What ever happened to ...

[Deleted member 6183]

We still are.

My neighbours were a Triumph family, they had a wonderful assortment of cars which made our Fords look a little dull.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

We could afford a bridge...

Losing my touch, apologies for the delayed response.

Did you live under it?

 

[zipdip]

When I started out in engineering the boss of the company always had Vauxhalls,he had the Cresta a great beast of a car in dark green and after that he bought a vauxhall victor 101 I liked that car best it was grey and white of course it did not end with cars he bought Bedford vans as well ,they were called the Money Box vans they had sliding drivers and passenger doors people used to latch these open and drive along,I had just pasted my test and was sent to pick up one of these vans up that had been serviced at the local Vauxhall garage,which was near a busy road crossing in Dagenham,I drove the van out and the lights changed to red and I had no brakes and went sailing across the intersection,ended up against the Ever Ready battery factories wall, it seems they allowed the boy to service the van and he put engine oil in instead of brake fluid in the van,he said well it looked like oil,those were the days,

 

[Deleted member 113659]

The only Vauxhall I’ve ever had was an old Astramax van. It was £900, rusty, and battered.

I bought it when I was 18 because we’d just got our first house and needed a workhorse to renovate it.

We ran it for three years. Never spent a penny on it and it never once let us down either.

And back then it was considered rather nippy too.

My mum and dad had a fair few Vauxhall’s. The most memorable (to me) was a lovely white 2000GSi Astra hatchback (around 1990 ish). I used to get custody of it (and the house) every time Mum and dad went away (which seemed to be every 5 minutes.) oh to be a teenager again eh???

 

[Darrell]

Apart from a Mini Cooper, a Mitsubishi Sapporo and a couple of Jags my dad was a Vauxhall man.

We had,
Viva. H reg
Victor Estate. L Reg
Cavalier. P reg that mum wrote off
Jaguar Coupe. P reg
Mitsubishi Sapporo. T reg
Cavalier. W reg
Astra GTE. A reg
Carlton. F reg
Carlton. K reg
Calibra. L reg
Rover 600. M reg
Jaguar S type. 52 reg (I have it)

 

[190]

I bought a new Chevette in 1977 purely on the strength of a drive in my uncles Chevette. The handling was a revelation compared to other cars I'd driven.

Vauxhall always seem to lag behind Ford in the refinement stakes. I passed my test in my dad's Mk 3 Cortina which had a very light clutch and precise gear change. Ford gearboxes at the time were easily the best. The VX1800 that followed it was a good cruiser but the gear change wasn't in the same league by comparison.

 

[E55BOF]

The only Vauxhall I’ve ever had was an old Astramax van.

Ah, yes, the Astramax van; in it's heyday, it was the fastest thing on the road. It must have been, because no matter how fast you were going on the motorway, there was always an Astramax van five feet from your back bumper flashing to get past...

 

[E55BOF]

Did you live under it?

Only when you weren't there...

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Ah, yes, the Astramax van; in it's heyday, it was the fastest thing on the road. It must have been, because no matter how fast you were going on the motorway, there was always an Astramax van five feet from your back bumper flashing to get past...

Those Bloomin plumbers eh???

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Apart from a Mini Cooper, a Mitsubishi Sapporo and a couple of Jags my dad was a Vauxhall man.

We had,
Viva. H reg
Victor Estate. L Reg
Cavalier. P reg that mum wrote off
Jaguar Coupe. P reg
Mitsubishi Sapporo. T reg
Cavalier. W reg
Astra GTE. A reg
Carlton. F reg
Carlton. K reg
Calibra. L reg
Rover 600. M reg
Jaguar S type. 52 reg (I have it)

I remember the Calibra with great affection. It had awesome looks for its time. The 4x4 Turbo was rapid.

My friends Dad had a British Racing Green Rover 600Ti. 200BHP through the front wheels was never going to be good. Lovely looking car though.

 

[Darrell]

I remember the Calibra with great affection. It had awesome looks for its time. The 4x4 Turbo was rapid.

My friends Dad had a British Racing Green Rover 600Ti. 200BHP through the front wheels was never going to be good. Lovely looking car though.

His Calibra was a 4x4 but the Rover was (I think) a GSI. It was a lovely car.

 

[E55BOF]

The GSI had a 2.3 litre Honda engine; the 600 Turbo a 2.0 litre Rover one. I had, many years ago, an 820 Vitesse hatchback with that same engine; it looked fabulous - metallic burgundy, cream leather interior piped in dark red - but mechanically, it was worse than my R129; Much, MUCH worse...

 

[markjay]

I posted this before.... :

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Police were giving chase at up to 207 Km/h and left standing...

They just don't make them like thet used to any more

 

[Steveml63]

Hi,
The only Vauxhall that I owned was a Vectra GSi - it was the one prepared by MSD (who also prepared their touring cars).
It was an amazing motorway cruiser (160mph on the continent) - but terrible torque for overtaking on country roads.
I kept it for a few years and it was totally reliable.
The guy who bought it from me still has it - possible future collectors item!
Cheers
Steve

 

[D-18]

Ah, yes, the Astramax van; in it's heyday, it was the fastest thing on the road. It must have been, because no matter how fast you were going on the motorway, there was always an Astramax van five feet from your back bumper flashing to get past...

Indeed. I seem to remember that if you look very closely at the dust cloud behind 'Thrust SSC' during its land speed record run, you can just make out a white Astramax van behind it, flashing its lights.........

 

[fabes]

My brother had a black Calibra with BBS alloys and a cream leather interior at the height of its popularity. It looked the dogs.....

We had a 2.2L Zafira B for 7 years (it was that good). Not faultless by any stretch but the flex 7 seating that we take for granted in cars now was brilliant. And with 150bhp and the all important sport button, it was bordering on fun to drive in the Design trim we had (with the twin full length glass roof)
Daughters new to her 2010 1.2 sxi Corsa is okay as well (so far)
The company car park is now full of Mokka and Vectra tourers (blinged up they look okay)

The PSA tie up might be interesting but I fear for UK plants

But vauxhall has rarely been exciting more the foil of Ford in rep mobile land and mumsy mobiles

At least they've never been pretentious

Saab being mismanaged by GM / VX then dying off was the biggest crime IMHO......

 

[markjay]

The Opel Manta was a boy racer's dream car... especially with Irmscher modifications.

From memory it was sold as Opel also over here, i.e. it was never badged as a Vauxhall.

 

[D-18]

I have had many Vauxhalls over the years. From the HC Viva, all the Cavaliers, all the Vectras. One of the best cars I've owned was the Vectra GSi 3.2 V6 auto - kept that one for 6 years. It had great seats and a lovely induction howl when giving it the berries. A far more pleasant noise than the dismal drone you get from a diesel - that engine was just waking up at the point where diesels run out of revs.

 

[Scott_F]

What I don't understand is why Vauxhall have started an advertising campaign based on the fact they are British. I never saw them as British - always a part of General Motors, but now they've been bought by Peugeot, they've replaced senior managers with Peugeot people, and they're talking about shared platforms for all PSA products.

And before long they'll be talking about closing the Ellesmere Port and Luton plants just like they did with Ryton.

 

[markjay]

And before long they'll be talking about closing the Ellesmere Port and Luton plants just like they did with Ryton.

Car production in the Luton plant stopped 20 years ago... and the employees blamed Jeremy Clarckson for his 'I have nothing to say about this car' review of the Astra mk4 on Top Gear.