petermcpete

I've no idea - will ask

Agreed, I think most people will look at the advert and be very confused as to what exactly is being offered. Think they were originally up for £1800, the guy knows nothing about cars and just wants them gone so I suspect an offer of even less than £1k would take them. Thankfully I have no room at the inn for them or I might be tempted!

These are owned by an old workmate of mine, he bought a giffers house about 3 years ago and the chap left the cars there. Two are totally beyond repair. The third is actually quite nice, he asked me to come and see if I could get it running. After a bit of fettling got it running ok off an external tank, my god it was smoky to start off with! Just needed a new fuel pump from what I remember.
 
There was a tasty Wartburg camper type thing too (can be seen in the background) - that just needed a fuel pump too, was the same type of engine as the others. Must be a weak point on these.

No idea whether £3600 is a bargain or extortion , I know it's £3600 more than I'd pay for it though 
https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/332172597970342/
 

Well... that escalated quickly.

Thank you to Autoshite for once again being the enablers that you are.  Now, which one of you horrible lot wants to buy my BX to make up for what you made me do?

I think we can all agree that lockdown was a difficult time for many. With less actual work to do I had more time to take stock off just how many projects I have ongoing, realistically i don't have time to progress all of them as much as is needed - Red Rebel, Scimitar SS1, Capri, Boat, etc etc.
 
Thinking about that was a bit depressing so instead I  bought a small aluminium bodied electric car with a rotten steel space frame chassis and £1200 of missing batteries to add to the project queue!
 
First three photos taken outside the previous owners house where its been sat since 2016 when he changed jobs and could no longer get to work on a single charge:



 
And arrived back on the isle of wight for probably the first time since it was built here 45 years ago:

 
Cheers,
Dave

Easter break's over for Mrs_Jon, so this managed to grace the driveway for an hour or so today:
 

 
It even gained a backhanded compliment from the mate who's storing it for me, when he text me: "OK, that's not actually too bad", after I'd dumped it on his lawn whilst he was out at work. 
 
 

 
Er, yeah, um, seems my brain totally blanked the worn down bolster, to go with the threadbare seat back and squab. Ah well, at least there's not great big chunks of seat missing, or owt. Interesting that the grey paint continues on the bodyshell behind the doors, all the way up the pillars!
 
 

 
Passenger side one is good, though. I'm guessing these seats saw service in the Astra GTE too? The seat belt hides it here, but these seats have the side lever to tilt the seat back, for 2 door cars. I gave the driver's side one a go to see if it worked but the back didn't move and then the plastic handle end came off in my hand, so I just put it back on and forgot I'd even seen it.
 
 

 
Here's most of the useless bumf that was sat in the glovebox. Owner's manual is dated April 1983, so I'm guessing this was a Y reg, assuming the book is the original one. No service book in the holder in the driver's footwell like I'd hoped, as I'd love to know what the UK reg of this was. Interesting to see it'd racked up almost 50000 miles by the time it landed in NZ in December 1986, so it was likely some privileged rep's hack.
 
Other interesting* points of note: the 'Vauxhalls towing stuff' brochure is from 1982, where the SR is listed, as the SRi hadn't been invented yet. Good to know also the towing capacities of Chevettes and the 2-dr 1300 Cavalier (over 900kg braked, from memory!). And that paper pamphlet top left is the old registration papers, which lists the names and addresses of previous owners - last filled out in 1992, when its 3rd NZ owner took it on. That and another bit of paper told me that Dorothy Jean Umfreville and Power Ffarington Ranulf (!!) were past owners. With names like that, I feel like I want to learn more about these people!
 
 

 
Looking quite clean already, so a welcome bonus, as I'm not one to detail engine bays. I checked the air filter element and it was nice and clean, so I assume it's shared with something actually sold over here (a Camira, maybe?). It's things like that that make owning obsolete interloper chod a little bit easier, though I am amassing a mental note of wish list items to be sent over from the UK at some point.
 
 

 
Nice clean strut towers. That said, I don't recall these being problem areas like they were on Carltons. I wonder why?
 
 
 

 
Seems it was made in Belgium, not Luton. Am guessing this was something to do with it being an SRi? Either way, every day's a school day.
 
 
 

 
Yeah, the headlining isn't too flash, though I'm hopeful that it'll clean up well with a bit of care. No rips, at least.
 
 
 

 
Sunroof shows evidence of being taped up in the past, resulting in lacquer peel and rust as a consequence. In hindsight then, it probably wasn't the greatest idea to touch the sunroof lever, as even though I didn't dare turn it, I did hear the roof move a little. Here's hoping I haven't broken the seal...
 
 

 
As if that wasn't bad enough, here's some ominous bubbles sub-surface on the NSR door skin. Do I let these things keep me awake at night, or do I just assure myself that these have been generated but haven't yet popped in 35 years? Yeah, I'll try and think of the second one.
 
 

 
Bonnet could do with a tidy, too. As could that front valance, although it seems to be impact damaged rather than rust ravaged, so hopefully efforts to make it look a bit better may well be within my scope.
 
 
 

 
Then I went and took it out for a quick drive and nip to the post shop, to get it transferred into my name. On the way home, I thought I'd park it up in the spot where I'd taken a pic of the Commodore before, to do a bit of a compario (the Commodore is partly dismantled at the front at the moment) but I'd got the wrong spot. Oh well.
 
 

 
Nevertheless, the family resemblance is pretty clear - way more than the Camira was to the Commodore, at launch. Please don't ask me why I've not pulled my finger out sorting out the V8 transplant, by the way; that's certainly what I'm thinking, when I look at this photo.
 
 

 
One final comparison, for now.
 

 
Stone chip protectors have now been removed - I'll admit they did look crap but worked very well.
 
 
Anyway, I called my insurer to get the Cav insured today (no insurance is compulsory in NZ but it's obviously strongly advisable), knowing they don't insure cars this old. I thought it was worth a try and it turns out that the lady on the phone was able to talk to a broker in person, who was able to make an immediate decision and decided they'd be willing to take £6 a month from me, to insure this 3rd party only. It's a shame I wasn't able to get at least TPFT as I'd like windscreen cover but it'll do for now, at least. In an ideal world I'd got for full cover but realistically, what kind of payout would I expect on something so obscure, over here?
 
I'll probably bosh up some driving impressions at some point, when I've had the chance to actually use it properly. I think it's still sinking in that I own this, tbh!

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

Been all over Europe in my 2cv...bought in 2015 and had been off the road since 2001...about 6 months repairing it and now it gets a regular run out.
 
First bought

Stripped

Cecile returns to France...here's the Arc de Triomph

 
Replacing alternator belt near Bordeaux 

Spark plug thread stripped on way to Amsterdam...helicoil needed so sadly not a roadside repair 

Our lovely Peak District

Scotland last year

Eilean Donan Castle

It's my birthday. Its been lovely.

 
A closer look at the cake in the backround. Yes, my girlfriend made a cake that features the seat stitching of the Citroen GSA. Wow.

She also made a Daewoo logo, out of sight, but she said the Reliant one could piss off.