For those interested in "Modern Classic" Cars

[MJI]

1 hour ago, Hobby said:

I hired a couple of Mk1 1.2 Astras and certainly wouldn't call them terrible. I drove one feom Glasgow to Aberdeen and back and it did the job just fine. I suppose it depends on what you were used to driving, from a more powerful car (as you seem to have driven all of them!) it might seem terrible but when you were used to lower powered cars it was good, and more lively than similar sized engines from Ford and BL at the time. It did it's job well, if you want terrible then look no further than the "blobby" Nissan Micra 1.0l, now that certainly was terrible and made even an 850cc Mini seem good!

 

They had a modified version of the old Chevette engine, but the 1.3 (Family 1) was ridiculously better. Never has 100cc more been so worthwhile.

[MJI]

GM EU engines have always been a mixed bag, but good ones are generally excellent and poor ones not so.

 

Sometimes they would have totally different engines of the same capacity, eg the 1.2s.

 

But the detune 1.3 in the Nova was silly, As the Nova 1.2 was a Family 1 it was pretty good, and the 1.3 was barely better. Never drove a 1.6 (got a proper job) but according to the owner I chatted to that was good.

 

I remember delivering a 1.8 carb Carlton and the new recipient whinging about the colour, so I said to him to stop whinging about the colour as it was crap to drive and whinge about the engine. That was a horrible combination. And typical of GM EU using undersized engines in base model cars.

 

1.8 carb - junk

1.8 basic FI - bearable

2.0 EFI - much better, and no thirstier, cost little more and so much nicer to drive. I ended up owning one 5 years later.

 

At that time there were 2 1.8 designs, CIH and F2, three version of F2.

And 4 versions of the F2 2.0 ranging from 115bhp to 130bhp with minor changes such as compression and cam. The Carlton was weird as it felt more than 122bhp

[russ p]

15 minutes ago, MJI said:

 

They had a modified version of the old Chevette engine, but the 1.3 (Family 1) was ridiculously better. Never has 100cc more been so worthwhile.

 

Going into pedantic mode that engine was opels version of that engine which although it looks pretty identical there is no common parts with the Vauxhall engine 

[russ p]

Always thought it odd they used that engine when there was a 1.2 family 1 engine in the nova, that is if you actually needed both 1.2 and 1.3 engines in Astras and Novas

[MJI]

23 minutes ago, russ p said:

 

Going into pedantic mode that engine was opels version of that engine which although it looks pretty identical there is no common parts with the Vauxhall engine 

 

 

Ooops you are right, but it is very similar.

[MJI]

22 minutes ago, russ p said:

Always thought it odd they used that engine when there was a 1.2 family 1 engine in the nova, that is if you actually needed both 1.2 and 1.3 engines in Astras and Novas

 

Was strange, and two versions of the SAME engine for both 1.3 and 1.6, both strangled enough to not be worth having over the smaller lumps.

 

What got me was the 2.0, fair enough the low tune for Cavalier and base Astra 2.0 at 115, but why a mild high comp Carlton version, that said, it definately felt more like the 130 so I wonder if it was a paper exercise.

 

However some people wondered why I did a £1.50 per hour driving job, well it was employment, did two stints, but it really helped with spotting, rode lots of HSTs out of Paddington.

 

So if anyone wants buyers advice for 30 year old Vauxhalls?

 

3.0 Senator

2.0 Carlton

2.0 Cavalier

1.3 Astra

1.2 Nova

 

And yes when I bought my 2.0GLi I really wanted a GSI3000 but not enough money.

[Rugd1022]

Only bad memories of Vauxhall Astras for me I'm afraid, my Dad had two and I borrowed both of them while my Mini was off the road at different times. Awful things they were, one of them had a dodgy driver's window winder which meant having to stuff a wooden clothes peg into the window channel to hold the glass up, the other's build quality was so bad the bodyshell made strange almost frightening noises when going round sharp bends. The panel gaps on my fridge were definitely much, much better! IIRC he replaced the last one with a Rover 214 or 216, a much nicer offering at the time. 

 

 

[Stubby47]

A couple of pics of my old fiestas.

 

Mk1 Fiesta Firefly, after the front end was rebuilt and I had the XR2 round headlights fitted.

