RE: Vauxhall Cavalier time capsule for sale
Discussion
Sebring440 said:
Great thread PH! Talk about dangling a carrot in front of all the Vauxhall-hating frothers on here.
Here they come!
Not wrong there…..Here they come!
Back in the early 90’s my boss had one - I remember going on a site visit with him and half way there he stopped and opened the door so the interior light came on and he could read the map.
He was amazed when I told him you could put it on by pulling the light switch…
(He’d had the car at least 2 years I guess he wasn’t one for reading manuals)
Anyway typical fodder of the period no better or worse than a Sierra but from a ride or drive perspective miles behind BX or 405.
The start of the all cars look the same period
This era of Cavalier always reminds me of that wonderful TV documentary 'A to B' which featured various sales reps discussing their company car's and how important it was to have an 'i' badge on the boot lid.
https://youtu.be/CQsMFQZa8os?si=7D-SUlegHEpFaV5h
Back in the day when Ford and Vauxhall would battle it out every year to be crowned king of the corporate car park and an A4 was the size of paper you put in the photo copier.
https://youtu.be/CQsMFQZa8os?si=7D-SUlegHEpFaV5h
Back in the day when Ford and Vauxhall would battle it out every year to be crowned king of the corporate car park and an A4 was the size of paper you put in the photo copier.
My Dad had one of those (1992, K plate).
It was a 1.6, with a carburettor, running on unleaded (there was a plug under the bonnet to switch between leaded and unleaded). It rode well and had a good radio/cassette, but under-steered horrendously (it ploughed straight on if the wheel was turned hard, whatever the conditions) and the back end was also a bit wayward, but not in a good way, in the hands of a ham-fisted, over-enthusiastic, teenager.
It may have been a Friday afternoon car, but it was probably the medium-sized car with the least grunt that I have ever driven. The engine blew and needed a re-built at one point.
The early MK2 Cavalier 1.6 GL that he had in the 80s was significantly faster.
The Mondeo then arrived and was infinitely better to drive. My Dad bought one and has had Fords ever since.
It was a 1.6, with a carburettor, running on unleaded (there was a plug under the bonnet to switch between leaded and unleaded). It rode well and had a good radio/cassette, but under-steered horrendously (it ploughed straight on if the wheel was turned hard, whatever the conditions) and the back end was also a bit wayward, but not in a good way, in the hands of a ham-fisted, over-enthusiastic, teenager.
It may have been a Friday afternoon car, but it was probably the medium-sized car with the least grunt that I have ever driven. The engine blew and needed a re-built at one point.
The early MK2 Cavalier 1.6 GL that he had in the 80s was significantly faster.
The Mondeo then arrived and was infinitely better to drive. My Dad bought one and has had Fords ever since.
Dad had a 1.6L but it was a mk2, the boxy D reg one (D459 UAO).
By the time the mk3 cam along he had a 1.8GL with wide width tyres on it, he was clearly going places!
My bosses at my first job both had mk3 SRi, they were bloody smart and before my time starting there one had one of those mk2 run out special Calibers with the fancy body kit. The other had a Montego Turbo but that got stolen I seem to remember.
You nostalgia you lose.
By the time the mk3 cam along he had a 1.8GL with wide width tyres on it, he was clearly going places!
My bosses at my first job both had mk3 SRi, they were bloody smart and before my time starting there one had one of those mk2 run out special Calibers with the fancy body kit. The other had a Montego Turbo but that got stolen I seem to remember.
You nostalgia you lose.
Lovely, honest cars.
My Dad had and F reg one of these in a nicer (lighter) shade of blue.
For a car launched in the 80s it had very modern clean lines and even the L had a sunroof and central locking (with deadlocks).
Fantastic stereo / speakers too and was really comfy to drive.
Not one for the Nurburgring generation but a great car not pretending to be anything else.
Nerd fact - The glove box catch was on the right hand side so the driver could open it more easily. Lovely attention to detail.
Generally, I was a Ford man, but these were great.
My Dad had and F reg one of these in a nicer (lighter) shade of blue.
For a car launched in the 80s it had very modern clean lines and even the L had a sunroof and central locking (with deadlocks).
Fantastic stereo / speakers too and was really comfy to drive.
Not one for the Nurburgring generation but a great car not pretending to be anything else.
Nerd fact - The glove box catch was on the right hand side so the driver could open it more easily. Lovely attention to detail.
Generally, I was a Ford man, but these were great.
Pistom said:
I was expecting that to be closer to £10K than £5K.
£6K is really very good value for something like this.
I love it when these old cars appear on PH. People not in the market will give their value statements on these cars - That's not worth £20k, that's not worth £xx, £6K is really very good value for something like this.
I imagine with this car there will be someone out there willing to pay £5k for that for pure nostalgia or other sentimental reasons.
