1993 Vauxhall Corsa B Goes for a Drive
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 14 ก.ค. 2022
- This is one of the earliest right hand drive Corsa Bs but. When new in 1993 the new Opel or Vauxhall Corsa B was a huge leap on from the previous Nova/Corsa A, but how does it hold up 30 years later
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Look at the happy little face on this Corsa. Cars used to have smiley eyes and big grins on the grille. These days, cars look like angry Transformer robots. Angry frowny angry evil Decepticons.
Lots of cars were curvaceous in the 90s. Starting out with a few Japanese cars such as the MR2 and Mazdas 323f & MX5
These days most drivers I encounter on the roads are angry, frowny, angry evil transformers with anger management problems! I do wonder if psychologically the ‘angry’ look on modern cars explains the increase in aggression on the roads?!
@@Elvis_TheKing Oh yeah, it most certainly does. I switched from a Suzuki SX4 SUV company car to my personal Mazda MX5 when I turned independent last year, and the smiling skelter gets a lot more "Go on past then, little fellar" than the SUV ever did.
There are many cute cars in modern times
@@Elvis_TheKing the poor car should not be blamed for the the Idiot behind the wheel behaves.
I used to work for a Vauxhall dealer during the 90's, never ever saw one with heated seats, must be a very rare option.
Even rarer option was the convertible version. I did see one on eBay a few months ago and it seems there were small numbers of them sold.
Here in Brazil its rare to see a corsa with a sunroof
Passed my test and learned too drive in this model Vauxhall corsa. It was the 1.5 turbo diesel and my driving instructor was a local bloke called John Vaugne who taught literally every young person in our town. He drank in the towns social club so he knew all the youngsters, he literally taught me, all my mates, my brother, sister and all their friends and all my mates brothers and sisters, so as a result he almost had celebrity status as the instructor who taught every young person in town too drive😂👍🏻 lovely guy and he’s retired now🙂
I get an occasional lift home from work by a colleague who drives an R reg Corsa B and I love it. These ageing normal cars just ooze their own sort of quirky charm, especially now that they're becoming rarer and rarer to see on the road.
I have a '96 B Corsa 1.4i, 5 door model with heated seats and power mirrors. Around 125k miles on the clock and what a sweet little city car it is :) I really do enjoy driving around with it, it's so swift around the corners and nippy around the block. Surely it's not meant for heavy duty highway driving but that's not what I bought it for. It's extremely fun and efficient as a daily driver around the city and the neighbouring countryside. I love my little Corsa and hopefully we have many years together ahead of us.
These seemed to be everywhere for absolutely ages and as a result I never paid them much attention. Now that they've vanished, I realise how nice they are!
We had a 1998 1.4 Breeze that was quite nippy and ultra reliable for the year we had it (2011). In fact the first car my daughter ever travelled in. Long journeys were noisy but perfectly do-able. I'm amazed about the heated front seats option.
My mum ordered a flair model when they first came out. She had to wait quite a while for it as she wanted it in caribic blue. Withe the turquoise clocks dash knobs and paint splash turquoise and grey seats. It came from the dealer with an opel badge on the front and Vauxhall on the back. I wonder at the time if they were short of grille badges. She had it for three years then gave it to me when she got a new one. We both loved it
The beauty of those 8 valve engines was the torque - so what it didn’t have in horsepower, it made up for spritely pulling power. My first car was a Nova so was well aware of the Corsa B. The heated seats are a very unusual extra! It may be very simple and a ‘cheap’ car but it had substance unlike the over-techy cars now which none of which will last 30 years like this has. In South Africa we got the estate and the saloon as well as the ‘Bakkie’ pickup version! Superb video Matt and so so good to see it.
Now I know about the pick up version, I feel like I need one
Here in south America, we even had a pick up version of the Corsa. My dad had a 2001 Corsa Pick up with Isuzu's 1.7 litre diesel engine. It was a wonderful and stilish little pick up
I had 5 of these while working as a driving instructor for BSM. I never had a problem with any of them but until I saw this video I had forgot all about them. They were very good cars for instruction though.
But they handled like shit.
@@antman5474 yep. But they did the job I needed them to do
@@antman5474 yeh but they weren’t really designed too handle they wasn’t a sports car.
@@matty6848 The Nissan Micra wasn't a sports car either but unlike the Corsa it was fun to chuck about. The Corsa ended up at Lotus in an attempt to fix it's handling issues it was that bad. Put it this way, if you stamped on the brakes at 80 the back wheels would leave the ground. It was a vile machine.
