The Vauxhall Firenza HP (for ‘High Performance’), or Droopsnoot as it is affectionately known, is a rare car.

Just 204 were built, despite Vauxhall’s claim back in the day that the market would welcome a thousand or more, every year.

That it wasn’t more of a success is a bit odd.

After all, it sports a 2,279cc engine that had been breathed on by Bill Blydenstein, the legendary Vauxhall tuner.

So, you’ll find twin Stromberg carburettors, a high-lift camshaft, a gas-flowed head and a tubular manifold under the bonnet.

The Droopsnoot also has a proper, dog-leg, 5-speed gearbox too, which is surely the epitome of seventies gearbox-cool, a deep-dish steering wheel, lowered, uprated suspension, more powerful brakes and Avon safety wheels (a production car first), and of course, the aerodynamic glassfibre nosecone from which it draws its name.

Vauxhall's misfortune in 1975, however, has exactly the opposite effect 50 years later with the Droopsnoot's rarity meaning that these cars have ...