Ask most people to think of a “Magnum” and the odds are they’ll come up with either a chocolate-covered ice cream, (in the UK at least), Tom Selleck’s moustache and his Ferrari 308, or one of Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry’s guns. Some folks with expensive tastes might think first of a bottle of bubbly fizzy liquid from France. For a short while, however, it was also a car, from the UK’s third-biggest motor manufacturer.
Vauxhall in the 1970’s was in recovery mode after some years in decline. It’s bigger saloons such as the Victor and Cresta were losing ground to Ford’s Cortina and Granada ranges, and the Viva was showing its age. However, the introduction of the Chevette and Cavalier (based on German sister company Opel’s Kadett and Ascona, part of the gradual “Opelisation” of Vauxhall) in 1975 saw sales start to increase so that by the end of that decade the company was hot on the heels of British Leyland and Ford.
While this was going on, Vauxhall tried to plug the gap between the ageing Viva range and the Mk 1 Cavalier and came up with the Firenza and Magnum models. The Firenza was basically a fastback and performance version – particularly with the 1800 and 2300cc engines – of the Viva HC, while the Magnum was essentially a more luxurious Viva, with drive trains and suspension shared across all three models.
The Magnum was introduced in October 1973, and was externally distinguishable from the Viva on which it was based by having quad headlights. Mechanically, it came with either 1800 or 2300cc engines, developing 77 and 110bhp respectively. Body styles were 2 and 4-door saloons, a 3-door estate or shooting brake, and a 2-door coupé that might as well have been badged Firenza, and indeed from 1974 onwards the Firenza name was applied to the famous “droop-snoot” model. The ultimate Magnum, the Sportshatch version of the estate, was also given the “droop-snoot” treatment; only 197 of these were built, and these are exceptionally thin on the ground now. Meanwhile the overlap with the Viva continued and made for an increasingly incoherent model range.
Nevertheless, the Magnum stayed in production until 1978, with Vauxhall’s Ellesmere Port factory near Liverpool turning out 14,931 saloons, 1,692 coupés, 3,687 estates over the model’s half-decade production run. Towards the end of its life, the 1800cc engine was given a power boost that took it up to 88bhp, improving top speed from 93 to 100mph and taking three seconds off the car’s 0-60mph time, bringing it down to a claimed 12.5 seconds.
Our Prime Find Magnum is an estate version from 1977, making it a late model with the upgraded 1800cc (1759cc, to be precise) four-cylinder power plant, so while it lacks the performance of its bigger-engined sibling, it will still reach the ton. According to the selling dealer, based in Corby in England, there are only 14 of these estates left on UK roads, and I haven’t seen one for a very long time. It hasn’t had quite the sheltered life of the recently-featured Audi 100LS but has nevertheless had only five owners in its 44 years and has covered just 45,597 miles on it’s Rostyles.
As you might expect with such a low mileage, the interior looks barely worn and the paint finish appears good. I have to say I really like this Magnum’s styling – the big side windows give it a smooth look and the fastback profile gives it the air of a sporting estate or shooting brake, not unlike a Reliant GTE, Lancia HPE or Renault 15, a car which CAR magazine directly compared it with in a Group Test in 1974, with a MkII Ford Capri being the third car in the group. The Magnum they tested was a 2300, yet despite its bigger engine, wasn’t significantly quicker than either the Ford or the Renault. Nevertheless, CAR praised the Magnum’s looks, build quality, handling and practicality, qualities surely shared by the 1800. It’s certainly an interesting alternative to any of those, though I think I would lean more towards the Lancia.
It’s finished in a very deep (chocolate?) brown, and unusually for me – not generally a fan of brown cars – I quite like it, at least, based on the photographs from the advert, some of which we have borrowed. The seats are in a tan velour, the rest of the trim is a sea of mid-brown 1970’s plastic.
At a pint of beer under £18,000, the asking price for this Magnum is ambitious by the standards of 1970’s Vauxhalls. and whoever buys it should reasonably expect it to be as good as it gets, although there is little in the way of information in the advert, which you can see here. It is, however, an unusual classic and whoever buys it will do so safe in the knowledge that there are not so many around – there isn’t another for sale in the UK at the moment so it’s hard to say whether this one represents good value or not, but it certainly has rarity on its side.
It comes with owner’s manual, service book and a sheaf of paperwork. If you’re interested in this particular flavour of Magnum, we recommend arranging an inspection before you buy, of course.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us be inspired by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk