IDRIVEACLASSIC reviews: 80s Vauxhall Nova (Opel Corsa A) 

You legend Steph! That was my first car, April 1990, exact same colour too LXI6595 , it died in a collision with a Volvo 340, r plates up we travelled all over northern Ireland going to all the underground raves back in the day😎 awesome wee cars. I've a friend with a nova addiction, has several gte, gsi and sr versions.

Hats off to the owner, nice to see someone keeping cars like this going.

Opinions are like arse holes, everybody's got one. Don't listen to them Aaron. Nev is looking fantastic! 😎

'Nev' is a beauty, I can see why Aaron is so proud of him. Novas are super little cars and I fully agree with you Steph. These little cars deserve to be saved. Thank you again.

I remember when Novas were everywhere. But younger people will not remember that. And I think this is linked to the excellent point you made about the need to constantly review what constitutes a classic car. There is a point where cars seem to become dated and this has big impact on cars that were everywhere (like the Nova). The point is that they will go from being "dated" and commonplace to rare and therefore genuinely interesting. When I was a kid in the 60s, a "classic" car was something pre-war. By the 80s, the cars from the 50s and 60s were considered classics. Now in 2019, it makes perfect sense for cars from the 80s and 90s to become classics. Great review as always Steph :)

Clutch is very easy to fix on that model you can leave the gearbox in place Cavaliers and astras were the same for a while

Ignore that haters! Its lovely to see a younger lad owning one! Good on you - you are a hero in my eyes!

We hired many a nova on holiday. I sat in the back and was roomy enough as a kid. Always did the job well and quite nice to have something compact and easy to park and drive down Europe's narrow streets.

Great video. A nova was my wife's first ever car. She kept it for a long time and it served her very well.

Love this. I'm not sure what it is but basic 1980s motoring is so appealing these days.

I worked at a Vauxhall main dealer in the late 80s early 90s. Had a Sr and a Gte. Great cars and probably the reason I currently own a 1.8 Sri Corsa c.

I owned a 1991 Nova SRI for a few years in the late 90s. I loved that little car. Drove brilliantly and felt really well built. How I'd love to drive one again!

Flew over from Trinidad to Dublin in 1985 and rented a blue Opal Corsa aka Nova. It was a great drive going from Dublin to Galway and i was impressed at how good such a small car could be.

It's great to younger people getting into modern classics. Lovely car nova's are cute cars. But i do love small cars.

Back in the 90's my brother test drove a Nova 1.2 Sting. He walked away because it was belching blue smoke. That model itself is an extremely rare now. Im glad this escaped the Redtop conversion.

The owner Arron should not listen to other people , he has an absolute gem of a car . I loved my Mustard Yellow Nova Sr E78 OEF and regret selling it years ago . I wish I still had it . Enjoy driving your Nova . 👍

Loved my Vauxhall Nova, bought it as my first proper car back in 1988. Loads of brilliant memories 👌🏾

Arron, I get the same comments about my 1986 Vauxhall Cavalier, however these comments are out weighed by people flashing me giving me the thumbs up, stopping at the petrol station and talking to me when filling up I absolutely love my car and your car looks absolutely fantastic! I wanted a Nova 4 door saloon when I was 5 or 6 years old and kind of still do. Keep yours original as there was so many of these that have been modded in some way or another. You could attend Vauxfest at Gt Billing Northampton one year this will definitely get lots of people looking around it and appreciating the car I know I would appreciate it. If you enjoy it then that’s all that matters mate! All the very best. Steve.

Nice to see a Nova in pretty much original factory spec., so many times over the years, I've seen (primarily) young males spending inordinate amounts of money on various modifications, most notably the audio systems. Many thanks to Aaron for telling us all about owning Nev. Great video, Steph

My neighbour has a silver GSi sitting on speedlines, single wiper conversion, stunning example.

I had the exact same one when I was 17. Great little car. Thx for the trip down memory lane.

My first car was a Nova, 1.2 executive plus. Was only two-year old when purchased, I had it for 7 or 8 years and put 100,000 miles on the clock. It went to the scrap yard in the sky with 124k on the clock. Such a happy car that was.

