Sad.
I had one of these many years ago. Kept it for a few years. The floor below the driver's seat rusted through in the end. That was after numerous exhaust systems, a new starter motor, new dynamo (or did they in fact have an alternator?), numerous cooling system thermostats, new brake lines, new clutch, a complete cylinder head refurbishment (planing, grinding valves etc - done by myself) and the degradation of the metallic blue finish.
Who would bother with all that, these days? The car was bought with around 30,000 on the clock and had about 75,000 when sold.
It drove OK, but must have been one of the last cars I owned that had serious reliability problems.
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They must have had lots of fun in that car, for there is surely no other reason to save a shuvit.
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It does say: "... and during the next five years it shared many precious moments."
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"...it shared many precious moments."
That's kind of what I was saying about mine... well, "expensive" if you want to be pedantic.
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I could never get on with the Chevette, and I tuned and drove enough of them,
I actually preferred the old Viva, or the MK1 Escort ... never got on with the MK2 Escort either.
I must get on now :}
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I had a black estate Chevvy. Ex military vehicle it was. Rusted badly round the front wing and formed a hole which filled with mud. Eventually I grew a pansy in the accumulated dirt, but other than that it was sound, reliable and easy to work on.
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Wonderful story which I shall flag up on the Vauxhall Opel Driver's Club website where they will appreciate the nostalgia and the considerable effort involved.
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Despite the packaging difficulties inherent with a small rwd car, I liked the Chevette. A mate at school had one which was very nicely customised.
Looked really good until he totalled it against a mature oak tree on a bend in the road in Ashridge.
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What's an immature oak like....? :-)
There was a Chevette in the family and the firm where I first worked owned one - it wasn't popular...always fancied one of these though...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWXBVEs69oU&feature=related
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>>always fancied one of these though...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=wWXBVEs69oU&feature=related<<
Wow! ... I never came across one of those in my tuning days.
The Chevette was the UK's best selling hatchback from 1975 until 1978 (I didn't know that either)
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vauxhall_Chevette
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I had one too - R reg . As far as I recall it was reasonably reliable and was quite roomy for a small family car of that era, especially with the hatchback. Very prone to rust though and when I sold it at 6 or 7 years old it was absolutely riddled.
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Had a a shot of a race prepped Chevette Ecosse ( 2.3 ) round Snetterton a lifetime ago. It was a good day.
Last edited by: Humph D'Bout on Wed 24 Aug 11 at 19:04
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When I was in the sixth form, a mate of mine had a 2 door saloon in duck egg blue, Opel Kadett badged. Driving me to school one day, we took a turn a bit too fast and one of the rear springs snapped. The car skidded and we ended up on our sides in a ditch. The turn was off the Drift Road (a famed local drag strip) near Windsor, turning down towards Fifield if anyone knows the area. At the bottom of the road we crashed on is a small Victorian hall which another friend of mine from school managed to collide with in a Renault 14. Hit the accelerator approaching the t-junction instead of the brakes, and took off. Ever since, there has been a blooming great checker board in front of the hall to try to stop similar incidents....
Mind the gee gees too:
tinyurl.com/3dyk37k
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>>Opel Kadett badged<<
Ah! ... good jamjar mate - it came with the ole Vorsprung DT's at no extra cost.
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Hatchback to the future. - FocalPoint