 

 

My only new car, a 1.4S

 

Edited January 12, 2020 by Stubby47

[russ p]

3 minutes ago, Stubby47 said:

A couple of pics of my old fiestas.

 

Mk1 Fiesta Flyfly, after the front end was rebuilt and I had the XR2 round headlights fitted.

 

 

My only new car, a 1.4S

 

 

 

The Mk1 XR2 headlights actually originated on the US fiesta,  which also had the 1.6 Kent engine but with the emissions gear put out a measly 50bhp

[kernowtim]

Spotted this fiesta last week,  a new one on me!

[Chris M]

I drove a gen 2 Astra for a week on holiday many years ago. I'm pretty sure is was a 1.6. Engine wasn't interested and wouldn't rev past 5,000 and it rolled like a boat on bends. The third worst car I have ever driven. Later generation Astra's  (in 1.6 format) seemed ok but totally lacking in character.

[russ p]

1 hour ago, MJI said:

 

Was strange, and two versions of the SAME engine for both 1.3 and 1.6, both strangled enough to not be worth having over the smaller lumps.

 

What got me was the 2.0, fair enough the low tune for Cavalier and base Astra 2.0 at 115, but why a mild high comp Carlton version, that said, it definately felt more like the 130 so I wonder if it was a paper exercise.

 

However some people wondered why I did a £1.50 per hour driving job, well it was employment, did two stints, but it really helped with spotting, rode lots of HSTs out of Paddington.

 

So if anyone wants buyers advice for 30 year old Vauxhalls?

 

3.0 Senator

2.0 Carlton

2.0 Cavalier

1.3 Astra

1.2 Nova

 

And yes when I bought my 2.0GLi I really wanted a GSI3000 but not enough money.

 

Remember at the time 115bhp was quite a lot, XR3is were only 105bhp.

I had several and still have an MG Maestro EFi and they are 115bhp and it still feels fast today (or it will later this year when it's back on the road with a brand new engine) has no problem keeping up with modern traffic and with 0 to 60 in just over 8 seconds is good away from lights! 

[boxbrownie]

33 minutes ago, russ p said:

 

Remember at the time 115bhp was quite a lot, XR3is were only 105bhp.

I had several and still have an MG Maestro EFi and they are 115bhp and it still feels fast today (or it will later this year when it's back on the road with a brand new engine) has no problem keeping up with modern traffic and with 0 to 60 in just over 8 seconds is good away from lights! 

That’s because it had a 115 BHP engine in a body made from tissue paper 

 

Actually I rather liked the Maestro, it was a natural successor to the 1100/1300 (which I also liked, probably because I learnt to drive in one) and had the family trait of plenty of passenger space in a chunky/squared off body design.........then again I liked the Allegro in between them 

[MJI]

5 minutes ago, boxbrownie said:

That’s because it had a 115 BHP engine in a body made from tissue paper 

 

Actually I rather liked the Maestro, it was a natural successor to the 1100/1300 (which I also liked, probably because I learnt to drive in one) and had the family trait of plenty of passenger space in a chunky/squared off body design.........then again I liked the Allegro in between them 

 

 

In  proper job I drove a Maestro for one trip, quite a practical car, better than teh Ford stuff that job normally used, at that time I had a Chrysler hottish hatch.

[boxbrownie]

1 hour ago, Stubby47 said:

A couple of pics of my old fiestas.

 

Mk1 Fiesta Flyfly, after the front end was rebuilt and I had the XR2 round headlights fitted.

 

 

My only new car, a 1.4S

 

Our first Fiesta was an XR2, we camped in our Citroen Visa Super-X overnight at Frog Island (Ford’s ex management roll car sales) we got it and took it home a few days later but two weeks after that we were off to Austria for a skiiing holiday and it wasn’t until we were driving down the German Autobahns and were getting odd looks that I suddenly realise that the XR2 had not actually been realised/launched at dealers yet, ours was one of the original press fleet cars, Forg Island should not actually had sold it yet, but hey too late now it was on my drive 

 

Not all roses though, just after we got back the radiator sprung a leak and there was obviously no chancel of buying a spare at a dealers so it was two frantic days of searching around Dunton for a replacement, luckily my mate on SVE had a couple in store which were ordered in for cold testing and I spent a lunchtime in the car park fitting it.........35 years later when I retired I could never have done that at Dunton, it all started to get very “official” and spoilt our fun over the years.

