I guess it would be finding out that the car was 100 per cent original and, it wasn't long before a few trips out in the rain, and the poor old arch was starting to bubble. I have learnt now not to drive these in wet weather.”

No three-spokes but we'll forgive that
No three-spokes but we'll forgive that
Things I love:
“It doesn't handle like my old 205 GTI, and by no means is it fast but driving the Nova gives me great driving satisfaction. All but the wheels and exhaust are standard. I can’t remember seeing another Nova GSI without a redtop, or big speaker holes in the door cards that's why I enjoy driving mine as it would have been driven new. With only 264 (70 on the road, 264 SORN’d by my figures) GSIs remaining, they are now a rare sight and for such a cheap little car, the attention and looks it gets makes the ownership that little bit more special.”

Things I hate:
“I have had a few hateful Novas in the past, but this one doesn't seem to be. I guess the only thing to hate about a Nova is the stigma of driving one.”

Costs:
“Service parts have and always will be cheap for Novas but with all models, especially the GSI, in decline, obsolescence on interior/engine parts is gradually increasing. Paying a big premium for little items is becoming the norm.”

There aren't many as original as this left
There aren't many as original as this left
Where I’ve been:
“As the car spends the winter months hiding from the salty winter roads it only gets use from April onwards. Its main use is for car shows, classic, retro and the odd PistonHeads Sunday Service. When the weather is nice I do try venture on some day trips but the car is yet to venture in Europe.  I have booked Le Mans this year so I am hopeful that it will make its maiden voyage over the channel.”

What next?
“I am currently in the process of purchasing another Nova to do a bit of hill climbing and sprints in. As for my white GSI, it’s here to stay but I'm hoping not to neglect it this summer. Only plans I have for it will be a new rear arch and a standard exhaust, if they are any GM ones out there!”

Author
Discussion

anonymous-user

Original Poster:

53 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
Ultimate cool un chavved version. I'd rally the hell out of this.

HorneyMX5

5,306 posts

149 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
Lovely. I have a hankering for an early SR in yellow.

joe_90

4,206 posts

230 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
I remember getting pissed quite a few years ago when my pals 1.4SR was quicker in my XR2..
However, it soon was not quick when he parked it in the back of a volvo.

gshughes

1,277 posts

254 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
Wasn't it Colin McRae's first proper rally car? (continuing the Nick Grist connection).

FamilyDub

3,587 posts

164 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
I had a nice 'J' plate 1.4 Nova Luxe, in maroon, in the spring of 2000.

Whilst it was reliable and cheap to run, it stealthily managed to solidify my brewing contempt for Vauxhalls.

This one looks in nice, original condition though.

IanJ9375

1,467 posts

215 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
gshughes said:
Wasn't it Colin McRae's first proper rally car? (continuing the Nick Grist connection).
That was the Nova Sport I believe, Twin 40's on a 1.3, my first car


Love the Speedline Alessio's on the Gsi - lovely wheel, easy to clean and still doesn't look as dated as a lot of aftermarket wheels

pSyCoSiS

3,581 posts

204 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
A nice, un-chavved example.

LordFlathead

9,641 posts

257 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
I went to look at these when they first came out. Would have bought a new one but it was too small for our then growing family. Great to see and original unmolested example thumbup

Captain Muppet

8,540 posts

264 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
I'm a sucker for anything with box-flaired arches. Nova, Quattro, Integrale, Excel, 944, FC RX7.

Admittedly the Nova is the only one of those I don't really want to have, but that doesn't stop me liking the arches.

nottyash

4,670 posts

194 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
Never liked these, and never rated them as a driving experience. My friend bought one new, and I bought a Suzuki Swift Gti. The Suzuki felt so much better to drive, was cheaper, and actually a fair bit faster. It was the same story with the Charade Gtti, in fact them little 1.0 turbos would leave the Nova, and was most suprising car I owned at the time.

Frimley111R

15,537 posts

233 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
Looks lovely but, nice though the wheels are, I'd be inclined to put originals back on.

No interior pics?

LaurasOtherHalf

21,429 posts

195 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
one of my saved searches on ebay is for "nova sport".

i looked at one when i was 17 in the scottish borders but it had had a 1.4 conversion which put me off, ended up buying a rotten 1.3SR that inevitably got smashed, rebuilt & then sold on.

there's one on the 'bay at the moment but it's stripped down & in bits & i'm disparately trying not top go & look at it!


molineux1980

1,197 posts

218 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
I like that, very refreshing to see an un-messed with example.

xrv

544 posts

214 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
HorneyMX5 said:
Lovely. I have a hankering for an early SR in yellow.
I wanted one of those so badly when I was 17. Almost bought a 1.2 Merit that had been painted yellow and grey and badged up as a 1.3 SR.
I still really like the idea of having a white standard looking SR with a 2.0 redtop engine.

405dogvan

5,326 posts

264 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
The Nova has finally gotten over it's absolutely AWFUL image by becoming rare I see smile

Nice car actually - but I don't think I can shake-off my memory of what almost every stock Nova was actually like - which was a cheaply made and AWFUL car to drive.

People have done quite amazing things with them but to compare any stock Nova with, say, an R5GT or a 205GTi is heresy - they compare with XR2s smile

Amirhussain

11,486 posts

162 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
molineux1980 said:
I like that, very refreshing to see an un-messed with example.
+1. Quite nice looking car too.

jeremy996

316 posts

225 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
It is nice to see an un-messed with one, it's years since I have seen one.

My wife and I have been through most of the older Novas and if anyone know the whereabouts of one of them, I'd like to be reacquainted. We owned these between 1984 and 1993.

Wife's, 1.0l base in Carmine Red A595JRY
Mine, 1.2 Swing in Carmine Red B45OBC
Mine, 1.3SR, in red,(same again), E383KJF
Wife's, 1.2 Star, in red, cannot remember the number
Mine, 1.6 GTE, in red(!), G859XRY

The last one was sold, via Aston Vauxhall in Melton Mowbray, for the Morgan 4/4 I still have.

phototropic

24 posts

133 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
xrv said:
I wanted one of those so badly when I was 17. Almost bought a 1.2 Merit that had been painted yellow and grey and badged up as a 1.3 SR.
I still really like the idea of having a white standard looking SR with a 2.0 redtop engine.
A guy at my school had a 1.2 Merit and switched the badges so it said 2.1. Who could possibly be impressed by this.

Type R Tom

3,859 posts

148 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
My Dad had 1990 1.4 SR with 150k+ miles on it that he was going to give to me as my first car. Little did he know what they had become in the “max power” world, he nearly fell off his seat when he got the insurance quote. So the Nova got sold and was replaced with a 1.0l VW Polo. A great car and a lot newer but not as cool in my 17 year old eyes

Steve_F

860 posts

193 months

Monday 18th February 2013
quotequote all
Saw a Nova the other week and my first thought was enthusiast rather than chav. Have these now transcended their image of complete chav mobiles as they have moved on to other cars?