My first Vauxhall FE, I got when I was 19. At the time, I was driving an Opel
Manta, and found a weird old Vauxhall in the scrapyard. It didn't look too bad -
the interior especially was very tidy - and I thought I'd have a go at
restoration (bad idea, I've tried it before - but this car looked easier to work
on).
That car was a VX1800, one of the very last Vauxhall FE models sold in the UK. It ran, had solid sills, almost solid arches... I could have saved it quite easily except for one thing - at the time, I was terrified of using anything other than real panels, and couldn't find any. I didn't want to patch it, since I was trying to restore it, and when I removed the front fibreglass wings (which you can still get), I discovered mild corrosion in the trumpets from the top of the A-pillar, and a 4" or so hole in the very front of the inner wing.
I mean, big deal, right? These days, I'd get that patched and wouldn't think
twice about it. Never mind.
FE number 2 was a Victor 2300. I found it in Practical Classics - in fact, it
belonged to Nick Larkin, who struck a deal over the phone for my rather tidy
Manta, and we met at Scotch Corner where we exchanged cash and a Victor for my
Opel. The drive back was accompanied by a rather odd noise from the back - I put
it down to the complaints of the long suffering people I dragged with me (Nick
was late, the carburettor diaphragm having split) and the car having gone a long
way.
This is the car in
question - I kept it for a while, before trying to deal with family life, money
and general stress meant that the impending back axle failure was going to break
the bank, and I couldn't work out how to deal with it otherwise.
Had a certain person not been quite so greedy about their parts prices, I might have been able to save the car, but £125 for a secondhand axle was, and frankly still is, crazy when the values of these cars never push £1,000 except in very rare cases.
So, for a few years, I was FE less. The high metal values meant I got £80 each for my dead FEs, which wasn't bad, but I missed the distinctive note of the slant four, and the view across that fluted bonnet.
Circumstances change, and I decided there was space for another classic car in my carport, having got out of 'old' cars with the departing of my 1993 Volvo 480 and found a brand new car to be very efficient, but sadly lacking in character. I got the Ventora (the six cylinder FE) which you can read about on the restoration page; I drove that car a total of six miles (unlike my previous Victor, which I did a couple of thousand in before it reached the stage where I felt the diff was about to let go) - then it became apparent the Ventora was not about to be on the road any time soon, so I got a Rover 3500S for a while - I sold it after a few months.
As of this weekend (24th March 2001), I've been driving a Coppertone Starfire VX2300 automatic, now called Merlin. I collected the car from Harrow, after seeing it advertised online... it was described as being 'in good condition', and the bloke was very enthusiastic about his old car, saying it would get another MOT and such. When I actually got down there, the car looked rather sorry... the rear door has a couple of dents, the interior is a disaster area, the front inner wings have been patched and need further patching, and one arch is almost entirely filler. When started, the car misfired, running extremely badly on three cylinders and engaging gears with a violence that shuddered through the whole car.
For some bizarre reason, I thought I'd take it anyway and drive
it back - the seller did cut the price in half ;) Through Watford and up the A1,
running on three cylinders, headlights refusing to stay dipped, at midnight...
By Leicester, he needed a drink again. However, we kept on plodding along
(actually, a steady 65 cruise was easy) and the power returned. By Newcastle,
the engine was running on all four, and the car felt a lot better! The
seven-hour drive was otherwise uneventful, and reminded me what a capable car
the FE is - excellent handling, quiet, comfortable and generally well designed.
With steady attention, he's slowly looking like a decent car again. I imagine a fair amount of welding will be required underneath for the next MOT, but generally, he's not bad. The most annoying thing was the heater, which wasn't working and froze my legs. I've stripped the dash, cleaned it all up, replaced all the bulbs, and I'm looking for a new indicator/washer stalk assembly.
January 2002 - well, I still have the VX2300, but it failed the MOT on inner sills back in May. Since the mechanic that failed it is the same one that trashed my Ventora, I didn't get the work done, and have kept the car around in the hope of either locating a trustworthy, honest mechanic who has time to do the work at a fair price, or suddenly waking up an expert welder. Neither has happened, despite the odds being in favour of the latter around here. I did fix the indicator stalk, though - salvaged something from the Ventora! My spare Ventora lights are now in Finland!
Here's a picture of the VX estate resting in a garage, full of spare parts.
Lately, I've been in touch with Dave Richards, founder of the VX4/90 drivers club, has two FEs which need saving, and aren't as far gone as the Ventora. Also, they include the frighteningly rare inner wings, and front wings, needed to restore them. I might be acquiring one of these, depending on how I can move it.
Unfortunately, I lost touch with Dave, and when I spoke to him last, the cars have found new homes - sadly, not with me! I suspect that is for the best, since I've been working more on music lately - but I still want a nice FE...
.
The
yellow car is a stock VX4/90, but an attractive one nonetheless. The blue car is
more interesting historically, as it is a replica of a caravan racer and also,
an ex Vauxhall press fleet car featured in Autocar in 1974 (being born in 1974,
this interests me too). The blue car has a Getrag box and various other updates.
There's an HC Viva estate hiding near the yellow car, too :)