So if the 818 had been designed in 1966...

[AJ Roadster NJ]

...it might have looked like this. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1966-Diva-Valkyr-vintage-British-made-race-car-only-5-made-/200733538014?pt=Race_Cars_Not_Street_Legal_&hash=item2ebca6b6de#ht_2913wt_1165)

I am really really REALLY tempted by this car, but the condition of the 3/4" mild steel tubing in some parts of the chassis, particularly right under the driver's butt (!!) scare me quite a bit. Maybe someone on this forum with nothing to do could buy it and restore it as a museum piece. Note that a period-correct Lotus Twincam and Hewland box are available with the car.

Back during that time, British buyers could escape a 30% excise tax on new car purchases by purchasing a kit-car, and as a result there was quite a flurry of them there for a while, one of them even winning in a world rally event.

I found this right after it was listed, and the current bid is $9.99. It will be fun to see where it goes from there.

AJ

[mrmustang]

...it might have looked like this. (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1966-Diva-Valkyr-vintage-British-made-race-car-only-5-made-/200733538014?pt=Race_Cars_Not_Street_Legal_&hash=item2ebca6b6de#ht_2913wt_1165)

I am really really REALLY tempted by this car, but the condition of the 3/4" mild steel tubing in some parts of the chassis, particularly right under the driver's butt (!!) scare me quite a bit. Maybe someone on this forum with nothing to do could buy it and restore it as a museum piece. Note that a period-correct Lotus Twincam and Hewland box are available with the car.

Back during that time, British buyers could escape a 30% excise tax on new car purchases by purchasing a kit-car, and as a result there was quite a flurry of them there for a while, one of them even winning in a world rally event.

I found this right after it was listed, and the current bid is $9.99. It will be fun to see where it goes from there.

AJ

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diva_%28car_manufacturer%29

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Diva was a British manufacturer of sports cars from 1961 to 1966. It was a subsidiary of the Tunex Conversions Co set up by Don Sim in Camberwell, London but in 1966 Diva Cars Limited became its registered name. In 1967, after car production ceased, the name changed again to Skodek Engineering.

The first Diva was intended to demonstrate Tunex's technology and had a body built by Heron Plastics and was a development of their 750 model. The car was raced successfully and another was built with larger windscreen and called the B-Type. Demand grew from enthusiasts for more of them so a "production" version of the GT was developed.

The 1963 Diva GT or C-Type had a fibreglass body and spaceframe chassis and could be built with a range of Ford engines ranging from 998 to 1650 cc. Suspension was independent all round and disc brakes were fitted at the front. The car was designed for track use only. Thirteen were built, one only was registered for the road the Diva GT C Type registered ACD 305B. This car won Best Car at the Southern Kit Car Meeting held at Hindhead on the 17th September 1978, Owner Steve Pethybridge. The car is currently in Germany.

The 1965 D-Type had a longer nose and headlights so road use was possible. Fifty one were made.

A mid engined Diva, the Demon, was exhibited at the 1965 Racing Car Show in London using a mid mounted Hillman Imp engine. This was changed later in the year for a Ford 1500 cc unit and the car launched as the Valkyr. Six were made including the prototype.

The only car designed specifically for road rather than racing was the 10F, a version of the GT which used thicker fibreglass bodywork and a flexibly mounted engine. As some road going GTs were also called 10Fs the actual number made in uncertain but would seem to be less than ten.

Production of cars had stopped by 1967 when the rights to the model were sold to a new owner.

[riptide motorsport]

imteresting but I dont think i like it.

[AC Bill]

I like it! :)
The fact it has some racing history, makes it more unique, and should qualify to enter vintage races.

Lots of work by the look of it, but certainly not impossible. It would be interesting to know exactly what other parts the owner has to help with the restoration. Shame it was stripped down as much as it was, instruments headlight covers, etc., but perhaps these are some of the items he still has. You could easily beef up the cockpit floor, if that is a big concern.

So was it truly a kit, or not? Wilkipedia kind of indicates they were a production car, yet it wins an award at a kit car event? :confused:

[AJ Roadster NJ]

Bill, I agree with a lot of what you say, but something scary in the listing is that the owner will provide photocopies of all the documentation but none of the originals. What the... That means that his personal sense of nostalgia is more important than the larger picture of properly preserving this small piece of automotive history beyond his own pleasure.

He probably does have the lenses, gauges, etc. but won't sell them with the car because he wants to keep them as paperweights in his office. What a shmuck.

[AC Bill]

Yeah, I don't quite understand what that bit meant, re the documentation. It may have meant that he just wouldn't supply it to a prospective buyer?
I think the original documentation needs to come with the car, and he can keep photocopy's.

[mrmustang]

Bill, I agree with a lot of what you say, but something scary in the listing is that the owner will provide photocopies of all the documentation but none of the originals. What the... That means that his personal sense of nostalgia is more important than the larger picture of properly preserving this small piece of automotive history beyond his own pleasure.

He probably does have the lenses, gauges, etc. but won't sell them with the car because he wants to keep them as paperweights in his office. What a shmuck.

The seller really is regurgitating what he was told by the guy he bought it from, this particular chassis is not a car that was raced unless it was in local autocross events. Copies of paperwork and not the originals is part of the problem as copies can be altered to say anything, while originals it would be harder to do so.

This particular car screams "kit car built" and not "factory built" after looking closely at the pictures provided.

Bill S.

[mrmustang]

Check out the following

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=260985180712

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140728021017

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270942487571

[AJ Roadster NJ]

I don't think those last three are in the same league at all, they scream kit-car junk to me. The Diva Valkyr just seems different -- it comes from a time when incomplete cars -- real cars, not the old "kit car" crap -- were sold in England by quite a few manufacturers to avoid that 30% car sales tax.

The Valkyr now has 28 bids and currently sits at $23,600 and the reserve has not been met. Someone is going to get a nice little piece of British history here if it sells. (No, for the record, I have no connection with the car, don't know the seller, blah blah blah :))

AJ

[Brian Z]

It looks alot like a Ferrari Dino.... that got beat with an ugly stick. =)