1973 Vauxhall Viva… untouched since ‘93 - worth it?

[junkyarddog]

34 minutes ago, AnnoyingPentium said:

Went through quite a few colour changes

Valspar or Dulux🤣

[AnnoyingPentium]

2 minutes ago, junkyarddog said:

Valspar or Dulux🤣

I'll ask, knowing him it wouldn't surprise me. 😂

[Matty]

Just now, garbaldy said:

You don't need to tell me 🙄 but to be honest 14 cars here and now 7 stored elsewhere is a bit stupid really. 

It might get banned eventually. Got to do it while you can

[High Jetter]

1 hour ago, garbaldy said:

You don't need to tell me 🙄 but to be honest 14 cars here and now 7 stored elsewhere is a bit stupid really. 

Happy to take a couple off your hands if it helps you

[Remspoor]

The Vauxhalls have it.

I know not technically a Viva. But this man and his cars kept me being a fan of Vivas.

 

[billy_bunter]

Has  there been a sighting the mythical beast?

[Matty]

2 hours ago, billy_bunter said:

Has  there been a sighting the mythical beast?

You'll have to hang hard there bud. He's in America racing cars at the mo

[High Jetter]

It'll be a bit rustier, then.

[eddyramrod]

On 10/28/2022 at 9:05 PM, junkyarddog said:

Valspar or Dulux🤣

Sherwood Parsons for period-correctness!

[warren t claim]

Observations of the Vauxhall Viva HC based on the many I drove a short distance around the block at the local banger auction back in the mid to late 80s.

One front headlamp would have a dark lens for some reason.

1159/1256 cars had a terrible pedal angle for the clutch and brake.

See also throttle pedal (organ type) snapping the clip on the back.

Stromberg carb issues, if it would idle then it'd have a massive flat spot, if it didn't have a flat spot then it wouldn't idle.

Every example had the knobs missing from the sliders on the heating controls. 

Early models fitted with drums on all four wheels need care when reversing as they don't seem to have any brakes when reversing.

1800/2300 models are a lot different to drive, they can be whanged into top gear at about 18mph. 1159/1256 models are happy to cog swap without the need for using the clutch.

Gloveboxes, whether push button or turn knob are a twat to open.

Gold examples seemed to be the most rot prone although they all liked to rust out their front scuttle. Early models enjoy rotting their fron wings where it meets the A pillar.

The super rare Viva E Coupe seemed to be the fastest rotter out of all of them. No idea why?

Every one I was told to collect as a part ex from a local dealer seemed to suffer from steering wheel wobble at about 50mph, nowhere near as bad as an Avenger, but still there.

The late 1300L models with the two dial instrument binnacle always seemed to be in the best condition. No idea why, just an observation.

Estates always had a fucked load area, probably down to the fact that most had been lugging huge CRT tellys around as part of the Granada TV rental fleet.

 

Anyway, just to throw my two pennies into the Escort/Mk1/2 Escort debate, here's my my worthless opinion.

In standard form, the Viva 1159/1256 is a better car than an 1100 Mk1/2 Escort. I can honestly say that I've never driven a RWD Escort fitted with drums all around that didn't pull to the left when braking. When stock the HC does handle better, as does the Chevette (and the Talbot Sunbeam too for that matter!) with the ability to handle bumpy corners better than the Ford. The Escort is blessed with better steering and gearchange with less sideways movement needed to shift from 2nd to 3rd. The gearchange on the 1800/2300 Viva's with the long lever is even worse! Hot Firenza Droop Snoots aren't a RS2000 alternative, they're a RS1800/Twin Cam /Lotus Sunbeam rival and were priced a lot higher when new. 

[artdjones]

Much better suspension on the Viva compared with 1100/1300 Escorts. Wishbones up front and a coil sprung 4 link rear end compared to struts and 2 leaf springs.

[Datsuncog]

9 hours ago, warren t claim said:

1159/1256 models are happy to cog swap without the need for using the clutch.

Can verify; handy enough when the clutch cable snapped/ pulled through.

9 hours ago, warren t claim said:

Gold examples seemed to be the most rot prone

Rather like Ford's early forays into metallic colours where the paint would drop off in sheets, I suspect GM's Starmist range of colours may also have been a bit unstable.

Having said that, from my unscientific observations there still seemed to be more Honey Starmist examples around locally in the 1990s than, say, plain red or blue versions. Mostly older people driving them, too.

At a guess, these gold-painted Vivas may have been pensioner-owned-from-new examples that were a bit more cossetted than solid colour base models run as fleet cars or general hacks.

Mine was owned for the first 21 years by a guy called Cyril Norman, it had 42,000 miles on it (backed up by old MOTs and other history) and the transmission tunnel carpet was completely worn away at one point where a walking stick must have been slid over it. Maximum giffer.

Weirdly, I never had any scuttle rot issues but the front wings, rear arches and inner wings all needed replaced while in my custody....

[Remspoor]

10 hours ago, warren t claim said:

The super rare Viva E Coupe seemed to be the fastest rotter out of all of them. No idea why?

Coupe shells  were originally produced for drop snoots.  But the drop snoots did not sell. Hence the Viva E coupe.  So it would seem that the shells wer in storage for a long time. That might explain the rust.

[PhilA]

It's just a GTO that shrunk in the wash. Buy it. Enjoy the rust.

GTO

 

Firenza

[eddyramrod]

1 hour ago, Remspoor said:

Coupe shells  were originally produced for drop snoots.  