I was born in 95 so by the time I was old enough to notice cars things like the nova, metro and mk2 fiesta were still about but considered old and rubbish. looking at them now I think they’re so cool and you can really see the competition between them with the “hot hatch” specs. They also did a lot of special editions in the super mini category with decals, weird and wonderful seat patterns and stuff

I do love a classic that looks new. We hired one to drive down to devon in the late 80s for a lads weekend. Its was an amazing car wish I could have afforded one at the time

God, this video takes me back. I'm 40 and my first car, bought for £250 in 1996, was a 1985 Nova. I can still remember the reg: B161 PUE! It had the 1.0 engine and no frills whatsoever so I set about turning it into a SR replica, transplanting the side skirts, rear boot surround, 14" three-spoke wheels and brown Recaro interior from a scrapped SR of the same age. Sadly rust killed it as it did most old Vauxhalls - we welded in new rear arches but couldn't keep up with the growing list of MOT work. They did have a chavvy reputation but I was never that sort of kid - safe and sensible was my style (which is probably why it didn't take me long to get into old Volvos which are admittedly a much better fit for my personality). I was one of the few kids in 6th form who didn't write a car off within a year of passing 😇 I hear you on 90s cars too. My mum has for more than 20 years driven the big grey Toyota Camry that my parents bought new in 1997. They've kept it immaculate over the years and a few weeks back someone left a note on the windscreen which for me is the indication that something has acquired 'classic' status! It's a lovely old car - big, fast and comfortable despite the lack of 'toys', but uncommon enough in the UK for people to do a double take, and holds lots of good memories for me such as being taken to prom, university etc in it. I think she's so attached now that she said that even if anything major went wrong, she'd probably just park it up rather than sell or scrap it, but it's yet to miss a beat which is testament to the build quality of old Toyotas!

I love these Nova's from the 80s and 90s...!!! 🚗💨😀🔝👍

Always loved the Nova ever since our PE teacher replaced it with his Chevette back in 84

my dad had 1, with a boot, white, ugly. amazing in the snow. Loved It.

Fully agree Steph. I'm 50 years old with a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee and although it's still my daily driver, I'm also doing my best to preserve it as a future classic.

Another enjoyable video Steph. Many thanks. I agree with your views on preserving these borderline classics. If we don't they'll all be gone. Yet this was an era when cars were fairly easy to maintain compared to most modern vehicles. I can see this channel growing very rapidly with your great bubbly personality.

My first car was a 1984 Nova 1.2L, it was awesome. I used to regularly travel 350 miles to visit friends and the car performed faultlessly, well apart from the linkage arm for the windscreen wipers. Great car, I loved it.

I'm surprised it was 7th place as it drove better than the Fiesta. I drove these cars many times as an Avis hire car when I flew up to Scott-Land. Cracking engine and very good ride. A very underrated car. Of course being a hire car for a day I used to thrash it to its limits but the engine thrived on revs. Happy days

Great video! I've got a 1988 Vauxhall Nova Gem, I bought it 10 years ago for £150 from a neighbor as my first car and I'm still driving her around, I just can't bring myself to sell, so much fun to drive, I love it. I also get the mixed responses of some telling me to bin it and others just so happy to see it. I think you've just solidified me keeping her forever now. Cheers!

I used to take my driving lessons in one of these back in 1989!

Love the Nova, had 2 1.3 SR models in the day (D88 EDC) was one of them I remember - my 2nd car bought for £2100. I had body work fully sorted with new arches and welding to doors and wings and the repainted in Polar White -- real pride and joy. Great to drive and simple to look after. What more do you want! I do remember the brakes were a bit marginal on the Nova so needed a lot of maintenance to keep them sharp and the cam shaft liked to wear quite quickly (which was common in early design OHC engines to be fair). Thanks for the update. ps biting point can be altered if it is not comfortable as is it's cable operated.

Quite a nice car. I like Vauxhall cars. I had an HC Viva and a 1948 Vauxhall 14J

One of my friends had the sporty Nova, she used to drive us home from the pub on Friday nights back in the early 90's. It was a quick nippy thing in that version! Quite liked it back then.

It's such an interesting time at the moment. I'm 32 years old and cars that I saw everywhere during my childhood are now just being considered as classics. Novas, MK3 fiestas, ford sierras, MK1 Fiat punto. Such an interesting time.

Great video, Steph. Love seeing the English cars we did not get here in Canada. I agree, cars from the 80s and 90s need saving. My daily driver is now 30 years old with nearly 400,000 miles on the clock. Aaron, enjoy Nev. My grandfather always said "They will rust out before they wear out, so drive them!" It is grand to see someone your age who gets it, who has a dream and makes it happen.

Nice little car. My mum had one of these for about 10 years before rust claimed it. Never realised it was a Corsa A in a dress though, as my mum had a Corsa B after this. Spent my childhood in that car.