@@antman5474 lol yes I remember my mate had a little Nissan Micra and you could throw the thing around lie a sports car🤣those cars were Bullit proof big time!
Ah, the nostalgia! My mum owned one of these for 17 years from October 1999-early 2017 - a 1.4 5-door in Atlantis Blue. I spent my entire childhood in this car. It literally took us everywhere: to-and-back from school, holidays, day trips out and it was reliable as hell unless of course my mum left the interior light or the radio on and flattened the battery which happened quite a few times. Otherwise it never once failed to start and my mother, unfortunately, wasn't one to get it serviced very often so how it kept going I'll never know. It used to be quite a sight as we reversed out of the driveway in our aging Corsa to see our next door neighbour's relatively newer Seat Ibiza being tended to by breakdown services. I was sad to see it go, but rust got to it and, inevitably, it needed a lot of welding so she "upgraded" to my late Grandad's Astra F, and has recently acquired an Agila so her relationship with Vauxhalls continues.
My friend had the 1.0 W plate last of the line facelifted corsa B. The little 1.0 3 cylinder 50bhp loved to rev and sounded great doing so. It could keep up with my polo mark 3 1.3cl.
Owner here :) Matt - Fantastic to meet you and so glad you were able to drop by to drive. What a great visual feast you put together, I will treasure the 4k footage and you are certainly a master at this craft! A few additional comments to those interested here to fill in a few details and answer some stuff.
Owned the car since February, identified 30 jobs and getting my way through them and more to do!
Heated seats! Yes this is odd and , I believe this was an option on the facelift models - CDX model perhaps? I think this is a replacement fascia. There was an aftermarket immobiliser which I took out as I couldn't reprogram new keys. This ran behind the glovebox and I think someone may have disturbed things and got a new console as they may have hurt the original.......
The date on the multi display is the date of the cars' first registration in April 1993 that I put in as an easter egg but it does forget time often - probably a dry joint on the board. The radio is the original one and not flush currently as I need a mounting bolt to tighten up.
The whine at high revs being a tight cambelt is a good shout. I also think the alternator bearings and the aux belt may also be a culprit and will take a look.
Hubcaps - I do like the Corsa Flair ones that also feature on the Astra F that you can watch on the Hbubnut channel now. For completion sake, will look for an original LS set for special "occasions". I can't get to Festival of the Unexceptional this year but perhaps next year with the correct caps!
Anyway its not the best example but I am tidying up as much as I can mechanically/cosmetically and certainly will look to glue back the fabric to the cards among other things.
Anyway thanks again Matt and good to confirm it truly is 18 seconds to 60mph!
Thanks for letting me drive it, and always happy when the owner approves of the video!
Its a cracking car and Im sure will be near perfect once you've finished tweaking bits around it
Great little b mate! Yours is so clean compared to mine hahaha. Mine was literally an abandoned car off eBay which was for 10 years sitting baking in a hot sunny Australian paddock with a blown head gasket and worn rings. Got it on the road finally just this year.
So glad to see people keeping and saving the lower spec Bs and not just GSIs. While the c12nz is not the best engine it’s hella reliable and pretty fuel efficient.
@@fipfip3331 thanks! My mate had a GSi in the 90s which was awesome. But couldn’t afford one now and happy to keep this little beauty original have my fun. You are totally right about economy, it’s surprisingly good! Good luck with yours!
So you live around the Thetford area!
@@mattylamb9194 yes this Corsa is part of the area 😀. Sometimes goes out and about for a run each week.
Never knew heated seats were an option on the LS
I remember when these Corsas were out in the UK. They looked so modern and futuristic! So pleasing to the eye compared to a lot of other cars in it’s class. I so wanted one but couldn’t afford it at the time.
Hideo Kodama, being Japanese, took inspiration on a design style called bio design, introduced by Japanese car manufacturers in the early 90’s. It set the design for the whole of the 90’s. I very much like this era to be fair.
The Corsa B look much more mordern compared to other cars of the same segment.
Only criticism Opel had at the time (according to what I remember reading nearly 30 years?! Ago) was that old 1.2 petrol, only slightly revised from the old Corsa A (before the Edrive was introduced). However, in 97, they introduced the innovative 3 cyl 1l and that’s a normal thing 25 later, albeit turbo charged.
Great review once again! Oh, and I can’t resist a burgundy car… rare colour these days!