Not quite.  The Firenza coupe was introduced in 1971, shortly after the basic Viva, with the 1159/1599/1975 options.  The Droop Snoot (same shell, new nose) came along later, once the 2279 was established.  IIRC there was also a Magnum coupe: there were certainly saloons and estates.  Pretty sure the Magnum came in when the 1759/2279 engines did, because you couldn't buy the Magnum with the 1256.  That point was also the end of the slant-engined Viva, as the upmarket Magnum took their market sector.  The Viva E was already available as a saloon by the time the Droop Snoot was dropped, and I agree, it's most likely that the coupe version was introduced to use up shells that had already been pressed.  Just to confuse matters further, there was also a limited run of Droop Snoot estates.

[Remspoor]

5 hours ago, eddyramrod said:

Not quite.  The Firenza coupe was introduced in 1971, shortly after the basic Viva, with the 1159/1599/1975 options.  The Droop Snoot (same shell, new nose) came along later, once the 2279 was established.  IIRC there was also a Magnum coupe: there were certainly saloons and estates.  Pretty sure the Magnum came in when the 1759/2279 engines did, because you couldn't buy the Magnum with the 1256.  That point was also the end of the slant-engined Viva, as the upmarket Magnum took their market sector.  The Viva E was already available as a saloon by the time the Droop Snoot was dropped, and I agree, it's most likely that the coupe version was introduced to use up shells that had already been pressed.  Just to confuse matters further, there was also a limited run of Droop Snoot estates.

The HC Viva range- models timeline is complicated.

I tried to get though the Vxpedia website, but it is old and a bit clunky. http://vauxpedianet.uk2sitebuilder.com/vauxhall-93000-hc---viva-firenza-magnum-part-1

So I turned to AROnline-

https://www.aronline.co.uk/cars/vauxhall/viva/the-cars-vauxhall-viva/

 

Or maybe they rust because  It Always Rain On Me.😄

 

[eddyramrod]

I was going to put a Like on that..... until I saw what you added at the end.  Really?  Travis?

[Spottedlaurel]

Seems odd to me to have the Firenza name on the humble 1256cc-enginedmodel, but I suppose they were Vauxhall's answer to the Capri.

Somehow they look slightly odd around the back end, a combination of the roof being too short and the droopier bootlid? I prefer the estate (especially as a higher-spec model with Rostyles).

[Matty]

Just now, Spottedlaurel said:

Seems odd to me to have the Firenza name on the humble 1256cc-enginedmodel, but I suppose they were Vauxhall's answer to the Capri.

Somehow they look slightly odd around the back end, a combination of the roof being too short and the droopier bootlid? I prefer the estate (especially as a higher-spec model with Rostyles).

Looks much more balanced on a HP Firenza. The nose cone balances out the side profile front to back. Stunning looking things in real life.

[Remspoor]

Personally I never saw a reason to like the Coupe HC. Except the drop snoot that is. I feel the same way about the Renault Migraine coupe too.

[davehedgehog31]

[AnthonyG]

I think Viva E Coupes were poverty spec as well, they were a quick reaction to the Escort Popular and Popular Plus which Ford had just bought out. All of these sold reasonably well in the mid 70s. Can’t imagine many were particularly well looked after. 

This reminds me, early episodes of The Gentle Touch feature very late Viva saloons (T/V reg) being used as Met police CID surveillance cars. Just as long as they didn’t have to chase anything!

[warren t claim]

20 minutes ago, AnthonyG said:

 

This reminds me, early episodes of The Gentle Touch feature very late Viva saloons (T/V reg) being used as Met police CID surveillance cars. Just as long as they didn’t have to chase anything!

And in real life MI5 used ?Magnums along with powerful versions of other mundane cars for covert activities.

 

 

[wuvvum]

55 minutes ago, AnthonyG said:

I think Viva E Coupes were poverty spec as well, they were a quick reaction to the Escort Popular and Popular Plus which Ford had just bought out.

There was a period during the time of high inflation in the early mid-'70s when manufacturers rushed to bring out bASe models in a desperate attempt to keep the sticker price under a grand.  The basic Hillman Imp didn't even have a heater.

[warren t claim]

18 minutes ago, wuvvum said:

There was a period during the time of high inflation in the early mid-'70s when manufacturers rushed to bring out bASe models in a desperate attempt to keep the sticker price under a grand.  The basic Hillman Imp didn't even have a heater.

Still a strange choice to use the coupe shell though?

[Gazebo]

I had an HC Estate, (1972 I think).

Great thing about it:  The bulge on the bonnet which allowed me to believe I was driving a muscle car.

Not so great thing about it: I think mine was the 1159cc so built for comfort not speed.

The common fault I experienced was the clutch cable going.  It wasn't the cable breaking itself that was the problem but the lever the cable pulled that would regularly pop out of place, leading to me developing skills in clutchless changes until I could get under it to re-attach it.  Happened every few hundred miles and was the main reason I got rid of it in the end.

 

[warren t claim]

And just to shit stir a little bit more, was the HC Viva conceived as a rival for the Escort or Cortina?

[Mr Pastry]

Just now, warren t claim said:

Still a strange choice to use the coupe shell though?

IIRC the Firenza coupe didn't sell well initially, and the Viva E (for Economy) was a way of using up the surplus shells.

[eddyramrod]

4 minutes ago, warren t claim said:

And just to shit stir a little bit more, was the HC Viva conceived as a rival for the Escort or Cortina?

Escort, totally, although it was a touch bigger.  Not as big as the Cortina; not even as big as the Avenger.

[Rustybullethole]

All Vauxhalls are…..

 

 

 

 

Invisible.

Does this thing exist?