I had one as my first car, F reg dark blue merit just like yours! I absolutely adored him! After nearly 6 years the engine blew quite spectacularly 😢but I couldn’t of asked for a better 1st car and would absolutely love another one day!

Had an Opel Corsa 1.0 as my first own car. So reliable that I had forgotten I once had one.

I love my 85 nova! Saloon variant, great for nipping out to the shops or short journeys (fine on the motorway too but only has the 4 speed box so doesn't tends to rev its heart out at 70+) 23k miles and was insanely cheap to insure, it spent all of the 90s in a lockup after the original owner died, still have the original bill of sale but sadly the service book got lost which is all it is missing, a real timewarp but it is so mechanically simple I love it!

I had three here in Portugal... Two 1.3 gt (13sb) and a 1.4 gt (14nv)

Great review and advice on classic car ownership! Keep up the great work you’re amazing!

Another little car like the metro that I used to sell loads of when i was in the trade late 80's 90's... got my daughter a red 1986 one just like you're example in 1993 for my daughter... great little car of the day.

Another beautiful Car bringing back memories. I loved the face lift version just after that one was manufactured, they had bigger rounded bumpers and headlights. They came in a 1.4 petrol which really went very well, drove one a few times for work and loved it. You are so right about modern classics, drive down passed a breakers yard and look at some of the cars that are stacked on the racking and there really doesn’t appear to be much wrong with them. Cars are getting scrapped earlier these days often through repair costs or scrapage schemes which is unfortunately a sign of our throw away society. It’s so good that people like yourself are recording these vehicles because I’m sure there will come a time when these vehicles will be all gone.

Thanks for another fantastic video Steph and bringing back some lovely memories. I passed my driving test in one of these in back in 1988 😬.....now I feel old. My dad used to sit with me at weekends when I drove his Austin Ambassador Vanden Plas. It had seats like arm chairs lol. It was certainly interesting trying to suddenly judge the size of that compared to the Nova. Thanks again for brightening up my day x

Lovely video Steffff... One of my first cars back in the early nineties. Had a '88 Opel Corsa 4dr saloon 1.3S. Rebadged it to a Vauxhall Nova. Maybe akward, but it was hilarious, people over here never heard about a "Nova". Was lowered (a bit), had these gorgeous Vectra alloys. Had real good fun with it. My granddad had one in 1985, a Corsa TR (2 door saloon) 1.2S. Brownish/Red Metallic, red interior. Memories.... Brilliant!!! Always kept a soft spot for Opel /Vauxhall, although very into Japanese cars now. Kindest Regards from the Netherlands.

I had a Nova 1.2 Club (all white, mad stripy seats) as my first car. I adored it! Put a Weber carb, Peco Big Bore 2, GSi 3-spoke alloys and made it look a little like a GSi. I really miss it and would have another

Way to go, Aaron! I'm in the USA, and my first Vauxhall Nova was a Corgi model. I very much enjoyed Steph's presentation of this car. I have an affinity for 1980s cars, and this one reminded me of my first car, an '87 Honda Civic. I got the same comments on that car "why don't you get a new car", etc., but I think there are many out there who have a tendency to push unsolicited advice. I think of the quote from the great George Bernard Shaw: "A cynic knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."

Great video and review Steph , love the Vauxhall Nova my Dad bought one brand new when they came out in 1983 a red 1.2 L 2 door saloon , shame you don't see them anymore most of them got used and abused by boy racers , seem to remember Richard Hammond on Top Gear putting one on its roof in a ditch and then blowing the engine up by putting it in 1st gear at about 60 mph !!

I have a x reg 00 Corsa B 1.0 that is in good condition and I might sell it to have my dads 95 Citroen zx 1.4i that’s in amazing condition.😁

Great little cars. I passed my test in one many moons ago. And have a little 1.2 now

I agree with all you say about saving classics and love you extensive knowledge on these classics and make it so interesting x

My first car! Well nearly. Mine was a saloon version on a C plate. It had three things I didn't like: 1. Mine didn't have a passenger-side wing mirror. Apparently that was an optional extra. 2. The steering wheel was over my left leg for some reason. They opted not to have it in the middle of the driving position. 3. There was a design problem with the carburettor low speed jets. It would stall at idle very often. I once had four carburettors on it in one day, trying to find a good one from the scrap yard. It was a birthday present from my dad. I'd wanted an oscilloscope, but once I'd got to grips with driving again (I hadn't driven in four years), I really enjoyed it.

👍I had a Nova 1.0 2 door saloon back in early 90s. Fantastic little Opel OHV engine that ran like a sewing machine. It was really nice to drive.