I briefly owned a 97 Corsa Sport and loved it. Sister in law bought a new L-reg 5 door turbo diesel in this colour which her father in law then bought until he scrapped it due to severe corrosion in 2009. Being an early Corsa B it still had the Isuzu engine from the Nova TD. Wearing nearly 180k miles before it met it's maker , it still pulled like a train and drove well.
Corsa B and C IMHO were brilliant cars , lots of space, low maintenance costs,comfy and reliable,sadly not so the D.
Thanks Matt for bringing some happy memories back with a lovely standard low mileage time warp.
Vauxhall definitely got a lot of things right with the Corsa. Another of those cars finding a good example of is a challenge today. You could say pretty joyless things but the B has some design features that are aging quite nicely now to give it a real 'retro' feel. I am a big fan of the chunky 2 spoke steering wheel and many people my age had these as their first car complete with faded or mismatched panels and general wear and tear. It's a shame there isn't such a variety of decent cars in this class now as there was back then.
This brings back memories! My first car was a 1993 K reg Corsa 1.2 but in the Merit trim which was too basic, no clock binnacle, no glovebox, no rear wiper and only came with a 4 speed gearbox. Colour was a really nice light metallic blue, nice looking car, but only kept it for around 18 months as needed a car with a 5 speed box. Ended up replacing it for a 1999 V reg Corsa.
Very proud that this icon was made in my country, Spain!!
A little point, it has a adjustable rear seat belts too
It was a good little car in its day - you’re quite right to pick up on the big car feel. You’re also completely right to pick up on the under steer - the car was criticised in its day for its uninspiring handling. However the engines were strong and I’ve always thought this a good little car.
It took until the 1997 facelift to improve the handling
17 year old me really wanted a Corsa B. Like you I loved the Corsa Flair with the crazy upholstery, the body coloured heater knobs and speedo, 6 speaker stereo and beautifully 90s Caribic Blue paintwork. Sadly the heavy steering put my mum off and we ended up with a K11 Micra instead. Wasn't a fan at the start but it grew on me!
This one looks lovely in Satin Red and, to be honest, I preferred those wheeltrims to the LS ones
Great OHC engine as long as oil changed regularly. Things went downhill for Vauxhall engines when they started using timing chains . Great video as usual
I remember these cars being released and my dad test driving a base model which I think still had a four speed gearbox.
In general though much like the MK3 Fiesta and Clio a few short years earlier, it moved the game in from its predecessor in terms of the basic equipment level and refinement.
I learned to drive in a pre facelift Corsa like this but it was a 5dr 1.5 TD in GLS trim I think from memory as it had a rev counter too. Oh what luxury.
I also once drove a NA 1.5 D which was incredibly slow and the three door I found had a somewhat bouncy ride.
If the owner can find an image of that sticker I'd suggest perhaps trying Rover Joe to see if he can replicate it.
I still see them sometimes here in Belgium (with Opel-badges obviously), makes me think it must have been a more durable little car than most of its competitors back in the day. Quite nice-looking as a 3-door too, one of the better designs from the rounded design-era really. I remember considering a corsa B, Peugeot 106 or Lancia Y (the one with the distinctive arch shapes in its styling - if you could find one of them, please review, though I think they weren't sold in Brittain?) as my very first car in the late 1990s. It became a second hand Alfa Romeo 146 instead. :-)
A friend who is a mechanic bought a cheap Corsa diesel van from a breakers yard he saved it from being crushed many years ago. He loved it & he said when fuel was a lot cheaper he would put £10 of diesel in it, & it would last him for ages. He said they wasn't a very secure car, & that thieves knew a way on how to get into them. But I won't divulge it on this open chat. I remember the UK adverts to promote it from the 90s with supermodels in it.
I had a friend, but he's passed away now who had a bubble Corsa B as well late model 1 litre 12v 3 cylinder. He used to say it was slow but it was economical. He replaced it with a Corsa C that had a sunroof & air con the best of both worlds, hey.
We never got these in the US or Canada but they were in production in Latin America for a ridiculous amount of time. They even made a coupe utility version called the "Tornado".
This was a nice model, I drove a 1.4 once with power steering and it felt like a bigger car than it was.
My grandma just gifted me a corsa just like this one but the 1995 viva model. 82.000km, no ac, no power steering, sun-stripped paint and i have to get a radio and a fuel hose repaired, but still drives like a champ.
Remember I had one as a courtesy car back in the day. Only done 10k miles, it was less than a year old, yet drove very oddly. When put into a corner, it lurched in the most strange way. Also being a small car, it was not respected by other drivers who did everything to overtake it. Being a 1.2 it was not a motorway car. Thankfully only had it for a weekend.
