Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS - 1978
Sold for £ 11.000
The Jaguar Land-Rover Collection
Brightwells Auctions
Bicester Heritage
Buckingham Road
Bicester
Oxfordshire
England
March 2018
Vauxhall had the lower mid-market nicely in hand with their successful Chevette, but the company was driving into new territory – international rallying – and looked to the already proven Chevette/Kadett platform to provide the optimum vehicle for the job.
In 1976, Dealer Team Vauxhall, in conjunction with Blydenstein Racing, set about developing a much more powerful version of the Chevette. This car would use a 135 bhp twin-cam, sixteen-valve, 2.279cc slant four engine mated to a Getrag 5-speed gearbox. Suspension and rear axle came from the Opel Kadett C GT/E: independent double wishbones at the front and live axle with trailing arms and a stabilising Panhard rod at the rear.
The HS sported a much more determined, spoilered snout (not unlike that of the Firenza) and eight-spoke Chevrolet Vega Alloy wheels. Only 450 were built to comply with homologation, costing £ 5.107 at launch. All were silver with red decals and a red, black and tartan interior.
The HS was certainly a good handling car – if a little uncouth – and with respectable performance figures; 0-60 mph in under nine seconds and a top speed of 117 mph. As a rally car it was a success, winning the British Open Rally Championship for drivers in 1979 and for manufacturers in 1980, notching up significant wins for such famous rally drivers as Tony Pond and Jimmy McRae.
This 2300 HS has come to us with no paperwork, although a quick check has shown that it is registered with the DVLA and appears to have had eight previous keepers. Its new owner will need to apply for a duplicate V5C in the usual way.
There is also no MOT history with the car, so we can’t confirm when it last ran, although this would likely be more than 10 years ago – still who cares, what a worthwhile project this is.
Vauxhall Chevette 2300 HS - 1978
Sold for £ 11.000
The Jaguar Land-Rover Collection
Brightwells Auctions
Bicester Heritage
Buckingham Road
Bicester
Oxfordshire
England
March 2018
Vauxhall had the lower mid-market nicely in hand with their successful Chevette, but the company was driving into new territory – international rallying – and looked to the already proven Chevette/Kadett platform to provide the optimum vehicle for the job.
In 1976, Dealer Team Vauxhall, in conjunction with Blydenstein Racing, set about developing a much more powerful version of the Chevette. This car would use a 135 bhp twin-cam, sixteen-valve, 2.279cc slant four engine mated to a Getrag 5-speed gearbox. Suspension and rear axle came from the Opel Kadett C GT/E: independent double wishbones at the front and live axle with trailing arms and a stabilising Panhard rod at the rear.
The HS sported a much more determined, spoilered snout (not unlike that of the Firenza) and eight-spoke Chevrolet Vega Alloy wheels. Only 450 were built to comply with homologation, costing £ 5.107 at launch. All were silver with red decals and a red, black and tartan interior.
The HS was certainly a good handling car – if a little uncouth – and with respectable performance figures; 0-60 mph in under nine seconds and a top speed of 117 mph. As a rally car it was a success, winning the British Open Rally Championship for drivers in 1979 and for manufacturers in 1980, notching up significant wins for such famous rally drivers as Tony Pond and Jimmy McRae.
This 2300 HS has come to us with no paperwork, although a quick check has shown that it is registered with the DVLA and appears to have had eight previous keepers. Its new owner will need to apply for a duplicate V5C in the usual way.
There is also no MOT history with the car, so we can’t confirm when it last ran, although this would likely be more than 10 years ago – still who cares, what a worthwhile project this is.