RE: Spotted: 1974 Vauxhall Firenza HPF
Discussion
mikele pirelli said:
I think you have to look at the Firenza In the context of the time.
The ultimate Escort was the BDA RS1800 as rare as hobby horse
droppings .... I never knew anyone who ran one as a street car.
In the real worild if you wanted a Sporty Escort you had the
choice of a 1.6 Pinto engined Mexico, or the 2.0 Pinto RS2000,
in flat front or shovel nosed RS2000 Custom spec.
The RS produced a whole 9-10 bhp more than the 2.0 Cortina/Capri
the engine came from, at about 110 bhp ( a lot then )
They were ALL expensive cars for the average guy in the street,
The Custom RS was quite a rare sight.
The Firenza HP was much rarer still and knocked out as has been
said, about 135 bhp ....and was a very expensive car for the day.
That power level incidentally was almost the same as a 3.0 ESSEX
V6 Capri, before you started playing with it .
You would have had to have been there to get it, I think.
Other manufacturers had a sporty car, Holbay Hunter/ Avenger Tiger,
Dolomite Sprint, etc in various levels of desirability.
All these years later Firenza may not seem as exciting and avant garde
now, but at the time ....
And that's coming from a Ford man ( Cortina 2.0, Capri 2.0, 3.0,
and two 2.8i's before I got over it )
edited to clarify: this is the mk2 Escort I'm referring to here.
Similar timeframe to the Firenza under discussion.
Agree about putting the 'snoot into the context of the time.The ultimate Escort was the BDA RS1800 as rare as hobby horse
droppings .... I never knew anyone who ran one as a street car.
In the real worild if you wanted a Sporty Escort you had the
choice of a 1.6 Pinto engined Mexico, or the 2.0 Pinto RS2000,
in flat front or shovel nosed RS2000 Custom spec.
The RS produced a whole 9-10 bhp more than the 2.0 Cortina/Capri
the engine came from, at about 110 bhp ( a lot then )
They were ALL expensive cars for the average guy in the street,
The Custom RS was quite a rare sight.
The Firenza HP was much rarer still and knocked out as has been
said, about 135 bhp ....and was a very expensive car for the day.
That power level incidentally was almost the same as a 3.0 ESSEX
V6 Capri, before you started playing with it .
You would have had to have been there to get it, I think.
Other manufacturers had a sporty car, Holbay Hunter/ Avenger Tiger,
Dolomite Sprint, etc in various levels of desirability.
All these years later Firenza may not seem as exciting and avant garde
now, but at the time ....
And that's coming from a Ford man ( Cortina 2.0, Capri 2.0, 3.0,
and two 2.8i's before I got over it )
edited to clarify: this is the mk2 Escort I'm referring to here.
Similar timeframe to the Firenza under discussion.
Even as a die-hard Ford fan, the Firenza had a better chassis, better aerodynamics, more powerfull and torquey engine, bigger fuel tank etc.,etc...... and perhaps uniquely for the time, it had the overdriven ZF 5-speed dog-leg gearbox.
Bloody great car, poorly marketed by Vauxhall.
I would though say that really, it should be comparable with the Mk1 AVO Escorts of the time, as the 'snoot was first put on sale when these were still in production, and in fact, 'snoot production had finished before the Mk2 RS's went on sale.
The HS Shovit is more directly comparable with the Mk2 RS's.
And yes, I did know someone who ran a RS1800 as his sole transport back in the day
As an apprentice mechanic for Vauxhall at the start of the 80's,I was aware of the snoot and the HS chevette,and as a young lad lusted after motors like those,my first car was a 1800 Magnum coupe which i fitted a snoot front end to,for me it looked the b
ks,remember guys in the garage recounting tales of the HPF,common one was a lot suffered with sudden power loss,as the twin strombergs and the inlet manifold parted company wiith the head.
Great car and almost aquired a HS many years ago,shame i never.
ks,remember guys in the garage recounting tales of the HPF,common one was a lot suffered with sudden power loss,as the twin strombergs and the inlet manifold parted company wiith the head.Great car and almost aquired a HS many years ago,shame i never.
I remember back in the 70s in an edition of 'Custom Car' a guy had cut the grill and surround out of a standard Opel Manta and re-welded it back in place, but had turned it through 180 degrees, So instead of the grill sloping inwards from the top, it sloped the other way and looked like a cross between and RS2000 and a Droop Snoot. As with every car that appeared in 'Custom Car' at that time it had a V8 under the bonnet. It did look really good though. Almost how it should have been made in the first place.
nicknoo said:
The Firenza to have was definately the Chevrolet Firenza CanAm 302 from South Africa.
Factory fitted with a small block Chev V8, now that's RWD entertainment!
http://blog.cardomain.com/2009/11/30/cardomain-obs...
There's one for sale in Classic & Sportsacr, it hink it's up fro £80 grand!!!Factory fitted with a small block Chev V8, now that's RWD entertainment!
http://blog.cardomain.com/2009/11/30/cardomain-obs...
Unlike above, all the boys back in 1984 either belonged to the Escort or Mini brigade.
Seems like yesterday!
I liked to be different and my first car was a Vauxhall Firenza purchased with the help from my dad.
It was a tired looking thing, silver but a rusty roof after spending its life under a eucalyptus tree.
The first job we did was buy a vinyl roof kit for it and spent a few hours prepping and fitting it. We also did become rather high on the fumes. Next thing to be fitted were the driving lights, CB radio and Pioneer component tape deck with TSX8 speakers plus a 6ft bright yellow whip aerial.
Tacky, common and naff? Yes, yes it was! But it was my first car and first cars are always remembered aren't they?
As for the car. Never started on a cold morning and heated the plugs up on the gas ring many a time. Refused to go over 60mph and clunked going into 3rd gear. The lights were crap, the heating just did not! Also the seats were poor and being a two door it was a pain for your mates to get in and out of.
I dreamed of owning the magnum but looking at that I really wished I had the money now ...
(must find photo).
Seems like yesterday!
I liked to be different and my first car was a Vauxhall Firenza purchased with the help from my dad.
It was a tired looking thing, silver but a rusty roof after spending its life under a eucalyptus tree.
The first job we did was buy a vinyl roof kit for it and spent a few hours prepping and fitting it. We also did become rather high on the fumes. Next thing to be fitted were the driving lights, CB radio and Pioneer component tape deck with TSX8 speakers plus a 6ft bright yellow whip aerial.
Tacky, common and naff? Yes, yes it was! But it was my first car and first cars are always remembered aren't they?
As for the car. Never started on a cold morning and heated the plugs up on the gas ring many a time. Refused to go over 60mph and clunked going into 3rd gear. The lights were crap, the heating just did not! Also the seats were poor and being a two door it was a pain for your mates to get in and out of.
I dreamed of owning the magnum but looking at that I really wished I had the money now ...
(must find photo).
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