My parents had one of the earliest ones of these. I think it was a 1.2 merit. It replaced a Citroen AX. Imagine the luxury: 5 speed box, 16v, fuel injection. They later had a Turbo diesel LS that I learned to drive in. It felt really fast to me. Then they had a Breeze special edition with its “5 oval wheel trims” and a tilt and slide sunroof. I used to use it for work. Very light and fairly nippy from what I remember.
My sister then got one as her first car. It was a 3 door in s peach/orange colour that she nicknamed Sheila. When my dad drove it home for her to take it out for s spin it wouldn’t start. The AA came out and had a look and couldn’t find the problem. Turned out they were using the spare key which didn’t have an immobiliser chip in it rather than the main key. AA man had to phone his tech support to suss that out. But it was a characterful little car
pretty sure the 1.2 Merit was 8 valve
All of the black bumper loveliness.
I love your indepth reviews you cover all the details. This example of the Corsa B is absolutely sublime its so rare to find one of these in this condition! Well done to the owner for keeping this way .
Another variant of this car was the Vauxhall Combo van which was based on the Corsa B. There are still some of these hard at work but are starting to be seen less now. Design wise the Corsa B and Corsa B Combo based combo van design has held up really well over time and still is more interesting to look at compared to the various Corsa models that came after it.
Yup when paired with the mighty Isuzu lump a really great setup. Indeed sadly declining in numbers.
@@BrooksterMax vans usually decrease in numbers quickly the more they are passed through different owners and most don't get the care and love that many car owners give their cars.
One thing I did like about these was they were one of the only cars in their class to have fully-trimmed door cards; the majority of superminis of this era had masses of exposed metal on the inside of the doors. They did well to hide the Nova underpinnings… the only giveaway I could find is the angle of the handbrake where it disappears into the floor. Exactly the same as my mum’s 1991 Nova Merit at the time! If you thought the Corsa Merit was basic, the Nova Merit had blanking plates where the air vents should be! I do have fond memories of the stereo though… the only station we could pick up was ‘Long Wave Radio, Atlantic 252’. And even that was crackly! (No surprises given it was broadcast from Ireland!)
Gosh I miss the 90s, life seemed so much simpler back then…
Hubnut just did a video on the Astra F and now you bring us this treat. I'm very nostalgic for Vauxhall/Opel models of that era!
It was Astra F he did.
@@Kenny_P_abz Sorry, a typo! Astra models are confusing anyway.
This review was quite a treat! This also having heated seats in the first year we got them is very unique and special. My first car is a corsa b and during college it was regularly filled to the brim with mates on our way to some good fast food eating banging out some clubland as we went. Happy times.
Effectively a rebodied Nova/Corsa A. Good little cars - if a little rudimentary in their driving characteristics compared to some o it's contemporaries. Bonkers to think these are now 3 decades old now.
Grew up in the back of one of these, my mum bought a brand new 1.2 Breeze in 1995 and kept it for 9 years. Excellent car and she was gutted to sell it. Amazed to see one with heated seats!!
I love it when you review these cars that we all grew up with but that you just don't see very often these days. Such a genuinely pretty little car. Great vid!
As with the Mk3 Astra, a markedly improved interior at the cost of worse performance. That 1.2 engine lost 10 horsepower in swapping its carburettor for single-point injection, & the heavier body (than the preceding Nova) needed all the help it could.
Yes, I know about the weak engine - I had a weekend with a late ('92) Nova 1.2 back in the day - it was S-L-O-W. I can't imagine how it would have managed with the Corsa B to propel.
I liked the 5 door versions because they can take 4 adults, and even 5 at a pinch over shorter journeys (not recommended for longer journeys though), and the two extra doors ensure easier entry to the back seats.
I am an American who was stationed in England when these came out. I remember liking both this and the new Nissan Micra when they came out at the time. Also, we never got these in the U.S. Hope you are staying cool over there today
We had these badged in Australia as a Holden Barina. Only tuesday I realised these were getting on for 30. A 30 year old car to me is still a HA Viva, these are new XD
Fell in love with ordinary Vauxhall's when as young lads we toured the country in a very basic but ultra reliable and cheap Nova. The love peaked at a Cavalier SRi which I adored but totally fell away when the Vectra arrived. Pleased to say it returned with the Insignia, still no better value car on the market if you find the right one.
The Silk Cut Purple 1.2 Merit with the steel rims and centre caps was pure bottom base but actually quite cool. While the Mint Green shade was a close second.
