In the Mags

[hbpeter]

Feb 2016 issue of Practical Classics.

Photo of the queens Cresta Est that Vauxhall Heritage has done up. In the photo up on a ramp is a stripped HB shell. Is this the Green HB Heritage had, or another HB?

Peter

[Fred Dukes]

Had a phone call from Classic Car Buyer - they are doing an article on the Viva in there next issue.

[hbpeter]

These might look nice if your restoring.

Peter

[hbpeter]

Classic and Sports Car, April 2016.

Peter

[Fred Dukes]

Wow a Viva with an Esc**t price!

[Colin]

And they're recommending it as good value, Fred!

RAY732G is an original Viva GT modified to historic rally spec and so is a bit of a special case, but perhaps our Vivas actually are becoming quite valuable? (I mean financially as well as emotionally) Having said that, no one has actually bought RAY732G at that price yet...

We've all seen the rise in Viva sale prices recently. Look at this slightly scruffy HB for example -

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vauxhall-viva ... Sw~oFXKxZt

A couple of years ago the seller wouldn't have been able to shift this poor little HB for £200, let alone well over £2000!

[1972nail]

RAY has been for sale for a number of years with a price somewhere about that figure. Not sold yet but if he waits long enough he might get what he's asking!

[ADRIAN]

Ray was raced and rallied for many years by the late Gabriel Konig. It was a Mk 1 Viva GT , white with black bonnet. Had a "major" front end shunt at a circuit race in France, and at the time I supplied body panels to fix it again. Later, after a "hump" on a rally cross event, the bodyshell was severly cracked in middle, virtually broke in half. So it was later re-shelled by a race car specialist in Ireland, but into a Mk2 Viva GT bodyshell (hence reason its now Red) and so its a Mk1 identity with the all its race history - but now in a Mk2 shell. Triggers broom springs to mind.......

[Colin]

Over the 48 year history of the Viva GT I should think quite a few have been re-shelled. I daresay the same is true of equivalent race / rally types produced by the various other volume marques - even those made by F*rd and powered by Lotus!

As David says, Cotswold collectors cars have had RAY732G on their books for several years now. They reduced it last year from a somewhat less realistic £35k to its current £25k asking price.

I can't help feeling that sometime fairly soon values will catch up and RAY732G will realise its £25k price tag

http://www.cotswoldcars.com/currentstoc ... ll-viva-gt

[1972nail]

Re-shelling cars with used, 'registered' shells and keeping the original ID is not illegal in Southern Ireland. In the UK it is illegal, the chassis number and ID of the new shell should be used.