I had a run out 3 door SX 1.6 in white as a demonstrator when I worked for Vauxhall in 1991, a J plate, August 1st, new reg day! I remember I sold 55 new Vauxhalls in August that year, a record I never repeated.....happy days!
Very interesting to see the Vauxhall Astra Mk2 brochure :) Never knew that Astra has two reverse lights and foglights in the rear bumper. Euro Kadett E has one reverse light and one rear foglight, each integrated to the tail lights (lowest lamps), so right and left tail lights are different. No lights at the bumper at all, well except licenseplate light. I'm Finnish and my dad bought new Opel Kadett E sedan in 1988 in white colour, it was with 1,6S carb engine, 4-speed manual transmission and Club trim level. I also have the Finnish Opel Kadett E brochures, pre- and post facelift. We had the car for 7 years and sometimes drove that car myself, as I got old enough to get a driver's license in late 1992. It was pretty nice to drive, good looking car in my opinion, spacious boot, 1,6 engine had ok power (82 HP) and good fuel economy, but timing belt failed twice, and of course car died on the road because of that. Luckily it had non-interference engine, so no damage to valves or pistons. Head light switch, and brake light switch had to be replaced as well, windshield cracked during the first year and eventually rust started showing up. Club trim level brought body coloured door mirrors, special fabric pattern in seats and door cards, chrome Opel badge and silver trim in bumpers and body side molding trims. Also special 13" rims with center caps.
My first car in 1996, a white 5 door facelift 1990 G reg 1.3L Estate, have never seen a brochure before but seems they had a huge low/mid range spread of models with not much difference in spec ! Never knew an L, LX, and GL were all available at the same time. Cheers, brings back memories!
I was a vauxhall apprentice, I drove many of these cars in 1990 , the lotus Carlton was quick. My favourite was the gte 16v , MK2. I had one and it exceeded the speed limit by quite a way. Fantastic cars , prone to rust and porus heads . But so easily stolen.
For some reason I have a memory that the Orion and Belmont names were both dropped so that sales figures would combine and the Escort and Astra would have 'inflated' sales as a result, I think Vauxhall did it first to briefly beat the Escort in the UK Sales charts, then Ford did the same.
30 mins is fine. Your reviews are the equivalent of my Sunday nights in the past thumbing through my car brochures with a cuppa and a piece of mum's fruit cake.
I've previously mentioned my car hunt in 1997 when I was 19 years old going on 20. A mark 2 Astra circa 1987 was top of the wish list (Rover SD3 in 2nd place).Really wanted a 1.3 L or GL for insurance purposes. Had dreams on fitting CD seats and alloy wheels to it. 😄 Ended up with a 1986 Escort 1.4 GL. The 1.8i CD is my favourite spec. Looking at the brochure the Merits don't look too austere. The 1.2 oh engines were dropped by this time. Always thought it was strange to see this design reappear after a 3 to 4 year hiatus as the Daewoo Nexia. However Daewoo did a nice job with that one and the Espero. I think 15 minutes work really well for length of videos.🙂
I was handed my brothers 1991 1.6 sx (red) as my first car at 17. So lucky to have that as a first car, it was quite rare even then in 2001 so i cant imagine there are many left now.
One of the first cars I drove was a 1.6 L Astra, H reg, it wasn't particularly quick but the torque was good and it would power itself up hills quite effortlessly.
Thanks again for the brochure. Unfortunately, bad memories. I owned the "sister model". Opel Kadett E -1986. Three-door 1.6S LS. The quality of the car was poor. Paint and rust problems. Timing belt, electrical and brake problems. The plastic parts of the interior were also fragile and broke easily in the cold. Opel's quality problems were also discussed in car magazines in the 90s. The brand's reputation and sales suffered. However, Opels were popular cars in Finland in the 80s and 90s. Were Vauxhalls made better back then?
It took a leaf out of ford's book eventually like the Sierra Sapphire the Belmont became the Astra Belmont. The saloon version I suppose was ment to be more upmarket but badging the saloon and hatchback with the same name would make the sales numbers higher. There was an estate version using the Astra Belmont name, not sure if it was lx or sx trim
I seem to remember the mk1 / 2 Astra in New Zealand was known as the Pontiac Le Mans, a more American approach. Remember, Opel had more say what went down under at this time. That means no Vauxhall to the Southern hemisphere.😢
After MK2 Jetta you forgot VW Vento used on MK3 booted Golf (the VR6 was fantastic), then Bora (V6 4motion again fantastic) based on Mk4 Golf then back to Jetta name again UK/etc going forward. VW always seemed confused what to call booted Golf! I had a MK5 top end Jetta Sport & MK6 Jetta top end GT both with very capable 140/150ps TDI units very capable cars actually fun to drive sadly they effectively killed the booted Golf my not offering any petrol performance version after the Bora.
The Volkswagen Vento followed the Jetta, wouldn't mind a review of Vento brochure actually.
Aw yes I forgot about the Vento!
I had a run out 3 door SX 1.6 in white as a demonstrator when I worked for Vauxhall in 1991, a J plate, August 1st, new reg day! I remember I sold 55 new Vauxhalls in August that year, a record I never repeated.....happy days!
Aw yes that does sound like a bonus month.
Very interesting to see the Vauxhall Astra Mk2 brochure :) Never knew that Astra has two reverse lights and foglights in the rear bumper. Euro Kadett E has one reverse light and one rear foglight, each integrated to the tail lights (lowest lamps), so right and left tail lights are different. No lights at the bumper at all, well except licenseplate light.