As usual, all the shiny red ones turned pink. 🤣
Excellent nostalgic drive.
Also I still remember the TV adverts for the corsa B with them saying "handling by Lotus" just like Proton was doing....then stickers appeared on the back of both to boast about Lotus been involved in the development of your shopping trolley
actually the suspension was improved in 1997 along with the facelift
I used to own a CDX back in the day, pretty good car for the size. There was a short lived corsa convertible sold in the UK as well - it was a 1.4 version and was sold between 1998 and 2000 so pretty rare but hopefully you'll find one and review it one day.
Good review Matt, thanks. Astra's of the same era shared the dashboard and switches.
So weird to see the Vauxhall badge, for us it was all along the Opel around here.
Great cars and theres no place in here u cant see one around as a daily.
The Corsa looked futuristic when it first appeared. I remember it well. Surprised a 90s Vauxhall had an advertised 0-60 of 18s. Maybe they were being cautious.
i love those old little Corsas. here in Brazil they were sold under the Chevrolet brand, we had these with 1.0 and 1.4 liter engines, both quite slow but very good on fuel and fun to drive as these are very light cars.
Thanks for review. Over the years, had a Corsa A, C & D. I missed out on the B and enoyed having a look at this nice example. I quite like typical 90s GM/Opel/Vauxhall interiors, they seem to be brighter and more airy than typical modern cars with their slabs of black plastic everywhere and highly tinted visibility restricting windows.
And of course not forgetting the Corsa Sport edition with leather seats, alloy wheels and a CD player! That TV commercial staring Ruby Wax
Had a diesel version (1.5) in 1994 bought coincidentally along with a white Astra merit, Corsa had definitely no heated seats though!
Had started new business, fair way from home so wanted and got great mpg so got rid of aging Granada and newish Renault 21Savannah. Monthly payment for both Vauxhall cars was like a fiver more than the Savannah.
Did miss the luxuries but cars were perfect for both family and work 👍
Great review as always Matt, remember these when came out, my mum and dad's next door neighbour had one of these in five door form a 1.5 diesel iirc, unfortunately he was involved in a RTA and sadly lost his life. Later a friend we knew had one of the 12v LS models that was just a tool to him, never got a clean for at least 10 years when I transformed it for him , it was that grubby that the badges were held on with moss and the first soapy wash basically took the badges off!
LS was the entry model. The Merit didn't cone until much later when the face-lift V-grille came in. The heated seats are definitely non original likely fitted later from a high spec Astra mk3 or Cavalier/Calibra. I had a 95N LS as a first car about 20 years ago. Similar miles to that one and are all absolutely Billy basic poverty spec. Solid mint green paint, steels, manual mirrors, windy windows, no PAS, no CL. just 4 seats and 4 wheels.
We had one with 1.4 L and 60kw with air and it went very well. Happy to cruise at 70mph all day. Faultless car and the best car we ever owned.
21 years ago when my once Fiat let me down(!) I hired a late reg Corsa B 5 door for a few days. It had a 1.2 litre 16v engine. Brilliant tool for the job - plenty quick enough, if not so exciting to look at.
This is one of Brazil's most beloved cars along with the VW Gol (Not Golf), Beetle and Fiat Uno (Brazilian Fiat Panda).
In Brazil we had the 3 and 5-door hatchback with either a 1.0L, 1.4L or 1.6L engine with varying levels of power output from the 50 Hp 1.0L engine with Single Point Fuel Injection or 60HP 1.0L (MPFI), 1.4L 60HP (SPI) or 1.6L 92HP (MPFI).
We also had the Corsa B Pickup, with the 1.6L 92HP paired to the 1.0L gearbox;
The Sedan version, Corsa "Classic" with the 1.0L and 1.6L;
The Station Wagon with either the 1.6 8v 92HP or 1.6 16v 102HP engines;
The Corsa B had many optionals, but the vasy majority of cars sold in Brazil at this time were bought with none. No aircon, no power steering, no airbags. The Corsa B never even had ABS in Brazil, that's how watered down it was over here.
By 2002 GM brought the Corsa C to Brazil, with different engines: 1.0L ("VHC" for Very High Compression) with 72HP, 1.4L 105HP and the 1.8L 109HP. The 5-door hatch and the Sedan could use any of these three engine with varying degrees of accessories, finally with Airbags as optional.
The Opel Family 1 engine from these cars is still in production today but on its last legs on the GM Onix which uses the chassis of the 6th gen Corsa but with original styling. The Onix is equipped with either a 1.0L 80HP or 1.4L 106HP Family 1 engines.
