Hello folks,new to the site

[MikeOC]

hello all,i'm new to the site and the world of Vivas....i'm currently on the lookout for a nice tidy HC Viva,if anyone knows of anything coming up for sale,rather than going down the ebay route... i'll join the owners club proper once i've found a car.
my names Mike and i'm from Southport-Merseyside/West Lancashire border. i'm known as a bit of a serial car nut LOL.
i've always been a Ford man for most of my life,owned loads of cortinas,capris,escorts etc of all descriptions,but not many vauxhalls apart from modern cavaliers,astras,vectras etc.nearest to classic i got was a few opel mantas and a mk2 astra GTE.
as well as a mk5 cortina and 2 mk1 Orion ghias,i do currently have a '78 FE Victor VX2300 estate i bought to save from the bangers.its pretty rare i'm led to believe-only a handful left.needs a little work to get a mot but very restorable,could do with selling it to make space for a Viva if anyone knows anybody interested??? [in fact i will probably be selling all my classics soon as i'm under orders from 'er indoors to just keep 1 classic,and i've always fancied a Viva HC ]

BTW does anybody know of this one thats for sale on gumtree?
http://www.gumtree.com/p/cars-vans-moto ... l/95552635
i really quite fancy this being the GLS model with the twin lights and extra guages etc.love the colour too..just waiting for seller to reply back to me,it was still for sale last week when he came back to me.don't know if the price is good or not??
its just a bloomin' long way away,360 miles LOL,would cost a small fortune to get up there by air or train
any members in scotland near there that could help,by looking it at etc??

[Paul Dawson]

Hi Mike

I'm originally from Crosby area, and spent a lot of time up around Southport, got family all over that part of the world.

Good luck with the search - I got my HC last autumn and am currently working at getting it back on the road again. I've commented in your thread about looking for a Viva, I am pretty sure that one on Gumtree has been on sale for a long time now. It was on ebay a few times when I was looking last autumn.

Wasn't the Mk2 Astra GTE the one where they got the chassis spot on - and none after were nearly as good? I think my brother-in-law had one. I remember a friend hitting a pheasant on the M6 in his Victor. It didn't do the pheasant much good - but the Victor came off worse.

[MikeOC]

Hi Mike

I'm originally from Crosby area, and spent a lot of time up around Southport, got family all over that part of the world.

Good luck with the search - I got my HC last autumn and am currently working at getting it back on the road again. I've commented in your thread about looking for a Viva, I am pretty sure that one on Gumtree has been on sale for a long time now. It was on ebay a few times when I was looking last autumn.

Wasn't the Mk2 Astra GTE the one where they got the chassis spot on - and none after were nearly as good? I think my brother-in-law had one. I remember a friend hitting a pheasant on the M6 in his Victor. It didn't do the pheasant much good - but the Victor came off worse.

Hi Paul,thanks for the reply...maybe catch you at a local show or summat one day when you get your car back on the road and i've found one.
yeah i'll keep my eyes open on here for anything that comes up for sale,usually better bet buying from a club member than a gamble on ebay etc.
yes the mk2 astras were best ones i think.i also had a mk2 Golf GTi,another great car.i hit a pheasant on the back roads on way to work one morning in a mk2 mondeo about 3 years ago,destroyed the front bumper LOL but i completely trashed a seagull once on the M74 when it flew into the front of the box of my truck....

[hbpeter]

Hello and welcome, we have quite a few members in Scotland, one should be able to help. Look up a member called Dave1300GLS on here, he lives in Southport and has had Vivas for a long time. Let us know if you get anywhere with the one on Gumtree, has been for sale for a long time, so its either too expensive, or a heap.

Peter

[MikeOC]

Hello and welcome, we have quite a few members in Scotland, one should be able to help. Look up a member called Dave1300GLS on here, he lives in Southport and has had Vivas for a long time. Let us know if you get anywhere with the one on Gumtree, has been for sale for a long time, so its either too expensive, or a heap.

