From the cold north

[cberg_ascona]

So I finally had the chance to get my hands back on a Ascona C again, which I had as my first car at 19 - this time it wont really be used as a daily driver, as the winters up here in Scandinavia are loong and the main roads around the larger cities are salted almost every day when its minus Celsius (the season for classic "veteran" cars is typically very late April to early October), but this will be more intended for tinkering and summer joyrides.

 

The car itself is a fairly standard 1984 1.6S GL (40 y.o this month hooray), 90bhp thereabouts, in the CC form - which spent the majority of its life up in the dry, cold mountains so the rust is minimal as far as Mid Norway goes - tho it probably got maneuvered across a mailbox or a badger sometime in its life so a new front panel and wing will be fitted in 2025 (oh and a new wing mirror will be installed as well - shoutout to Ebay). Got MOT'd with zero faults this summer so that was a pleasant surprise

 

Further goals for next year includes refurbishing the carburettor as it seems to operate a little sluggish in cold weather - getting the cassette player back in shape would also be mint.

 

Briefly about the owner: Father of two girls, IT consultant, big 80s aficionado, technical skill level: eager learner

[Paul]

A Scandinavian Bradford city fan? 

[Blitz]

Fantastic find and I look forward to your updates 

[GreyDJ2]

Where are you? My partner has a daughter and grand daughter living in Stavanger.

 

What is parts availability like? Is the broken mirror manual or electric, passenger or drivers side? Can you get one there?

 

I can't remember seeing an Ascona C and I have been over a lot, a few Vectra A. A family friend was the Opel dealer in Stavanger, its now a block of flats!

[cberg_ascona]

1 hour ago, GreyDJ2 said:

Where are you? My partner has a daughter and grand daughter living in Stavanger.

 

What is parts availability like? Is the broken mirror manual or electric, passenger or drivers side? Can you get one there?

 

I can't remember seeing an Ascona C and I have been over a lot, a few Vectra A. A family friend was the Opel dealer in Stavanger, its now a block of flats!

Residing in Trondheim here 

 

The Ascona C's have unfortunately gotten few and far between in the past decade or so (prob similar to the mk2 Cav?), but the access to parts etc is still fairly good - probably much thanks to how common they once were. Also got a couple of online db's from a few salvage yards here plus private sellers.

 

I think we might be at a point in time here where enthusiast-kept Ascona B's outnumber what is left of the Ascona C's, but theres absolutely a slow but steady increase in the interest surrounding these models from what I've noticed

[GreyDJ2]

Ascona Bs are a real cult here, rear wheel drive and easy to put a Redtop in. As to the 400

 

But they and their Mk1 Cavalier brother will never exceed the Mk2 in terms of numbers as many more were sold and newer.

[cberg_ascona]

50 minutes ago, GreyDJ2 said:

Ascona Bs are a real cult here, rear wheel drive and easy to put a Redtop in. As to the 400

 

But they and their Mk1 Cavalier brother will never exceed the Mk2 in terms of numbers as many more were sold and newer.

Yeah those are legendary up here as well, someone may or may not have nicked my relatives Ascona B a few years ago and he was lucky it didnt leave the country - how on earth they retrieved it from a shed far from home I have to ask

 

Just ran a quick check since this topic got me thinking a bit, and despite any meaningful vehicle stats being hidden behind paywalls and layers of bureaucracy in Norway - Sweden seems a bit more open:

Per car.info (Dec 24), Sweden has got approx 2k Ascona B on plates/currently registered - and for Ascona C (C1-C2-C3) that number is about 1k if my math aint way off. So I guess we're dealing with survivors