The Sedan, Corsa Classic left the market in Brazil in 2014 together with the Chevrolet Celta, a watered-down Corsa B, with cheaper plastics and build quality overall. These cars left the market in 2014 because it was only in 2014 that the goverment made it mandatory that all new cars sold from then on have Airbags and ABS. 2014 also marked the end of many beloved cars in Brazil for the very same reason, the original Uno and the VW Type 2 Camper (Known as Kombi in Brazil).
My Corsa B Sport from 1997 still going strong with 250k+ km . 1.5TD engine fron Isuzu.
I always liked these ''bubble'' Corsa's! Almost all gone sadly. So much nicer car than the Polo 6N. My teacher had a silver CDX one, with 3 spoke wheels, GSI style roof spoiler and luxurious velours cloth interior. Good looking car that was. Great review as always Matt!
Still plenty of them about in eastern europe. I never really liked them but decent enough cars for their price right now.
Polo handled the Corsa was a dog.
Love this car! My friend had a 96 Opel Corsa, bought it for 600 euro..sold it for 200 with cooling problems after driving it for 50k kilometers!
Here in Argentina it was as still is one of the most popular cars. The 4 door sedan was everywhere. Most of the taxis in the las 30 years have been corsas. It moved an entire generation arround.
I used to have a 2005 "Super" with 1.6 engine and 92 hp with a/c and power steering. It was so quick and agile in the city and drove quite well in the highway.
Great Video Matt! This Corsa is bist n fantastic condition for its age. I’ve never owned or driven a Corsa,maybe because they often look neglected. However it’s good to get an insight from your experience of it. Thanks !
What a happy little lawn mower
I used to own one of these, a 1997 1.2 Corsa Merit. Great little car to drive. Sadly went to scrap after failing miserably on it's last MOT
I love the corsa B, ever since one of my friends got one, my fondness for them grew. Really nice little cars that are appreciating in the Classic car scene :)
This a very iconic and popular car in Mexico, distributed by Chevrolet during 1998-2010 and it is know as Chevy pop. I own one of them, model 2001. At present, different mexican brands are still manufacturing a variety of automotive parts and accessories for that model
I remember selling these at a Holden dealership in the late '90's. The Hyundai Excel ran rings around it as far as sales were concerned, and it was a better driver's car as well, however they certainly felt cheaper inside.
Holdens "that end in an A" have a very bad reputation in Australia, be they the Opel ones or the Daewoo ones (Barina (Corsa), Astra, Vectra or Viva (Lacetti), Epica, Captiva). Is that perhaps unfair and they actually hold up just as well or better than any Toyota, Mazda or Honda? 🙂
This Corsa (Barina) and equivalent Astra were up against the 1990's Toyota Starlet and Toyota Corolla, which are arguably two of the most reliable cars ever made. You still see a lot of 25-year-old Corollas around and some 25-year-old Starlets -- 25-year-old Barinas and Astras, not so much.
[Obviously rust isn't really an issue in Australia, so that's not something we hold against Japanese cars here.]
I can remember when these were launched and I was a kid. IIRC Rubi wax was promoting these on the telly. They looked so futuristic and modern at the time. Now they are just an old banger! A high point in GM's history as subsequent Corsa's never hit the mark like the B did.
Own a 1.4i in red in excellent condition. 75.000km, awesome car!
Holden Barina, here in Australia. I had one new in 1998. Similar spec for us was the City. We also got the horrible, to me, convertible.
Thanks for the memories Matt! I traded in my 1988 Saab 900 for a nearly new 1999 (T-plate) Opel Corsa in 2000 because of the fuel crisis. It was a main dealer import from Cyprus (Ex holiday rental). A 5 door in white with Air conditioning so vicious that ice would form on the outside of the front screen (like the heated screen, the A/C was a pull knob). It did about 25,000 miles in my custody over the period of a year, when it was traded in for a brand new 2001 (51) corsa C SXI 3 door. My corsa B. had the 65BHP 16v 1.2 it was great the "C" had a revised 75 BHP version but it was heavier and a bit poo. I also learned to drive in a 1.2 just like the one in the video.
One of my college classmates in 2010 had a K-reg Corsa B 1.2 Merit 4-speed manual. I seem to recall he managed to get 90 out of it (private roads, of course).
I remember using the Corsa B as an example of a car design with personality in my product design degree dissertation. The other example I gave was the Renault Twingo. The Corsa was quite a game-changer for Vauxhall-Opel at the time in design terms. It’s still quite a pleasing design…….