I had a vary similar Cavalier, same year, same colour, 4 door, L trim level but a 2 litre.
Bought it with 80,000 miles, sold it two years later with 120,000 miles having thrashed it all over the place
Always felt utterly unbreakable.
So much better than it’s Ford and BL rivals, and I spent loads of time in those when they were new as company cars.
Bought it with 80,000 miles, sold it two years later with 120,000 miles having thrashed it all over the place
Always felt utterly unbreakable.
So much better than it’s Ford and BL rivals, and I spent loads of time in those when they were new as company cars.
Ah my memories of a Cavalier are very fond, it's the first car I really remember my parents buying and owning, there were cars before this but not that I remember too well. We had a '91 J plate (1.8 iirc) in white with the red pin stripes in the grey bumpers. What a car!! I've never been a huge vauxhall fan, other than of the Cavalier because of those great times, my dad took me all over in it to car shows, Croft and the NEC etc, such happy memories.
I love this nostalgia of this but at 6k it's ridiculously expensive.
I love this nostalgia of this but at 6k it's ridiculously expensive.
I used to work in the IT industry when offices didn't have computers and then did and it was like a gold rush.
Anyway, this attracted a lot of loons to the industry as they could get computers from Taiwan, whack a badge on them and make a fortune for doing very little, and they did.
One particular loon who's office I was visiting that day had bought his sales team a load of Cavaliers when someone came into his office when we had a meeting and said boss the lads are unhappy they wanted Cavalier SRI's.
He was so incensed that he marched out of the office into the car park with a bottle of Tippex and started writing 'SRI' on the back of them all the while making very dark threats about impending unemployment.
I was half way through flogging him something and it didn't go well.
You don't think of IT as being a wild times industry but it was for a bit and this is only one of many mad things I witnessed.
Anyway, this attracted a lot of loons to the industry as they could get computers from Taiwan, whack a badge on them and make a fortune for doing very little, and they did.
One particular loon who's office I was visiting that day had bought his sales team a load of Cavaliers when someone came into his office when we had a meeting and said boss the lads are unhappy they wanted Cavalier SRI's.
He was so incensed that he marched out of the office into the car park with a bottle of Tippex and started writing 'SRI' on the back of them all the while making very dark threats about impending unemployment.
I was half way through flogging him something and it didn't go well.
You don't think of IT as being a wild times industry but it was for a bit and this is only one of many mad things I witnessed.
Drinksleeprepeat said:
Exactly why bother. One of the most common repmobile cars on the road at the time.
This is precisely why someone will be willing to pay a fair chunk for it. Some people lust after cars that remind them of their youth, there's bound to be at least a handful of those for whom the answer is one of these. Besides, have you see how much hum-drum Ford Escorts sell for?!
Don't mock these, there wasn't much wrong with them back then. No-one was getting German stuff on finance to pose in. Hope this one finds a good new home.
I had a 1995 Cavalier 1.7TD hatchback as my first repmobile back in the day. Must've been a facelift of this as it had different lights but the same interior. Not remotely exciting, but a great workhorse & when you were 22 back then this was pretty good.
Excellent for handbrake-turn circles on frozen empty car parks - 720 degrees was easily possible.
Very comfortable, nothing ever went wrong, and its range & efficiency were brilliant. In 3 years of mixed driving (urban Glasgow, Ayrshire hills, motorways) I never once filled it up less than 500 miles since the previous fill. It became a thing with the trip-meter, reset at every refuel.
I've wondered ever since why, despite all the advances in engine tech, fuel efficiency & autonomy never seemed to get much better. Something to do with excessive weight perhaps....?
I had a 1995 Cavalier 1.7TD hatchback as my first repmobile back in the day. Must've been a facelift of this as it had different lights but the same interior. Not remotely exciting, but a great workhorse & when you were 22 back then this was pretty good.
Excellent for handbrake-turn circles on frozen empty car parks - 720 degrees was easily possible.
Very comfortable, nothing ever went wrong, and its range & efficiency were brilliant. In 3 years of mixed driving (urban Glasgow, Ayrshire hills, motorways) I never once filled it up less than 500 miles since the previous fill. It became a thing with the trip-meter, reset at every refuel.
I've wondered ever since why, despite all the advances in engine tech, fuel efficiency & autonomy never seemed to get much better. Something to do with excessive weight perhaps....?
Had the 2 litre L hatchback on an F plate as my first car in '96. Thought it was great. Did everything it was supposed to. Only broke because the neighbour I bought it from never really got around to minor things like oil changes. The oil pump failed suddenly one journey home and that was engine lunched. £450 for a used engine then good as gold again. F602JAO, if I remember rightly.
Gassing Station | General Gassing | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff