Introduction
Welcome to Vauxhall-Cavalier.com — my little piece of the internet dedicated to celebrating and preserving the humble Mk.1 Cavalier. I am not here to tell you it is the greatest car ever made; by almost every measure, it's spectacularly average. But with well over a quarter of a million of them once gracing British roads, it was an omnipresent part of daily life for many. To me, that nostalgic connection is far more important than rarity or performance, and it’s precisely why it’s my favourite car.
This site serves two purposes. First, as a practical reference point for anyone looking to enjoy, restore, or research these cars, alongside documenting what was built and what still survives. Second — and perhaps more interestingly — as a home for the stories and adventures that buying and restoring an old car inevitably brings.
Meet DJB 181V: a Luton-built 1600L finished in Orange Tan with a beige Kingston Plaid interior—a glorious symphony of autumnal, 1970s tones. It was registered on 1 January 1980 by Great Western Motors in Reading and was sold by them to a Mr Clutson in August that year. He couldn't have liked it much, because by March 1981 he had sold it to Mr Pethick in Crowthorne, who in turn sold it to a Mr Franklin of Thatcham in May 1984. My parents entered the scene on 5 July 1986, becoming its last owners. I’d love to say it was cherished, but to them, it was merely basic transport. They didn't even know this information; it was only learned later from a DVLA V888 form, but more on that later. Dad was a creature of habit who had owned a long line of Vivas before it, so the Cavalier was simply the next logical step.
Growing up, I was always drawn to mechanical things. I preferred sitting in front of the washing machine watching it churn away over watching the TV, so it’s no surprise the Cavalier caught my eye. I’d spend hours observing Dad spend hours tinkering with it when not sat in the back trying desperately to avoid third-degree burns from the leatherette seats on sunny days. The Cavalier became part of the nostalgic tapestry of my 1990s childhood — right alongside Big Break and Challenge Anneka on Saturday night TV, Kinder Eggs and Nestlé Secret bars, and the occasional special meal at a Berni Inn.
In truth, it was a tough decade for my parents. The UK was in the grip of a deep recession, and I quickly learned what the word ‘redundancy’ meant from Dad. DJB 181V was kept out of skint necessity rather than any sentimental affection. In May 1997, the MOT delivered the inevitable verdict: DJB was a patch-repair too far, and its time was up.The news was so monumental that it even made it into my school diary. It was my first real experience of loss, but Dad softened the blow by letting me keep the front badge as a memento.
I treasured that emblem. Over the years, it was progressively promoted from being tossed in a drawer, to being displayed on a shelf, to being framed on my office wall. I’d occasionally drop idle threats about buying an orange Cavalier to loved ones, though they were usually met with a solid wall of sensible counter-arguments.
That was until, fueled by two mates and a burst of alcoholic bravado, I bought OOO 563V: an orange, V-reg 1600L with a beige Kingston Plaid interior. Sound familiar? Okay, it’s a slightly different shade of orange. And it has an automatic gearbox. And it was built in Antwerp — which probably explains why it hasn’t completely rusted into oblivion. Presenting it to Dad after successfully driving it back from Essex — its home for the first 35 years of its life — will stick with me forever.
So, what's this website all about?
I am a huge advocate of interests and where they can lead. They provide a spark that can take you across the world, teach you invaluable skills, and introduce you to people who become lifelong friends. I hope to capture that spirit in Cavalier Chronicles, which documents the adventures of owning, restoring, and running OOO 563V.
The plan was always to restore a Cavalier and, after seven years of ownership, the time came for OOO. Paradoxically, I’m not a ‘car guy’, so I have approached the whole process as a model maker, where I feel a lot more comfortable—just that my project is a 1:1 scale. The learning curve has been huge but rewarding and (importantly) fun, if we ignore the times I threaten to set fire to it. The aim has always been to return the car to the ‘as new’ condition it was in on 1 April 1980, in time for its 50th birthday in 2030, when I’d like to take it back to Antwerp. This is progressively being documented in the Restoration area of the website.
I can’t really add much to the story surrounding the development of the Mk1 Cavaliers; it is covered well by the incredible Vauxpedia and the Cavalier & Chevette Club. However, thanks to the vast amount of information released by the DVSA, we are now able to examine the 200,000+ cars that made it onto UK roads. This information is shared in the Origins part of the website, alongside some of the more human facets of the story.
In preparing for OOO's rebuild, a huge amount of information has been collated, documented, and sorted in readiness for putting it into practice. This includes a mixture of period literature produced by Vauxhall/Opel/GM, recent developments, details obtained using the DVLA's V888 form, and personal findings as I've gone along. These are all shared in the Technical section of the website. And, while the number of people expected to use them is negligible, the processes used are widely applicable.
The question of 'How many survive?' is a common one in the classic car world, almost as common as claims that cars are '1 of 2 left!' or similar, usually when someone is trying to sell them for a premium price. Survivors is an attempt to document and record what's truly left of the 238,890 Mk1 Cavaliers that were built. Sadly, just like DJB172V here (undoubtedly the closest extant car to my parents' DJB181V), we can't save them all. Non-Survivors is a tribute to those cars that have been broken to keep others going.
Finally, I’d like to take this opportunity to dedicate all of this to Dad. He died in 2022, just as things were starting to get interesting with the restoration of OOO. He unwittingly inspired this whole adventure—had he bought a Skoda Estelle, then perhaps this would be a rather different story. He’ll never know about driving across Europe for some front wings, commissioning a tartan mill to remake the seat fabric, or the other stories that have happened since, but he would have loved what it has snowballed into.
So, once again, welcome to Vauxhall-Cavalier.com. Make a brew, get comfortable, and have a browse. Enjoy!
Cheers,
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Cheers,
