RE: SOTW: Vauxhall Cavalier Sports Hatch
Discussion
I had a 2L in the same colour / interior combo, but with a manual. It was a shed 15 years ago.
The sunroof leaked, the surroundless glass in the widows used to have about an inch of movement away from the shut rubbers on the roof. The fuel tank was rotten, and the ride was appaling.
Every few hundered miles one of the actuators for the smaller choke used to pop out of the crappy "Pieburg? carb, which meant it had two speeds, full on or full off.
Ended up growing mushrooms in it behind the house for a year before I towed it to the tip.
Highlights included the gear stick which had a length of about 2ft, the orange/brown corded seats, the sunroof was completely removeable (targa :P), and the orange flecked brown carpet. Oh and the fact that you used to be able to slide the back out around a roundabout.
I still have a complete set of wheels and tyres in my garage if anyone is interested.
Z
The sunroof leaked, the surroundless glass in the widows used to have about an inch of movement away from the shut rubbers on the roof. The fuel tank was rotten, and the ride was appaling.
Every few hundered miles one of the actuators for the smaller choke used to pop out of the crappy "Pieburg? carb, which meant it had two speeds, full on or full off.
Ended up growing mushrooms in it behind the house for a year before I towed it to the tip.
Highlights included the gear stick which had a length of about 2ft, the orange/brown corded seats, the sunroof was completely removeable (targa :P), and the orange flecked brown carpet. Oh and the fact that you used to be able to slide the back out around a roundabout.
I still have a complete set of wheels and tyres in my garage if anyone is interested.
Z
Brings back some memories!
I had a coupe version, think it was a 1.9 GL, wasnt much good but then had a very nice Opel Ascona 2.0 SR which with some upgraded suspension and a kent cam was a great old thing to drive. As a teenager it felt like I had a real car rather than a Fiesta or mk2 escort the Ascona was a huge step up.
The opel ones always came with a better spec and looked better than the vauxhall versions.
I had a coupe version, think it was a 1.9 GL, wasnt much good but then had a very nice Opel Ascona 2.0 SR which with some upgraded suspension and a kent cam was a great old thing to drive. As a teenager it felt like I had a real car rather than a Fiesta or mk2 escort the Ascona was a huge step up.
The opel ones always came with a better spec and looked better than the vauxhall versions.
I love it, and have always loved these.
Back when I was a kid a family member was into Vauxhalls in a big way. He got a new T reg cavalier GLS in green, but swapped it for a lilac Manta SR (with alloy wheels!) a few months later.
If I recall right they had a big black padded roll bar thing over the B posts becuase the doors were frameless.
If I had one it would be this colour. Bloke nearby had a new one when I was a kid and I think there is still a mint T or V reg one in this colour hiding in a grage near my mums. I see it occasionally being cleaned in the summer.
I'm not sure how good a car this would be, but as with a few SOTW cars its the nostalgia that's the attraction.
I have a brochure on this car somewhere, I rekcon it would be called something like Inca Bronze rather than brown.
Back when I was a kid a family member was into Vauxhalls in a big way. He got a new T reg cavalier GLS in green, but swapped it for a lilac Manta SR (with alloy wheels!) a few months later.
If I recall right they had a big black padded roll bar thing over the B posts becuase the doors were frameless.
If I had one it would be this colour. Bloke nearby had a new one when I was a kid and I think there is still a mint T or V reg one in this colour hiding in a grage near my mums. I see it occasionally being cleaned in the summer.
I'm not sure how good a car this would be, but as with a few SOTW cars its the nostalgia that's the attraction.
I have a brochure on this car somewhere, I rekcon it would be called something like Inca Bronze rather than brown.
gforceg said:
Malam said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIFUsqAbbrI
Do you think Ari Vatenan could have driven a Capri in the same manner?
Clips like that give me goose bumps. Stunning.Do you think Ari Vatenan could have driven a Capri in the same manner?
Had that been me I think the response might have been rather less repeatable !
Massive respect to all that drove in that era of rallying.
Leptons said:
Nice! Fond memories of Cavaliers because they were the cars my dad had up until I was about 7/8. First a Y reg in chocolate Brown, then an F reg in invalid carriage Blue (That got stolen from Leeds on a trip to Brewery Warf)
Oh and cracking set of Wheel Trims!
Ditto!Oh and cracking set of Wheel Trims!
My Dad had a yellow saloon with leather look roof and after that he had a 1981 hatchack that lasted till 104k until the rot eventually took over.
OllieC said:
I love that clip, " ohhh dear god "
Had that been me I think the response might have been rather less repeatable !
Massive respect to all that drove in that era of rallying.
Do you not think that part of the reason Rallying (and many other motorsports) have suffered such a popular decline (in terms of TV coverage and general public awareness at least) is because modern rally cars are so 'digital'.Had that been me I think the response might have been rather less repeatable !
Massive respect to all that drove in that era of rallying.
Instant computer-controlled gearshifts, traction control and other stuff make it all look easy - I'm sure it isn't, but seeing someone drive 'your' car like that did something for people that seeing Ken Block in 'his' Fiesta probably never will...
Ahhh - Nostalgia. I dreamed of the fastback, lumbered as I was with the saloon version of the 1.6... Even with 75bhp twas still easy to get the back end out in the wet though.
Crashed it three times, sold it to a mate in '91 for £50. To my knowledge he still has it in a barn somewhere.
Crashed it three times, sold it to a mate in '91 for £50. To my knowledge he still has it in a barn somewhere.
CampDavid said:
One of the best sheds for a while. Chiefly because you could buy it and use it for a grand while it looks a bit interesting.
Go into the weekend with your head held high, whoever hunted this one out
I would love to take the credit, but the honours must go to MotorsportTom (are you out there?), who sent us the link, and whom I had cruelly forgotten to credit. Until you reminded me Go into the weekend with your head held high, whoever hunted this one out
I had one in 1985, a V reg Pistachio Green!!! It had a £400 suspension kit on it (lot of money then) and the then new Goodyear NCT, combined with a fast road cam, it taught me a lot about oversteer!!! Very reliable, cheap to run. Sold it in 1986 to put the money towards a house, then spending my time driving a very low rent Allegro 1.1 series 3, until I could afford better.
davidy
davidy
ChasW said:
I had the Manta version, two door coupe, with 1.9 engine. A joy to drive. I agree with others that it was way superior to the equivalent Capri and much cooler. Mine was light metallic blue with standard alloys. Vauxhall versions were slighly less attractive in my opinion.
I would agree the Opel versions always seemed to be painted in better colours and if you had some of the more up range versions had nice alloys, also think the slotted grill did much to improve the front endGeat shed, had a blue 1.6 saloon with slotmag wheels fitted, looked really good, sold it and bought a dark brown 2000 gls sports hatch and this was the muts nuts at the time. Loved it but sporty it was not! Good high speed motorway car and fast enough to be entertaining. Only car I have ever sold for more than I paid for it. Bought a Astra GTE Mk1, that was much more fun, but that's another story.
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