I had an Astra Estate, it was fantastic, a real work horse it never let me down, I got a Nova it was nothing but trouble, I gave it away in the end.

Passed my test in a " H" reg Black 4 door saloon Nova in 1991 ....thanks Parade School of Motoring 😀

Awesome i have 4 classic cars a 1991 vauxhall astra expression a 1994 Bmw M3 a 1995 2.5 v6 Ford Probe and a 1982 Ford Escort XR3

I had a few college mates back in the late 90’s with Novas. 1.2, 1.3, 1.3SR, and one even had one of those exotic GTE’s! 😃 great memories of buzzing around in them. I was always a vw lad though so had a Mk2 polo at the time. Similar machines.

I had a 1984 mk1 1.2 nova as my first car,it would do just short of 100 in 3rd gear. Then i put a 1.8 engine and f16 gearbox in it. Absolute insanity on wheels. Amazing car to drive really sharp Handeing and a load of fun, wish I still had it. Now I drive a vauxhall signum and have a Triumph TR6.

Remember driving a friend's nova back in the mid 90s it was nice little car to drive

Always wanted one of these when I was younger still fancy one now great video

You echoed my sentiments exactly Steph these used to be ten a penny at one time but can’t remember when I last passed one.. excellent as always 🙂

This was my first car G plate Nova Merit in white unfortunately only had the pleasure of driving it for 3 weeks before I rolled it into a ditch. Absolutely loved the car was really nippy! 3rd gear was awesome!!!

The biting point of the clutch is adjustable.

Hi. I do not live in the UK anymore but when I did in the 80s I bought the same car - yes Nova Merit 1.2 3 door in yellow color - in July 89. Registration F5......X (very close to yours) as new. I had a lot of fun in that car driving around the UK and in the Continent before reluctantly selling it as I had to leave the UK for Australia. I actually met my future wife in this yellow Nova. Good that you enjoy the car (maybe except dealing with the choke nuisance I can imagine) and I hope long life to your relationship with the car. I only saw a Nova hatch once in Sydney in the 90s and it must have been a personal import from the UK as this car was not on sale in Australia.

What a trip down memory lane! My first car was a 1985 Beige Nova base model, £300 back in 1997, rusty arches and a smoky engine but I loved it! Shame we don't see so many on the roads now....

I had an 88 E reg 1.3SR that had 23,000 on it when I got it and took it to 110,000 at 7000rpm! All it needed was a timing belt at 40 and 70,000 miles, oil every 5k and brake pads every week and disks around 60 or so. Cheapest and most reliable car I ever had, started first time everytime. I turned it into a 1.6GTE by putting the engine and running gear from a Nova GTE, then sold it on to a mate who was still running it in 1999 from 94.

Another great little car and another great video Steph! Keep ‘em coming!

Great review. Always loved that generation of Vauxhall cars. The Astra Mk1, Cavalier Mk2 and Nova. All shared similar dashboards, switches and engines. The OHC engines were so far advanced compared to what BL and Ford were offering at the time. A clutch could be replaced in an hour a cambelt in 30 minutes. They pulled well, were quick and were capable of vast mileages, it was the the bodywork that failed before the engines. I had two Astras both made it to 150k.

My first brand new car was a Nova 1.2 Merit in Flame Red, bought in December 1987(!); I put 18000 miles on it in 11 months, it didn’t feel humble to me, probably because the 1.2 OHC engine was a new design at the time, and was a surprise the first time you started the it up, the car felt lively (not sluggish) and was very smooth running, for thee time at least(!)

I have just started a restoration project on a VW Polo 6n2 GTI, original/standard (apart from some alloys changed by previous owner + 5mm spacer to clear calipers) and runs good little tatty bodywork wise (bumpers/mirror caps scrapped). Think you would enjoy and good car too feature in your videos as so few left now. It's a 2001 (the 6n2 GTI only had a 3 year production as was purely produced to allow VW to use Polo/1600 16v format in the then WRC S1600) so maybe too new but the 1.6 16v 123bhp is a fun unit of its time.

Good old Nev brings back good memories...ignore the bad remarks....they are just jealous !

When I worked at the Vauxhall garage we had a customer who had a late K reg grey GSI Nova which had all the optional extras clicking electric windows and mirrors 1.6 injected engine it was very cool

Great film. I like comments on 'a Banger'and 'Classic.' Keep it up!

Good video as always, miss those wee novas 😎✌️♥️x

I love Nev! Great video!

