OWNING ONE

“I’ve always liked Vivas,” explains Chris Swallow. “My first car was an HB, 40 years ago; they were ahead of their time in 1966. I then found an HB GT 12 years ago and restored it. I’ve owned this SL90 for six years and have just finished restoring it – I sprayed it myself at home and it came out better than I expected. I’ve put plastic wheelarch liners in to help preserve it – you can’t get wings now. Finding parts can be a real challenge and SL interior trim is particularly hard to track down, plus they don’t re-cover well, so I fitted Astra Bertone seats for modern comfort – well, at least they are Vauxhall!

“We have an HC as well – it’s a base 1256cc de luxe that we use for running around locally and keep it ‘rat-look’ because it’s not worth restoring. I’ve upgraded my GT to a 2.3-litre engine with overdrive – it cruises really well.”

“SL interior trim is hard to track down so I fitted Astra Bertone seats for modern comfort – at least they are Vauxhall!”