This video was fantastic… probably my favourite of the year👌I daily a 94 1.2 corsa b or “Holden barina” as its known here in aus. Mines at around 270xxxkms and has lived a rough life so it was great to see a review on a very clean lower mileage one. They feel super slow on the highway but do the job. Would love to see you get a drive in a GSI 😉
I'm surprised the 1.2 was sold over there, I thought small cars were only offered with "bigger" engines in that market, like 1.6 as minimum.
@@RWL2012 yeah it is wired. The no AC is a killer here ahahah. They sold the 1.2 here till 97 then only offered the 1.4. small engine cars are still pretty available here surprisingly. Right now I daily a 1.4 Corsa d ✌️
I had a few of these over the years and ended up doing a few 2.0 conversions. With an xe thrown in these really do go well.
So glad to see a corsa b on the channel!
I’ve had one for over 5 years now. I absolutely adore it to the moon and back! It has almost 160k miles and the engine still runs so strong! Never even had to top up the oil!
Such a shame it’s not on the road now due to the chassis being rotten :(
Hi Matt a brilliant review as ever i love the Corsa B i learnt to drive in a 5 door peppermint green LS 1.5 non turbo diesel which was great on fuel and slow but left a good impression as i bought one as my first brand new car
it was a 2000 X plate Corsa GLS 5 door in cypress green metallic it was one of the last made and i was pleased to have it when i could as the new model as out and i had it instead of the base model of the Corsa C and had a great spec that car was my pride and joy and i had it 4 years from new never let me down once i traded it in for a new citroen c3 but wasn’t as practical as the corsa would love another!
I had one in my home country Venezuela, model year 1999, made by GM, called Chevrolet Corsa, came with a 1.6 l engine with about 90 bhp, very lively car, exactly in the same color that the one in the video, freezing cold a/c but no power steering, quite tiring in long trips...
It was such a joy to drive that car, I left with about 160.000 km with original everything but the coil pack (replacing the distributor and coil), I was never able to floor it all the way (accelerate to its fullest) because the car being so light weight, tended to take off after about 150-160 km/h.
Lots of memories, my first brand new car.
This was a trip down memory lane. I had one these for 17 years and 286.000 kms, Basically most of my adult life. It had a 1.7 Isuzu diesel engine. Never coughed, never sneezed. Miss it like hell.
I tried an Astra with the 1.7 diesel engine and it was very noisy and "agricultural" compared with the Peugeot 1.9 (non-HDi) engine in the Peugeot 306 that I bought.
Had 1.7DTi Astra Mk4 with that Isuzu engine for 16 years. As the other conmentor said it was noisy. However, extremely reliable, quite sprightly for a diesel and just very pleasant to drive. I think the only thing I had to replace was the MAF sensor which was a cheap and easy fix. Eventually went to the srappy as it failed MOT due to back wheel arches rusting. A shame, as the engine still ran sweet as a nut. Really miss that car and engine.
@@Mortimer50145 These type of engines were used mostly in commercial vehicles, like vans. Mine was actually a van version of the Corsa, two seats and a cage in the back. Really common here in Portugal at the time.
@@Steve-GM0HUU These engines can go for ever. Sold it 3 years ago and the actual owner still sends me pictures of it time to time. 300.000 kms and still stock for most of its parts, except for the clutch and a radiator replacement when it had about 100k.
Fantastic review Matt! I own a V reg ‘99 5 door model and this was great watching for me to see how the early cars differ to the facelifted models, as you certainly can’t get any earlier than a K on these! Cool fact (pardon the pun) they did in fact have air con in the UK as an optional extra in it’s last few years of production - I’m lucky enough to have it on mine especially in this weather..!
What color is it? I have a green one, 1999 5 door with Air conditioning. Basically the same
@@joshuabalazs9519 Mine is also green! It’s called Rio Verde green I think, with the 1.2 16V engine
@@mattcoleman7432 my Corsa is Apple Green and has the 1.0 engine. It says "Joy" on one of the doors, but I'm not 100% sure what that reffers to
@@joshuabalazs9519 it's the trim level / edition
@@RWL2012 I was hoping it's the full option one 🥲
Great car as did my BSM lessons and test in it. Workhorse. Wonderful !
The car I learnt to drive in. Very basic. My instructors didn't even have power steering and the engine needed 2 downshifts to get up hills. But it put up with any abuse I and any other learners gave it. Controls were well laid out and simple.