I follow Aaron on his Flickr photostream so I got a 'heads up' to check out this channel. Great to see his Nova in action. I wanted a 1.3 SR but sadly Vauxhall ownership hasn't happened in 24 years of driving. My sister had a 1984 (B) Nova 1.2 'Swing' limited edition. It felt extremely quick compared to the knackered Mini 1000 I owned at the time. As for what you said about preserving classic cars towards the end, maybe I should put more money into my 2003 Nissan Almera!

My mate's one was on a Y-plate and had 330,000 miles on the clock. Little red three-door hatch it was. Great car with the 1.2L engine.

Cant beat Vauxhall's, or Opels as they are here in Ireland. Love Opel 😍

My first new car - I bought it in 1983 just after it was released. At that time, only available in 5 colours. Seven years later, it caught fire when I was driving it and was a total loss, but I replaced it with another Nova. Great cars - I now have a J reg awaiting restoration.

I had a white SR version of this about 20 years ago, loved it!! Great channel by the way :)

These are great little cars, fairly sharp handling even on the lesser models and more than nippy! Brill! The fact that Sean Bean and the Man Colin drove that car is to me rather a cool bit of trivia!

I absolutely love novas and I would love to own one again plus the Astra and cavalier

Had a c reg and a k reg 1.2 my mates were lucky n had sri's n gate's. can't take your eyes off them they are so easy to twoc, but what a car

I had a Nover around 10 years ago and I got rid of it because it died on me. When I had it because there wasn't many aound I used to get people leaving notes on the windscreen under the wipers asking if I would sel it to them. Mine was a silver H reg and had alloy wheels. When I was a kid relatives had novers. My grandad had a D reg nover that he kept for over 20 years and he got his brand new with a discount from the dealer as he used the work for Vauxhall.

I remember driving these back in the day.

The Vauxhall Nova.Brilliant little car.l bought one in 2004 ('93 1.2 Merit+) to use as my daily driver (took my '90 Golf GTi off the road),and absolutely loved it! A veritable flying machine!Ended up having to scrap it (terminal rot). You're right Steph.These cars need to be saved! My Audi A2 (2004) is already being seen as a classic,so l will definitely keep this! Great review.Brought back happy Nova memories❤😎👍!

I've driven a Vauxhall Nova 1.2 Merit as my OH at the time owned one.

Great Video (as usual)! This was my first car in 2004. I drove it on lowered springs and it was really fun. I'll post a picture on Facebook for you... ✌

I had an F reg 1988 Vauxhall Nova 1.6 GTE.100 bhp very nippy.I drove it over from Scotland to Italy and back in 1990. Cracking little car until it was stolen and set on fire in 1993.

My sister owned a Nova in the late 80s. Unfortunately she had to sell it in the early 90s due to having a family. Ironically I now own a 2009 Corsa 1.2 SXI Design , which I have owned for 2½ years.

Hi Steph ,I was born in epsom ,knew Allan's well when I did my work experience my mate Harvey ended up working for Allams ,I did my work experience in epsom too but at HF Edwards which was a Fiat dealer ,these early cars you could do the clutch with out taking the gearbox out ,also on theses cars the cam belt was adjusted by the water pump ,I started in motor trade in 1989 ,I now work for iveco trucks Croydon ,my love to is classic trucks,I also love marinas ,I had a 1.8l TC and not strictly a marina but a Morris ital 1.7litre They where b series and o series respectively ,keep up the good work

They certainly are classics now, they've gone past the 'cheap old banger' stage in their lives. Crazy to think how cheap you could pick one up for 15 to 20 years ago. Many were probably destroyed by rust I'd imagine. Then there was all the youngsters buying them - and subsequently writing them off, especially by those who lacked driving documents and so didn't care. I remember a lot being nicked and torched too, although that was a plague for most cars of this era I guess, due to lack of immobilisers and other sophisticated security devices they were child's play (often very literally!) to steal. Anyway, this car is a credit to its owner! Good on the guy.

Definitely a classic, people forget that there was a time 60s and 70s cars were unloved bangers and were being scrapped. Completely agree that people need to start saving cars like this and even the early Corsa B's before they are all gone.

I had one of these.. I got it when I was living in France.. only it was called an Opel Corsa.. it was so economic on petrol too.. I took it as far as the Netherlands..

30 year old id say classic. Cool nova I love modern classic Vauxhalls. I have a omega before that 2 calibras and a cavalier

I had an E reg 1.2 merit in red. It was a cracking car. The only thing that ever broke on it was the drivers seat.