my first attempt at a custom

1960 F Type Victor

1977 to 1979

I already owned a 50,000 mile F type that I purchased for £50 with a full MOT to go

on honeymoon in 1976.

I chose a 125 BHP 1969 3.3 Ventora as the donor car, front and rear axles with

all the brakes were adapted to fit onto the original floor. Also cut the bulkhead to

fit the 6 cylinder engine, which meant no heater. This was going to be a fair

weather car only!

To this day I can’t remember why I painted her brown, suppose I just couldn’t

make up my mind and ended up with something that looked awful, even for the

70’s. The white vinyl roof helped, which matched the seats, which I trimmed myself;

they looked worse close up!

I drove her for about 3 years, unfortunately the rust bug was a major headache

and at that time I didn’t have the knowledge or means to cure it. So made the

decision to see what she looked like as a convertible. I made a separate chassis

that was then bolted to the floor, with a rollover bar between the doors and then

I chopped the roof off. On the road the body flexing was terrible even with the

extra chassis, the mistake was keeping it four doors. I should have converted her

to a two door. 

Although I don’t have any photos as a convertible, I do remember that she looked

good. I learnt a lot from that conversion and promised myself to do another

convertible one day, next time properly. (see ‘VIVA’)

She was featured in ‘Street Machine’ magazine in September 1980. 

Due to costs involved in providing for a family it wasn’t until 1990 that I was able

to undertake another project.

This followed a similar format to the F Type, restoring the body, renewing the

chrome etc etc. This time I chose a damaged 110 bhp 1986 Carlton 2.2i as the

donor car, a decision I was later going to regret.

Again a lot of time was spent adapting the mechanics to fit onto the Victor floor.

Both axles, engine and auto box, steering box, wiring loom and dials were all used.

I drove her for about 2 years, but was never happy with the performance or the

vibrations at certain speeds. No one ever seemed to notice, but they bugged me

so something had to be done.

I began thinking that there must be an easier and more professional way of

achieving the same aim. Now if I could use a complete floor from a donor car

and graft it onto the Victor, that surely would eliminate the need to adapt the

mechanics. Finding one with a similar track and wheelbase was a problem, the

only one that seamed suitable was a Cavalier, but it was front wheel drive.

As far as I was aware it had never been done and even though it would almost

definitely be shunned by the hot rodders, I went ahead with the second attempt

anyway.

I acquired a 1994 Cavalier SRi (minus engine and gearbox), complete with all

round disc brakes, wiring loom and the ABS system. On the Victor I had already

fitted new sills and used 3mm plate to replace the inners so the cut line would be

5cm in. After removing all the mechanics and interior I built a jig to support the body,

which was bolted onto the sills.

The whole floor and chassis, bulkhead, inner wings and rear wheel arches were cut

out and thrown away, the same was done with the Cavalier, but this time the top

half was disposed of. What remained of the Victor was lifted by the jig 5 feet in the air,

so the Cavalier could be slid underneath in position. After careful measuring and cutting,

the two halves were welded together above and below the joint. 

I then found a low mileage engine and gearbox from a 1991 Astra GTE 2.0i 16v,

complete with engine loom and drive shafts, having 150 BHP would be ideal.

Interior was part Victor and Cavalier, seats from an Astra, which bolted straight

on the Cavalier floor. An inbuilt electric slide and tilt sunroof with blue headlining,

bespoke carpet and door trims finished the interior.

Fitting the mechanics was so easy compared to the F Type and my first attempt

with the Victor, everything just bolted on with no time consuming adapting. On

the road she surpassed my expectations, no vibrations or rattles, effortless

performance and she drove just like a Cavalier.

Vauxhall spend millions of pounds in development of their chassis’s, so it made

a lot of sense to make use of it. Any future projects I do will use this method.

The key will be finding the right donor car.

I sold the Victor in 2004, after many enjoyable miles.