1979 Vauxhall Chevette HS

Building a works rally car back in the '70s normally meant squeezing your best engine into a small family car, adding big brakes, suspension tweaks and different gearboxes and axles to create a 'homologation special', then trying to sell 400 of them. Ford had the Escort RS, Talbot had the Sunbeam Lotus, Fiat the 131 Abarth and for Vauxhall it was the Chevette HS.

The 2279 cc slant four from the HC range - with a new 16 valve head - was shoehorned into the Chevette's tiny engine bay and Vauxhall raided the parts bins, coming up with the axle, brakes and suspension from the Kadett C GT/E, a 5 speed Getrag gearbox and alloys from the Chevrolet Vega. The aerodynamics were improved with a front airdam and rear spoiler; in the Droopsnoot tradition the paint was silver and the interior was a rather loud tartan affair. Only 400 of these cars were ever built and as such these cars are a very rare and very collectable.

This Chevette represents the very essence of 70s Vauxhall, we are informed by the vendor that the 61500 miles tally with supporting documentation and testifies to the fact that the engine was stripped and rebuilt in 2012 and comes with a detailed engineers report. The engine is reported to fire instantly with no smoke and drives superbly, tracking straight and with no rattles or clunks from the suspension, and all the performance you could need. The gearbox synchromesh are all good and the brakes are smooth, powerful and pull up straight. This is performance motoring at its zenith, a firm shove of the throttle brings a metallic sports racer yowl and the car flies forward.

Subject to a full professional respray in 2013 this cars paintwork can only be described as superb, with a deep lustre shine through out and excellent panel gaps, it's the sharpness of detail that really impresses on this car. The interior is in superb order with no splits or tears, nothing is worn through, broken or missing and the carpets are in equally good order both front and back.

Sold with a fresh MOT prices of these rare Vauxhalls are only going in one direction, it's like driving a Jack Russell, with energy and bounce to spare, sideways fun has never looked so appealing.