Vauxhall PA Cresta

This site follows the restoration of my 1960 Vauxhall PA Cresta. Starting from when i purchased the car in July 2003 and to its conclusion in May 2007

My love affair with the PA started way back as a 7 year old boy. Back in 1962 our weekend trips to the coast was always an exciting time for us. A friend of the family purchased a brand new Brown and Cream PA, of course all us kids wanted to ride in this big flash car. I can still smell the newness of its interior and remember how smooth it was, especially when we watched the red band of the speedo reach 100mph. Anyway the seeds were then planted and it wasn't until much later in life that i wanted to re-kindle those times and own a PA of my own. SEE VIDEO CLIP HERE The one in the short trousers is me!! You can see a little of the Brown and Cream PA.

Informing my wife of my desires i took her along to a Cresta club event at the Forest of Dean, this was back in April 2002. I had searched on the internet and found the Cresta club web site and never looked back since. I didn't really know what to expect, but to say we were bowled over is an understatement. Both my wife and i (luckily for me) were so impressed by the cars on display, we were hooked. From that day the search was on and eventually we were the proud owners of a 1962 blue and white Vauxhall Cresta PA, registration number, VFO 382, see picture here.

We loved this car, it was a joy to drive and the experience of owning her was a real pleasure. We were both surprised at the response we got when we attended a local village show. It was fascinating to talk to so many people who wanted to know all about the car and to those people who had owned a PA many years ago. You could say we were hooked by the whole experience. We joined the Cresta club and went to many shows that year and indeed in 2003, Billing being the ultimate show. We would recommend anyone interested in owning a PA to join the Cresta club, it has been an invaluable source of information to us, visit their web site here.

We owned VFO for approximately 18 months and in that time i carried out repairs to the brakes, clutch and stripped out the interior and cleaned and painted the floor area. I also fitted a stainless steel exhaust as the one that was on was a poorly fitting one which caught on the underside. Yes the stainless system was slightly more noisy but not to interfere with the comfort of the driving experience.

So on to the main purpose of this site, we now own a 1960 mid series PA. It is black and grey in colour, has covered 54000 miles and has had one previous owner. Indeed we are in touch with the previous owner and always update them on the progress we are making. The car is generally not too bad the main problem being the bulkhead and a area's round the rear arches and patches on the inner sills.

I have never tackled a restoration before so i pondered over the best way of going about it. My welding skills was not up to the standard i would be happy with so i decided to farm out the welding and spraying. I have totally stripped the car and my role in the restoration will be to refurbish the parts i have stacked in the garage and then re-assemble when the bodywork has been done. So they say a picture paints a thousand words i will leave the rest to the GALLERY

I would be pleased to hear from any fellow enthusiast, if i can be of any assistance to anyone with their PA restoration please contact me.

8th May 2007 XAS 949 passed its MOT. See first move under own power HERE