Peter

hi,not got anywhere with the one in scotland,after his initial reply last week saying it was still for sale,i've sent him a couple more messages through gumtree back end of last week asking for some more info and pics but he hasn't replied,so obviously isn't interested in selling it to me,oh well regards price,i've no idea if its good or not for one? prices for vivas seem to vary wildly on ebay of late so hard to pin down whats a good price or not??
i do think a 1300GLS model is what i'll look out for though,as seems a good combination of nice spec,and magnum looks but without the bigger thirstier engines.but i'm guessing there pretty rare models now and few and far between? as its the only one i can find for sale anywhere
well if you know any members in scotland who might possibly know of the car and what its like,that would be most helpful.

maybe your man in Southport is the owner of the one i used to see about quite a bit,was same colour as the one in your username pic not seen it around for quite a while now though.

Regards,Mike.

[hbpeter]

Thats because it is the one in my username pic, I now own it. Scotland members will see your posts and if any of them are in that area let you know. If its a decent car on the road £1200 isnt a bad price. But its been off the road a long time so will need work. 1300GLS are rare, but so are most models now.

Peter

[MikeOC]

Thats because it is the one in my username pic, I now own it. Scotland members will see your posts and if any of them are in that area let you know. If its a decent car on the road £1200 isnt a bad price. But its been off the road a long time so will need work. 1300GLS are rare, but so are most models now.

Peter

ah right that'll be why i've not seen it for ages then LOL how long have you had it now?
says in ad that gold GLS is taxed and tested and he's serviced it recently so sounds like its being used/been used recently so hopefully be a decent runner....price is acceptable to me if its not rotten[ but front valance looks to have been undersealed??],and it could do with a nice set of Rozzies on it instead of those steels that are on it...
main issue for me would be the cost of getting it as its so far away,plus finding the time,making it end up a very expensive car unless the price was negotiable....a recovery company would be far too expensive due to distance,and even getting up there by train or plane for it myself is between £120-£160,then getting to place where it is from station/airport,and the cost of fuel driving it home plus that would be a bit of a gamble on an unknown car for such a long distance...at least i have good breakdown cover if something did go wrong!!
but i'm not in a massive rush to get something so can wait till something else comes along[unless that car is like one of 5 left or summat daft!!] as i do need to sell a few other cars to make more space[and generate some cash!!]

yep like most 70s/80s family motors,most are gone now,its usually only the sporting versions of most models that survive in any numbers.my '78 FE victor VX2300 estate is one of 5 left i believe...i've always mostly had old fords but the price of those now is astronomical compared to most other contemporaries of the era,a lot of people i know have now dropped out of the classic scene due to the prices of them now and costs etc.

[viva les vegas]

Hiya and welcome.
Don't let distance put you off: I bought mine, off ebay, from a very nice policeman in Dunbarton, flew up from Bristol to Glasgow for £75, he picked me up at the airport, and I drove it back. I hadn't gone to look at it first, just took a gamble, and for me it paid off.

[MikeOC]

Hiya and welcome.
Don't let distance put you off: I bought mine, off ebay, from a very nice policeman in Dunbarton, flew up from Bristol to Glasgow for £75, he picked me up at the airport, and I drove it back. I hadn't gone to look at it first, just took a gamble, and for me it paid off.

hi,thanks for welcome fella...
yeah distance isn't normally an issue for me,i've had cars from all over in the past,everywhere from essex,london,south wales,cornwall,2 from bristol as it happens[ a 2 door cortina and a mk2 golf GTi],and parts of scotland.in fact i once bought a mk3 cortina estate blind from dumbarton but it turned out to be a right dog tho on the plus side i i got the train up there,which was quite cheap,about 40 quid.
glasgow+edinburgh seem to always be quite cheap to get to,but places right up in scotland much more expensive i did a few quick quotes online last week to aberdeen,plane was anything from 120 to over 200,and cheapest train was at least 100 quid so has rather canned it for me

[magnumsteve]

Hi and welcome. I have used shiply.com before for transporting cars to me from fairly far away places. Before buying my Magnum I was going to buy a Manta B in Bristol and was quoted £190 for delivery from there to Lowestoft on the east coast. Considering the costs involved for getting a train there and the fuel back, it was going to be approx £40 more expensive but saving me a day of hassle. Obviously this would involve a fair amount of trust and lots of pics and questions answered though in order to be satisfied as to the condition of any prospective purchase. Alternatively, there are courier companies that also offer inspections for an additional cost too?