Had a 1.4 8v facelift, but they're known for boot rotting out under the spare wheel, and the camshaft wear if not serviced properly due to oil gallery in it blocking up with gunk, bought my one told it just had a misfiire, turned out to be a worn cam lobe. Easy job to fix though, as is the cambelt and waterpump for the budding home mechanic.
This brought back some memories of my ‘S’ reg corsa 1.2 sxi. Was a brilliant car and all standard rather than being wankerised. Those later 16v engines were quite nippy. My mum had an ‘R’ reg 1.0 12v at the same time which looked very similar on the outside with alloys and spoiler but I forget which trim it was. That had no power steering and was very sedate compared to the 1.2 but still a great car at the time.
Ah, floppy vents. I remember them well from my mate’s Corsa. His remedy was a Wrigleys Juicy Fruit wrapper folded over a few times and jammed into the gap on one side, while holding the vent in position. Of course passengers (usually me) would fiddle, the little bit of wrapper would fall onto the floor, and the vents would just flop downwards again.
I had a 93 red 1.5 TD. It was a pretty good little car. Vauxhall cars of that era were well made and robust, much better than Fords, Renaults etc. It lacked power steering which it really needed, but otherwise it was brilliant.
Brings back lots I’d memories .. I was a Vauxhall sales exec between 95-98 sold lots of these new and used including plethora of special editions
After I left my late mum bought a new 99.5 CDX 1.416v auto, 5 door (90 bhp)and then in 2002 her last brand new car was the next model 1.2 comfort with easy tonic gearbox… the B was a nicer car in my opinion especially in CDX trim with the eco Tech 16v engine..
Great review as always keep up good work
What a wee gem! My sister had one and it was a great wee car. Spec levels are strange though....heated seats spoiler but windy windows? 😂😂 Ah, vauxhall....you crazy 🙊
Had one on hire for a week back in the late ninties and really liked it the only un nerving thing was the bad oversteer.
But bought one of the first Corsa C's on the back of that drive (the oversteer had by then been adressed) and loved them. So had two Corsa C's and then a Corsa D throught the noughties all really good vehicles that served me very well.
Excellent review of a real wee motor love it subbed
I had a 3 door 1.2 merit as my second car. It was only three years old when I got it. Great little car. Sold it to my sister when I upgraded to a brand new Saxo VTR. That seemed like a rocket compaired to the Corsa.
Greetings from Brazil! I had one of these but in the sedan brazilian version, 1.6 MPFI GLS, 1996 and also a 1.0 MPFI 4-door hatch. Two of the best cars I ever had!
I had a 1999 1.0 12v Corsa B which was super gutless lol
I did upgrade to a 1994 Corsa Gsi 8 valve later on which had a bit more poke.
Great cars really and very easy to work on.
The 3 cylinder Corsas coming later were one of the slowest feeling cars i've ever driven (and i have driven naturally aspirated 1.5l diesel:D
Blimey, 1.5 with no turbo. That would drive like a wounded-snail. I know what my Pug 308 1.6 HDi was like when the hose came off from the turbo to the inlet manifold - it would barely get above 40 and struggled up a gentle hill. Mind you, that was *designed* to use a turbo, so it probably suffered in ways that a non-turbo engine wouldn't: the engine management probably deliberately cripples the engine.
But the prize for the worst diesel has to go to the VW Pumpe Duse (Golf Mark 5, I think) which had a habit of stalling if you let the clutch in slightly too quickly or applied slightly too little throttle. All other diesels just chunter a bit but keep the engine running long enough to sort things out. I've never stalled a diesel before, and this was even easier to stall than a petrol. That engine seemed to throw its toys out of the pram and totally cut the fuel - and then take ages to restart. Not a good idea when you are pulling out from a side road into traffic...
@@Mortimer50145 I've noticed the later VW common rail 1.6 TDI is quite easy to stall too. It seems to be a combination of running poorly at lower revs (much rougher than similar diesels like PSA HDi) and a very restrictive clutch delay valve plus poor throttle response which makes it react slowly and be hard to control precisely.
I learned to drive in a 1.4 Corsa. Hated the bloody thing lol.
I not long brought 1, brought it to store in the garage and take it out every month or so, I love it, because of the size and weight it feels quite lively . Mine is P Reg ( 97 ) 1.4 and on 45k mileage, prob paid too much for it if I'm honest but makes me smile to drive it. I get other drivers look when I drive past , not sure if good or bad opinions on my car hahaha but it's still turning heads. I don't see many Corsa b on the road at all and I'm from home of Vauxhall in Luton