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Jul 18, 2012 14:14:07 GMT
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Jul 18, 2012 14:17:09 GMT
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Jul 18, 2012 14:21:14 GMT
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great cars, agile and under-rated IMO. Need tweaking. Compared to most moderns they will all seem a bit unrefined.
The old 2.3 SOHC slant 4 is a great engine, torquey and tough. More of a slogger than a screamer. Thats what the DOHC one (Lotus head) was for.
Dunno about 130 BHP. Stock is about 110 BHP. Nice to drive. Get an overdrive box and its not bad on the motorways even.
Depends on your frame of refference. If you compare it to an E46 BMW it will seem crude and slow. Compared to an Escort, or a pushrod Viva or Austin Cambridge.... Product of its time
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Jul 18, 2012 14:27:58 GMT
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Compared to a Dolomite Sprint  |
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Jul 18, 2012 14:34:55 GMT
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Dolly Sprint is much quicker out of the box than the Magnum. Also Dolly Sprint has sporting suspension as stock whereas the Magnum just has regular Viva stuff under it. I've never driven a Sprint but I'd say you'd need to put some time and money into a Magnum for it to keep up with one
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Jul 18, 2012 17:30:27 GMT
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The coupes won't be any cheaper, the only difference between a Firenza, Viva E coupe, or a magnum coupe is quite literally the badge. Apart from the viva E coupe which uses sqaure headlights. The only reason magnum coupes are called magnum coupes is because Vauxhall wanted to retain the firenza name specifically for the HPF Droop snoot version when it came out in 1974. A "good" one is like hens teeth although they do pop up on the bay of E, so keep your eyes peeled and be prepared to pay. I sure did as they are even rarer in N.I.
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Mazda mx5 mk1 eunos Track car Project
1973 Vauxhall Firenza
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,305
Club RR Member Number: 170
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70's Vauxhalls - MagnumChasR
@chasr
Club Retro Rides Member 170
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Jul 18, 2012 23:11:04 GMT
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The Sprints I have driven (bar Rob's on lowered suspension) seemed a little softly damped/sprung. I don't think the ride will be much worse, but the performance may be behind a little, but not by much. Go for it . |
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Buy one, they're key. Besides, you see loads of Escorts and even Dolomites but how often do you see a Magnum? Bet you'll still have one on the road before I finish mine.....
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Club Retro Rides Member
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IIRC the Magnum was never offered with the HPF Coupe style body - they were all used on the Viva E. Magnum is 2 dr and 4 dr saloon only. There may have been an estate but that may have been the visually similar Viva GLS... I confuse the two as they were so similar and there were once so many on our roads...
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1941 Wolseley Not Rod - 1956 Humber Hawk - 1957 Daimler Conquest - 1966 Buick LeSabre - 1968 Plymouth Sport Fury - 1968 Ford Galaxie - 1969 Ford Country Squire - 1969 Mercury Marquis - 1970 Morris Minor - 1970 Buick Skylark - 1970 Ford Galaxie - 1971 Ford Galaxie - 1976 Continental Mark IV - 1976 Ford Capri - 1994 Ford Fiesta
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Cool, I think I may have a look around, either that or an Imp. Thinking that I may have a change from Triumphs for a while.....
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djefk
Part of things
Posts: 844
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Jul 19, 2012 13:52:18 GMT
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 Whoa guys some misinformation going around here. the only difference between a Firenza, Viva E coupe, or a magnum coupe is quite literally the badge. . The Viva E coupe is a Firenza / Magnum Coupe body with standard 1256 cc mechanicals. The trim and paint colours were different from the rest of the range - From memory they were either painted white or (starmist?) gold and had a distinctive badge on the back. The idea was to get rid of excess droop snoot bodyshells (that car was launched just before the fuel crisis, hence the 'E' for Economy which was suddenly very fashionable!) Here's Colonel K's thread on his: retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=63608IIRC the Magnum was never offered with the HPF Coupe style body - they were all used on the Viva E. Magnum is 2 dr and 4 dr saloon only. There was definitely a Magnum version of the 2 door fastback offered between about 1973 and 1975 as well as the Firenza version, which arrived earlier (1970 or 1971) and was superceded by the Magnum version. The Firenza badge was then only used for the droop snoot versions in the UK. ;D
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harris66
Part of things
drive it, break it, fix it and make it quicker!
Posts: 699
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Jul 19, 2012 15:20:07 GMT
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yep as above, viva e was a 1256 engine, offered around 1975/6 i beleive, the firenza seased prod i think in 72, was replaced by the magnums in 2/4 door saloon, and magnum coupe -)
ive owned em all! great cars and very capable when tweaked, even more so with a small block chevy in the bay!
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1.2 corsa daily, 1.8t a4 avante, 6.3ltr austin a40....
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Jul 19, 2012 18:35:18 GMT
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Whoa guys some misinformation going around here. the only difference between a Firenza, Viva E coupe, or a magnum coupe is quite literally the badge. . The Viva E coupe is a Firenza / Magnum Coupe body with standard 1256 cc mechanicals. The trim and paint colours were different from the rest of the range - From memory they were either painted white or (starmist?) gold and had a distinctive badge on the back. The idea was to get rid of excess droop snoot bodyshells (that car was launched just before the fuel crisis, hence the 'E' for Economy which was suddenly very fashionable!) I had meant that the coupe wont be cheaper in any guise, as it is exactly the same bodyshell, obviously a genuine hpf will skin you, but a viva E coupe, magnum coupe, or firenza coupe will all fetch around the same amount of tokens. |
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Mazda mx5 mk1 eunos Track car Project
1973 Vauxhall Firenza
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Jul 19, 2012 19:04:13 GMT
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I had a 76 1800 Magnum as the fuel gauge on the 2.3 i tested dropped nearly as fast as the speedo shot up .
I love them , i bought mine back off the guy i sold it to after 2 years but had to sell it when i left the army due to not having a job but having 2 cars .
Get one if you can there great cars loads of fun and if you could find a droop snoot to fit it would be awsume
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Jul 19, 2012 19:44:10 GMT
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Thanks chaps, will keep an eye out for one, don't seem to be many about now.
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MartinC
Part of things
Don't like stretched tyres, very low profile tyres & I think a car CAN be too low. Perhaps I'm odd.
Posts: 935
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Also remember there was a Viva 2300 saloon, and later on the Viva 1800 GLS is identical to a Magnum 1800 saloon, they just dropped the name.
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1937 Standard Flying Twelve
1943 Bedford OYD
1947 Cadillac Fleetwood Sixty-Special
1954 Hillman Minx MkVIII
1956 Austin A30
1957 Vauxhall Victor Super
2001 Chrysler 300M
2002 Rover 75 Connoisseur SE Tourer
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Cool, I think I may have a look around, either that or an Imp. Thinking that I may have a change from Triumphs for a while..... Haven't you literally just bought a Dolomite 1850? |
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Jul 26, 2012 14:35:38 GMT
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Yes, I have now, I was looking for Imps and Magnums but saw the 1850 on my weekly classifieds Triumph search And could not resist! |
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Jul 29, 2012 20:31:38 GMT
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The Magnum deffo came in a coupe i had one back in 1985 it was on a N plate which would have made it a 1975 it was 1800cc metalic blue i just loved the shape of it.
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Whoa guys some misinformation going around here.
