Early Flavia 1.8 PF Coupe

[kevbo]

Hi all,
Considering changing from my Fulvia Sport to a Flavia.  Went to have a look at an early 1.8 Coupe here: http://www.sovereigncarsales.co.uk/Classic_gridpos2.aspx

Does anyone know the car?  I think it was imported from Italy about two years ago but there isn't any history with the car.
Regards
Kevin

[colinw]

Hi Kevin
Interesting that this car is still for sale.  In my search for a coupe I saw this car advertised by a dealer in Shipley near Bradford and he had it on sale for +/- £14000 and he was the one who imported it.  I have trawled my old emails but I have had a clear out after having bought my Coupe so specific details I cannot give to you sorry, so I am going by memory. I was wanting a later one with round gauges so I put this car to one side, then I saw it for sale again, middle of last year if not earlier, for more or less £21000 and the dealer (not sure if it was Sovereign or not) was using the same photos that the Shipley dealer used for his sales purposes, promising more up to date photos to follow (no change here!).  How the price could jump so much I do not know for it is being advertised as being original, so what he has done to add to its value I do not know. Certainly not new photos! I see that the price has thankfully come down.
That is about all I can add. I never went to see the car so I cannot comment on its condition. I hope I have not put you off buying this car if it is the one you want but there is I feel some room for negotiation when it comes to price.
I have chased a few cars, both here and on the continent, over the last year or so , so if you see one you like I might have seen it myself so let me know.
I know of a very nice and original injected car in Italy but that one is priced about 45,000 Euros.
Best of luck, it is a slog but I am sure "your" car is out there. 

[kevbo]

Thanks for the reply Colin, that's appreciated.  I did go and see the car but didn't drive it.  The car was at the back of the showroom and the lighting was poor.  Some of the chrome needed attention and there was a split in the paint on the door.  But overall the paint looked good and the seats looked to have been retrimmed in leather.

As far as I could tell the basic structure seemed sound but I got the impression it's been stood for some time,  so some recommissioning required.  They told me it was bought from a collection but there was no history to speak of however there was a manual and parts book. 

There's a similar car, a twin carb 1500 on eBay but at a much reduced price.  I'll probably get a better look at the white car in the next week or so.  Thanks again for your comments.

[colinw]

Hi Kevin
Thanks for your update, let me know how you get on.
I have heard that the twin carb versions are difficult to keep in tune, also everyone tells me to make sure that the brakes do not have any problems for they can be expensive to get right.
Happy hunting.
regards
Colin

[Justin McArdle]

Hi Kevin
This 1962 1.5 Flavia Coupe is on eBay
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ebay.co.uk%2Fulk%2Fitm%2F223112999106

[kevbo]

Thanks Justin.  That one looks very nice and reasonably priced.

[lancialulu]

I have an enquiry for a flavia coupe. If there are any that members might be thinking of selling please pm me.

[kevbo]

I'm considering a different Coupe to the original one I looked at.  This one needs a attention to the offside front wheel arch.  It looks from the photos I've seen that the complete arch needs replacement.  Maybe a daft question but how involved is this?  I assume repair panels aren't readily available so a complete arch panel will need to be fabricated by a bodyshop?  If you can see rust damage at the trailing and leading edges how likely is there to be work to the inner arch?  I guess answer is likely to be yes!  I'm just trying to get a feel for costs of a reasonable repair

The other area of bubbling paint that I could see was around the outer seam of the boot lid.  This seemed fairly localised.  The car has been stored for a while but is running, it's also RHD  It looks to me that the sills have been painted in stonechip, they aren't body colour, similarly the front and rear valences.

Any advice appreciated.

[GG]

Simple version: check the extent of corrosion. If its a few local places, not a big deal. If, on the other hand, its extended to more than first visible, its much more concerning. Say the rockers are gone (insides maybe, can't easily be seen), then you have to check subframe and suspension mounts. If there is trouble there.... then its largely "take a walk".

But if its a wheel arch or two and a trunk detail, and no more... then those are repairable relatively easily.

It is typical that almost any rust repair reveal more, further than what was seen or thought. Some expansion of this, with "have to do this too", is OK. What you don't want is the full boat, where all the major elements have to come out so that rust repair (assuming you are willing to spend for it) is done. 

[kevbo]

Thanks GG, good advice.  I haven't seen the car in the metal, it's about 300 miles away from me, but the seller has sent video and pics.  I was trying to get a ball park figure for a repair cost for an arch e.g £1k - £2k, appreciate it's a bit of a length of string question! 

I've seen reference to Bill Lewis for repair panels, is Bill still doing these?

[kevbo]

Does anyone know this car?  It was bought from Somerset but now resides in the North East.

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C988678

[colinw]

Interesting!
In my search for a coupe I went to see a white one in Wincanton (Somerset) some 3 years ago.  I am not saying it is the same car as you have spotted for as I said in a previous post I have had a clear out of old searches, sorry.
The car I saw had three shades of white/cream and the gearbox whines esp in 2nd gear. The ribbon speedo was bouncy in its display. The door hinge areas esp. the passenger had rust painted over.  In the boot there was a strange aluminium angle running as "strengthener" across the width seemingly helping to support the back seat.  It did not have the original push button starter on the dash for there was a broken piece of nylon in its assembly that the owner had tried to fix with super glue, but failed.    There were lots of bills from Omicron mounting to over £4k to include some electrical work.   The car was advertised for just under £11k.
It was my first coupe experience and had not the knowledge to look any further for other problems. I wanted a car in a better condition so I did not take it any further.   
If you contact the person selling the car maybe you could ask for some photos of the areas I mention and ask about the gearbox if it is quiet or not.
It is a long hunt for the right car, but you will get there.   

[DavidLaver]

Fixing arches - a friend has a Rover Metro needing rear arches.  One quote was £1200, he's not looking for perfection so "£300 plus parts" is the one he's taking.  This is for a car to do rallies in.  I can't remember the price but on a modern BMW we ran for a bit the wheel arch scrape quote was "way too much" so we lived with it.  Over £2K.

Blending paint is not easy...any repairs I've ever had done have been visible from some angle and in some lights "obvious"...

If you set your standard low enough it could be cheap - if you want it to really last and blend in perfectly that's going to cost a multiple of the basic repair.

"Somewhere between £300 and £3000, depending on your standards". 

The trick is not to pay £2k for a £250 job...

[kevbo]

Colin, David, thanks for your comments.  My search continues!

[DavidLaver]

Early days I used to be able to sort out rust patches on my sister's mini in a couple of hours, a short morning.  On my car it would take all weekend and more.  Not sure her's saw finer than 80grit with a stroke of a 4in brush to finish.

David