1982 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6L 5 Door
(Featured on 21st May 2010)
Make: Vauxhall
Model: Cavalier
Year: 1982
Registration: LBP 775Y
Mileage: 17,470
Sellers original description:
A spectacular 1982 Vauxhall Cavalier 1.6L 5 door hatchback.
Effectively 1 owner and just 17,470 miles from new supported by old MOT’s & service history.
Stored 10 years wonderful original condition with all of its original panel’s, glass and the vast majority of its factory applied paint finish.
Always garaged and maintained by its elderly owner, amongst the very best available.
Launched in 1975 the Cavalier was a restyled version of the German Opel Ascona, In Vauxhall's line-up the Cavalier initially complemented and then replaced the slightly larger Victor, which by this time was falling a long way behind the Ford Cortina in the British car sales charts, and was even being overtaken by sales of the Morris Marina and Austin Maxi.
A new front-wheel drive car, the MkII was introduced in August 1981, again using the same underpinnings as the Opel Ascona. On its launch, it offered class-leading levels of fuel economy and performance which had previously been unthinkable for this sector of car.
In the UK, the new Cavalier was a huge success and challenged the supremacy of the Ford Cortina as the company car of choice. Following a facelift in the mid eighties the Cavalier went on to become Britain's second best selling car, behind the Ford Escort.
Today as very few of the early pre face lift MkII’s remain these are the cars that are sought after and fast becoming rare. Low mileage examples of say- 50,000 to 70,000 miles are particularly difficult to find as many of them when new cars were used as company vehicles.
To find one that has been privately owned kept garaged at the same address for almost 30 years and covered less then 20,000 miles well surely that’s impossible.
Actually its not!
LBP 775Y
In November 1982 a retired electrical engineer, then in his seventies, travelled the short distance from his home in Waterlooville to long established Vauxhall dealers United Service Garages in Hilsea.
He collected his new car, LBP 775Y, 1.6L MkII pre facelift Vauxhall Cavalier 5 door. Dealer fitted extras were a Philips AC 400 Radio cassette player and Vauxhall Mud flaps both remain with the car today.
LBP 775Y was used very infrequently by its elderly owner. It has always been garaged and maintained and there are old M.O.T’s and service invoices in the history file. According to a supplying dealer stamp in the service book by the time the car was 3 years old it had covered just 5,712 miles. By the time it was 10 years old according to the 1992 M.O.T the mileage had risen to just 15,001 since that time the car was hardly used at all. The 1997 M.O.T, with the owner now approaching his nineties, shows 17,335 miles.
On the second of November 1999 the owner took LBP 775Y for its M.O.T, to have the timing belt changed and a new water pump fitted, work that had been advised in a full and thorough inspection. copy in the file, the year before. The mileage then was 17458. The journey back after the work was completed would be the last time that the owner drove the car; todate it has covered just 12 miles since it left the M.O.T station in 1999.
Towards the end of 1999 the owner had a fall was taken to Hospital and from there into care. Sadly he was never to return home.
I year later the house, in which the owner had lived alone, was sold complete with its contents.
Title of LPY 775Y passed to the new owner of the house and the car stayed under blankets unused in its garage until recently.
Today the guaranteed mileage is just 17,470 and the car remains in totally exemplary original condition throughout. It is almost impossible to believe that it is approaching 30 years old.
SUMMARY
LPY 775Y has been cherished and well maintained all of its 28 years you would be very hard pushed to find another as good. In fact it is most probably the lowest mileage best original condition pre face lift MkII 1.6L 5 door Cavalier’s available.
It is in show condition and with minimal time and money would surly be a Concours contender.
It will be of interest to enthusiasts, collectors and investors alike.
It would also, however, make a fantastic ‘retro cool’ car for use on a day to day basis.
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