I'm Finnish and my dad bought new Opel Kadett E sedan in 1988 in white colour, it was with 1,6S carb engine, 4-speed manual transmission and Club trim level. I also have the Finnish Opel Kadett E brochures, pre- and post facelift. We had the car for 7 years and sometimes drove that car myself, as I got old enough to get a driver's license in late 1992.
It was pretty nice to drive, good looking car in my opinion, spacious boot, 1,6 engine had ok power (82 HP) and good fuel economy, but timing belt failed twice, and of course car died on the road because of that. Luckily it had non-interference engine, so no damage to valves or pistons.
Head light switch, and brake light switch had to be replaced as well, windshield cracked during the first year and eventually rust started showing up.
Club trim level brought body coloured door mirrors, special fabric pattern in seats and door cards, chrome Opel badge and silver trim in bumpers and body side molding trims. Also special 13" rims with center caps.
My first car in 1996, a white 5 door facelift 1990 G reg 1.3L Estate, have never seen a brochure before but seems they had a huge low/mid range spread of models with not much difference in spec ! Never knew an L, LX, and GL were all available at the same time. Cheers, brings back memories!
I loved my mk3 astra , a revelation after the mk1 box shape , liked them too.
I was a vauxhall apprentice, I drove many of these cars in 1990 , the lotus Carlton was quick.
My favourite was the gte 16v , MK2. I had one and it exceeded the speed limit by quite a way. Fantastic cars , prone to rust and porus heads .
But so easily stolen.
For some reason I have a memory that the Orion and Belmont names were both dropped so that sales figures would combine and the Escort and Astra would have 'inflated' sales as a result, I think Vauxhall did it first to briefly beat the Escort in the UK Sales charts, then Ford did the same.
30 mins is fine. Your reviews are the equivalent of my Sunday nights in the past thumbing through my car brochures with a cuppa and a piece of mum's fruit cake.
I've previously mentioned my car hunt in 1997 when I was 19 years old going on 20. A mark 2 Astra circa 1987 was top of the wish list (Rover SD3 in 2nd place).Really wanted a 1.3 L or GL for insurance purposes. Had dreams on fitting CD seats and alloy wheels to it. 😄 Ended up with a 1986 Escort 1.4 GL.
The 1.8i CD is my favourite spec. Looking at the brochure the Merits don't look too austere. The 1.2 oh engines were dropped by this time.
Always thought it was strange to see this design reappear after a 3 to 4 year hiatus as the Daewoo Nexia. However Daewoo did a nice job with that one and the Espero.
I think 15 minutes work really well for length of videos.🙂
I was handed my brothers 1991 1.6 sx (red) as my first car at 17. So lucky to have that as a first car, it was quite rare even then in 2001 so i cant imagine there are many left now.
Nice first car - all the best
Nice this vaxhall astra,how many this model left in the UK road this model a product of general motors
One of the first cars I drove was a 1.6 L Astra, H reg, it wasn't particularly quick but the torque was good and it would power itself up hills quite effortlessly.
20 mins sounds about right I think 👌
Tnx nice to get a bit of feedback about that.
I had a white six Astra great little car loads of fun
Walmer is in Kent.
A friend had a mk 2 facelift 1.2 auto F539EWD I noted that the brochure didn't list the 1.2 auto as an option
As another viewer mentioned I think the 1.2 was dropped by this time.
Thanks again for the brochure.
Unfortunately, bad memories. I owned the "sister model". Opel Kadett E -1986. Three-door 1.6S LS. The quality of the car was poor. Paint and rust problems. Timing belt, electrical and brake problems. The plastic parts of the interior were also fragile and broke easily in the cold. Opel's quality problems were also discussed in car magazines in the 90s. The brand's reputation and sales suffered.
However, Opels were popular cars in Finland in the 80s and 90s.
Were Vauxhalls made better back then?
Good question - I don’t know be nice to hear from someone who had both around this time to compare
It took a leaf out of ford's book eventually like the Sierra Sapphire the Belmont became the Astra Belmont. The saloon version I suppose was ment to be more upmarket but badging the saloon and hatchback with the same name would make the sales numbers higher. There was an estate version using the Astra Belmont name, not sure if it was lx or sx trim
Silk violet GTE were very nice.
Walmer is in Kent, near Deal.
I seem to remember the mk1 / 2 Astra in New Zealand was known as the Pontiac Le Mans, a more American approach.
Remember, Opel had more say what went down under at this time.
That means no Vauxhall to the Southern hemisphere.😢
Would the mk2 astra van have a brochure
Yes it would be a separate brochure as they would have been badged the Bedford Astra
@@quarterlight be good to see a video on one of them
Iv owned a few. B reg GTE. H reg GTE. GL. Starmist. Lxi. Now I own a 3dr estate. One Iv been after for years. Mk2 is for me the best shape Astra.
Appreciate you sharing your experience- all the best
GL was a nice compromise
After MK2 Jetta you forgot VW Vento used on MK3 booted Golf (the VR6 was fantastic), then Bora (V6 4motion again fantastic) based on Mk4 Golf then back to Jetta name again UK/etc going forward.
VW always seemed confused what to call booted Golf! I had a MK5 top end Jetta Sport & MK6 Jetta top end GT both with very capable 140/150ps TDI units very capable cars actually fun to drive sadly they effectively killed the booted Golf my not offering any petrol performance version after the Bora.
2nd