Over 25s read this ( if there are any....)

[novax]

God! When I replied to "age & car" I didn't realise how young you all are. I'm only 36 and still messing about with Novas, I've been driving as long as some of you have lived :? Still I guess that means I know what I'm talking about, I hope.

So how many of you are actually over 25? And why do you still drive a Nova?

Me first I guess:

Used to have an Astra GTE and sold it to get something different. As a regional Organiser for the VxlSCC I needed a Vaux, Novas are cheap, cool and can be modded to death..... and still like COOL! Check out "X" in the GTE gallery :)

[Anton]

very nice car mate. how much was your powerflow?

[Dan]

dont worry i dont think u the oldest lmao. (someone knows who i mean but i aint gonna say cos he will shoot me with his big guns :( lmfao)
I'm 26 mate, well for another 2 weeks then i notch up another year closer to 30 :o ( no offence :wink: ). My car is also in gte section of gallery but if u put yours in u poss seen mine already lol.
I still drive mine cos i always promised myself to finish of the engine mods, at last in its second shell i have done so :D

[concoursNeil]

Novax i know what you mean about driving as long as some been living!

Im 33 with a concours std GTE now in 12th year of owning it :D
Had SR before that .
The GTE a trophy winner with Performance Car Club on a few occasions now. This year included.
Once youve got that show bug its hard to part with it.
Too clean to let go off!!! :lol:
As seen in this months copy Total Vauxhall page 55 at national wknd and
car club mag pretty regular.
Tempted on something different now ,but looks like the NOVA STAYS! :!: :) 8)

[novax]

Anton - It's a full system to the downpipe which will be a Lexmaul unit in a couple of weeks. It cost ?230 and took 4 hours to build.

Fast car have published pic of my engine twice this year (p28 last month) but it won't be ready for a feature til next season. TV is published in Gloucester so if they like the car we won't have far to go....

Check out the Mk3 Astra Convertable next month, thet's one of the cars on my web-site, 9 in total.

[CP]

36?? Yur nothing but young lad lol!

Some of us are the wrong side of 40 lmao!

Anyways it is shocking how young everyone is on here but being as Novas are basically cheap fastish OK trendy little cars that are good for 1st time drivers its hardly suprising I spose.
Trouble is, I can't work out whether me having one and coming on here is being a sad loser who needs to grow up and play with people of my own age or whether I am actually being a bit hip and mixing with yoof who know where its at. :o :? :?:

Anyway I don't really care I've got some good m8's on here and we have a laff. When I drive my car about or go to meets with this lot on here or Saarfend or wotever I feel like I have a secret that no-one my age knows about- its another world really. When you get to my age life can be a little tedious. Talking cars to people my age is generally yawnsville - they talk finance deals and optional extras etc.
Those who know what I've got are i think secretively rather envious - they usually think Novas are scum but change their minds sharpish if i take them out for a ride in it. They then realise the big fun factor that Ive got.

I too thought Novas were cruddy little heaps of rust owned by little kids who thought they were big bwoys but when I got one for me son and we started playing about with it I realised that they can be very quick and great fun to drive. I think there is a growing number of blokes who are abit older and with the money to make them really perform. I run mine as a track day motor and I've been to places with the big boys in their M5's and elises etc and suprised them big time. I've spent a third or a quarter or less than what theyve spent and i can mostly kick ass.

Having said all that i spose its not exactly your average Nova - all stripped out and loads of competition stuff on it but I have retained the std. 1.4 engine block that goes with it so I feel like I'm keeping in the spirit of the car even tho its tuned to nearly race standards

[rob.slader]

Well I'd better reply to this one, cos I am over 25 too........ Only just mind you! But it's still closer to 30 than 20 and it's all downhill from here, aparently anyway. You thirty somethings better tell me I'm wrong!! CP you can tell us if life really begins at 40 to eh!!?? :lol:

Anyway, I've never owned a Vauxhall and never really wanted one, I ended up with my Nova by chance really. I started out with a, dare I say it Ford, then went onto the european stuff, Fiat's, Seats etc. Very fast cars, but cost a packet to run, especially if they go wrong. Anyway, after I sold my last car, I got a phone call from someone who saw my ad and wanted to sell a Vauxhall Nova SR, I thought, hmmm, not sure if I want one of them, but needed some wheels so went and had a look. The moment I saw how clean and tidy it was, my mind started to change, then I drove it and it was really good fun. So I brought, since then I have been well busy modding it, and it's well addictive, I keep thinking what can I do next to improve it, as you all probably do. So to sum it up, this is probably the only car I have really had fun messing with, it's so cheap to do, cheap on parts etc. You can't go wrong. I have had it nearly two years now and still haven't got bored with it. I have done quite a lot to it too, seeing it was standard when I got it, but suprisingly not spent that much on it. It's in the 1.4sr gallery if you wanna have a look?

The only thing that gets on my T**t's sometimes is the boyracer image Vauxhall Nova's have. I generally ignore those people though!

Anyway I will stop babbling on now and boring you all to death!!

[ade]

Well I'm 32 and feeling every bit of it at the moment - now that the colds kicked in my knees keep cracking!

Currently drive a mk2 1.2 nova rebuilt in July 02 - looks like a gsi with a few other bits

Had my car for 6 years since I passed my test (only passed when I was 26 :roll: ) and would change her for the world. 1st car etc...

Changed her tons since then - looks nothing like what she did when I 1st got her. G/F doesnt like her however has done me very well and is now mine, now that the old loan has been paid off!

:D

[Jim]

I've just turned 25 myself, but unfortunatley I don't get to renew my insurance until next April, so I'm dying to find out if this 'over 25 means cheap insurance' policy is actually true.

I bought my Nova in 1999. My uncle bought the 1.4SR from new in 1991. I remember when he first turned up in it, it looked really smart. I loved the car from the start. He offered me a good price and I managed to get a graduate loan to pay for the car. I knew the car was in immaculate condition (few rust spots, but nothing major) and with only 40,000 miles on the engine, it would have been an insult to turn him down.

I kept the car as Standard for about a year then I got some Alloys and the modifying bug began. It wasn't until recently that I started with major modifications. Re-spray, engine conversion, etc. Even with all of the modifications declared, the insurance is still cheap...under ?500 fully comp!

The Nova is the first car that I've bought and it's the first time I've had a chance to modify a car. Unfortunatley my uncle who bought the car originally has passed away, so theres a large sentimental value to my car. I also have my own house, so the mortgage and my fiancee usually come first. I'd love to own a brand new car, but the Nova has given me so much fun over the years, I'm finding it hard to part with her, to be honest, I'm not sure that I want to part with her.

Theres plenty more work to be done with the car until I'll be completley satisfied. Until the time comes when I can sit back and say "I'm finished" then I shall continue to spend money on her :)

It's good to see so many "mature" drivers on the site, I was starting to think that the younger generation were taking over :o I don't feel 25 and I don't act it :wink:

Jim

[Ian]

yep im 28 and still got my first car well the petrol tank off it, changed the lot since i got it nearly 6 years ago. 1990 gte, now a 2.0 16v on throttle bodies kitted up etc, in gallery.

concoursnova = neil white frpm damians region i presume! very nice clean nova, well deserves the tropies.

get some pics up on the gallery

[novax]

Glad I'm not on my own. CP, it is nice to have the cash to do the stuff you want. I drive a new-style Passat as a company car so "X" doesn't have to get trashed being drivenevery day. Just as well as it's cost me an arm and a leg in the last year.