Sold 1975 Vauxhall Victor FE 2300S

[Angrydicky]

Right, the time has come to sell the Victor. I've had some good times with it in the year I've owned it, but fancy a change now.

The 2300S was effectively a 2300 base model, tarted up with metallic paint, pinstripes, vinyl roof, radio cassette, wood trim on the dash and Ventora seats. Vauxhall made 500 in Light Blue Metallic with blue interior, and 500 Bright Green Metallic with 'Onyx' interior. It seems to have been an effort to shift unsold 2300 Victors before the release of the VX series. If How Many Left is to be trusted, there's eight left on the road, so pretty rare. There's one in the Vauxhall Heritage Museum in Luton, one is owned by someone on here and there's a couple of others, including a near identical one at £10,000 on eBay! I'm not asking anywhere near that for mine though.

I've always maintained it properly, regardless of cost. It's just had:

- New brake pads (genuine Lockheed) (100 miles ago)
- Oil and filter change (200 miles ago)
- New cambelt (1000 miles ago)
- New clutch (genuine Borg and Beck) (2000 miles ago)
- New tyres all round (3000 miles ago)
- New battery (1000 miles ago)
- New clutch cable
- New alternator
- Approx 4000 miles ago, the car had a full service including anti-freeze, brake fluid, plugs/points/condenser.
- The drivers side front wing was damaged when I got it, so I bare-metalled a good secondhand wing and put it into a local bodyshop who painted it, it's been blended into the door and they did the bootlid at the same time because of some old giffer aerosol repairs. It's an excellent job. While the wing was off, I cut out some rot in the drivers side A post and splashed a load of weld-thru primer in there before welding it back up, filling and then I had it painted by the bodyshop. It's a notorious rust spot on the FE range, and as far as I can see, the other side is amazingly sound.

I have also extensively rustproofed the car, something Vauxhall forgot to do. I've cleaned and redone the underseal on the rear arches, and painted the drivers side inner wing and re-undersealed it. The passenger side needs the same treatment, but that's a straightforward job in the summer. I've also filled the sills with Dinitrol. This car is incredibly solid and had never been welded before I got it, and the rust in the A post wasn't that bad, but I wanted to repair it for my own peace of mind.

Bodywise it's in excellent condition. A few small imperfections in the paintwork but it is very original, having had paintwork only where necessary. I had the pinstripes on the drivers side renewed and the previous owner did the passenger side. All the chrome is good. The spotlights aren't currently connected, but there is a switch and I think an afternoon with some wire would probably get them working again. The original vinyl roof is in excellent condition for the age.

The engine always starts first time and runs well. I would happily drive this car anywhere in the country. The gearbox (four speed manual) operates perfectly. Steering is spot on. The only problems are the usual slant four oil leak, which appears to be coming from the front of the engine and leaking down the side. I haven't managed to get to the bottom of this. Also, there is some slight play in the propshaft centre bearing, it's not catastrophic by any means and will go on for a long time like this, and is easily avoidable by changing gear carefully. I'm really nitpicking here.

The interior is very original and in good condition, everything works including the radio and the heated rear window, and the seats are good for the mileage. The carpets are faded to grey in places.

It's got 77,000 miles on the clock and was one family owned (husband and wife) until 2014. As far as I can gather the old boy died and it was left parked in the garage for about five years before it was put up for sale and my friend bought it, who recommissioned it. It had stuck brakes and needed a new backbox. As the garage doing the work couldn't find a standard backbox for it, they put on a NOS FE Ventora one with the twin pipes. This looks much better than the standard one in my opinion. Unfortunately the only history is hearsay and the original service book/handbook, as all the paperwork was lost some years ago.

It's just passed it's MoT so has a valid test until 24th January 2017, and under the new rules it will become tax exempt on April 1st.

Included in the sale is the following:

- 2300S brochure
- Original service book
- Some interesting old 1970s and 1980s parking tickets from Grimsby I found down the side of the dashboard
- Current and last MoT.
- Spare grill.
- An overdrive gearbox from a VX4/90! I paid far too much for this, as I felt the fact Vauxhall deleted the overdrive option for this model year was always a bit of a shame. It was sold to me as good secondhand, and came from a car with about 90k on it which had failed its MoT on rust. It comes complete with most of the bits needed to fit it. All you need is the shorter propshaft from a VX4/90, and the longer speedo cable from the same.

I have the V5 in my name, and the car is located in Southend-on-Sea, SS3 postcode.

Some pictures, taken in the summer, but it looks the same now.







And this one from EssDeeWon, taken yesterday at the AS London meet. There's a few more pictures of it on that thread.

1975 FE Victor by steve wilson, on Flickr

I'm looking for £3500.

[eddyramrod]

Now THAT is a lovely car!  I so wish I could, but I can't, so all I can do is wish you GLWTS.