Edited January 12, 2020 by boxbrownie

[Stubby47]

I always wanted a Mk1 XR2. Edd China restored one on Wheeler Dealers and it looked superb.

[Paul13]

6 hours ago, russ p said:

Always thought it odd they used that engine when there was a 1.2 family 1 engine in the nova, that is if you actually needed both 1.2 and 1.3 engines in Astras and Novas

I always thought it was weird that the 1.2 nova (my first car) had an overhead cam engine and the 1.2 astra had the ancient pushrod engine like a 1.0 nova. The nova 1.2 had 5hp less than the astra but was a much better engine, mind you mind had head gasket failure, which me and my dad replaced. Apart from that it was mechanically fine, main problem was it rapidly dissolved! My brother had a mk2 1.3 astra which was pretty reliable but eventually got stolen.

[russ p]

I forgot about the 1.0 litre OHV nova

[MJI]

5 hours ago, russ p said:

I forgot about the 1.0 litre OHV nova

 

To be honest best to.

 

Worse than a 1.0 A series

[Pete the Elaner]

11 hours ago, MJI said:

 

Was strange, and two versions of the SAME engine for both 1.3 and 1.6, both strangled enough to not be worth having over the smaller lumps.

 

 

The lower powered ones were tuned for 2-star petrol. The 'S' versions for 4 star, so had a higher compression ratio & therefore more power.

The 1300S was unusual. Instead of a low torque peak at about 2500rpm, it peaked at 3800 & maintained this until 4600, which I've never seen in an NA engine & gave it a max power output of 75bhp. It was years before any other 1300 matched that. It was no GTE, but for a 1300, the Astra was faster than it should have been & great fun to drive. It was slightly too much torque for the gearbox though!

[russ p]

35 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

The lower powered ones were tuned for 2-star petrol. The 'S' versions for 4 star, so had a higher compression ratio & therefore more power.

The 1300S was unusual. Instead of a low torque peak at about 2500rpm, it peaked at 3800 & maintained this until 4600, which I've never seen in an NA engine & gave it a max power output of 75bhp. It was years before any other 1300 matched that. It was no GTE, but for a 1300, the Astra was faster than it should have been & great fun to drive. It was slightly too much torque for the gearbox though!

 

 

Wasn't the nova sport over 100bhp with the optional irmisher cam kit making it the most powerful nova but from a 1300. 

One last year sold for over £65000 

[Nick C]

22 hours ago, Stubby47 said:

A couple of pics of my old fiestas.

 

Mk1 Fiesta Firefly, after the front end was rebuilt and I had the XR2 round headlights fitted.

 

 

My only new car, a 1.4S

 

My first car was a Mk2 Fiesta 1.4S - though mine was at the end of it's life rather than the beginning, as like most Fords of that era, it succumbed to rust... I think it reached 15, the same age as my current Toyota.

[MJI]

12 hours ago, Pete the Elaner said:

The lower powered ones were tuned for 2-star petrol. The 'S' versions for 4 star, so had a higher compression ratio & therefore more power.

The 1300S was unusual. Instead of a low torque peak at about 2500rpm, it peaked at 3800 & maintained this until 4600, which I've never seen in an NA engine & gave it a max power output of 75bhp. It was years before any other 1300 matched that. It was no GTE, but for a 1300, the Astra was faster than it should have been & great fun to drive. It was slightly too much torque for the gearbox though!

 

 

The 1300 was a revvy little lump and better than some other companies 1.6s (eg Pinto Sierra)

[MJI]

11 hours ago, russ p said:

 

 

Wasn't the nova sport over 100bhp with the optional irmisher cam kit making it the most powerful nova but from a 1300. 

One last year sold for over £65000 

 

Not sure but the 1.3 SR was not that quick, the 1.6 injection was around 100bhp, but was released after I had got a proper job.

[Stubby47]

56 minutes ago, Nick C said:

My first car was a Mk2 Fiesta 1.4S - though mine was at the end of it's life rather than the beginning, as like most Fords of that era, it succumbed to rust... I think it reached 15, the same age as my current Toyota.

 

Mine did 82K before I changed it for a Sierra estate. I was crossing the road in Truro sometime later when the new owner almost knocked me over - a very bizarre feeling !

 

Did yours have the white wheels or like mine just the white hub caps ?