[Bren]

I 'll get slated for this but here goes - better than a mk3 'tina.

 

And I like cortina's.

 

Are you going ebay/gumtree? Try retro rides - no doubt somebody will offer a straight swap - probably an omega with a welded diff.

 

My dad had one the same year - yellow with a black vinyl roof. It got finished off by a skoda.

[Angrydicky]

Are you going ebay/gumtree? Try retro rides - no doubt somebody will offer a straight swap - probably an omega with a welded diff.

I'll probably try carandclassic first. Won't be putting it on Retro Rides - it's far too good to get slammed and covered in daft stickers.

[Alexg]

£3500, flippin amazing.

[lisbon_road]

That looks really good, and the overdrive conversion is a fantastic idea which will transform the car.  Really good luck with the sale and I hope someone appreciates this as it is so rare now.  

 

(and like the post above, that seems a good price to me!)

[junkyarddog]

Lovely car GLWS

[danthecapriman]

That's a great looking car, I don't think I could sell if it were mine!

I'd love to have it but I'm out of space. But it looks brilliant for the money. Hopefully it'll stay with someone on here. GLWTS.

[Angrydicky]

It is very cheap compared to the one on Ebay which doesn't look much better than this one really, but that one is well overpriced. It's difficult to price something like this, but obviously I have taken into account the fact that it's not perfect. It really is a stunning car though, and looks very impressive on the road. 

[tooSavvy]

My dad had one the same year - yellow with a black vinyl roof. It got finished off by a skoda.

Play 'Top [crashed] Trumps'

 

Victor/ by Skoda

Skoda Estelle*/ by CF van

... &?

 

*me

 

TS

[Dippy]

Looks well priced to me and the seats seem to have survived well which is rare, I bought mine only intending to keep it a year and then try something else but 2 years on and im not planning to get rid anytime soon.

[trigger]

Mileage as on yesterday!

 

[Lacquer Peel]

The KM/H scale is superb, I hope they used increments of 16, 32, 48, and so on for the metric market export models.

 

GLWTS, it looks excellent.

[Spottedlaurel]

I had the pleasure of a brief drive in this just yesterday. The FE is a car I’ve always had a soft spot for and a quick go in it did nothing to dampen my enthusiasm. It had a solid feel, the engine was willing and torquey and the light, airy interior was a revelation after all my years in ‘70s Japanese cars. I imagine Mk3 Cortina drivers must have thought the same thing.

 

I wish I had the money for it and can only hope that it goes to a good home.

[Angrydicky]

Haha Trig I never noticed that! Yes the seats are in good condition Dippy, although the fabric is quite fragile on the top of the back seat and there is a tiny hole there.

[carlo]

Those seats look very sumptuous for a British car.  Are they as comfy as they look?

[Cavcraft]

It's not a car, it's a work of art.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Nice old barge; right price, GLWTS.

I'd prefer an auto myself, were they fitted with a Borg warner or GM job?

[Jim Bell]

Fwar. That is all.

[Skizzer]

Never really had these on my to-do list, at least not until the ones I posted not the eBay tat thread this week, but that's a very, very lovely car. Mrs Skizzer likes it, too.

 

Would I look after it well enough?

 

Thinking about it. Feel free to beat me to it while I'm thinking, people.

[Parky]

I have sat in this and can confirm it is amazing. You would have to be a roadie for the Bay City Rollers to get a more authentic seventies vibe. Anyone with three and a half large lying around and taste that is beyond impeccable would be insane to not go for this.

[trigger]

I thought it was a great thing to swan about in, It's very light and airy inside with massives amount of visibility, the engine was nice and torquey with a lovely gear change, much nicer than the Cortina. The rear seats felt a marvelous place to be, they are individual bucket seats with a centre armrest with loads of room.

 

 

Mr_Wobbler also tested this car a little while back.

 

[NorfolkNWeigh]

We all know what all Vauxhalls are, but even that doesn't explain how chronically undervalued this gem is compared to a Cortina or Granada.

I saw this in the summer at Whittlebury and was amazed at it's condition, the Angry one is too modest saying it's not perfect. It looked pretty close to being a concours contender to me.

[oldford]

 

 

1975 Victor.wmv

[Angrydicky]

Sold! It's going to a very good home as well

[barrett]

I'm gonna get you to sell my next car, you make it look absolutely effortless

[skattrd]

Sold! It's going to a very good home as well

 

Well done.

Are you allowed to say who to? is it off to Wales?

[EssDeeWon]

Good to hear. I think it was that great photo I took of it yesterday that swayed the buyer...

 

commission innit.

 

 

Lovely lovely car. Hope its someone off here...

[RobT]

Fug me that was quick, but then it is a very classy motor. Heading west to the Mumbles is it...?

[trigger]

I did a sneaky fart in it yesterday, I think that was the selling point.

 

Well done on the quick sale, I'm hardly surprised though.