The Vauxhall Astra Mk1 Was GM's Rival To The Ford Escort! (1981 1300 L Road Test) [Opel Kadett D]

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Successor to the Chevette, the Vauxhall Astra was targeted at the ubiquitous Ford Escort. Borrowed from Vauxhall's European cousin, Opel, the Kadett D was rebadged to create a family car for Britain, complete with the new GM Family1 engine. The first Griffin with front-wheel drive, the Astra combined Opel’s sharp design with a new, spacious interior to create a modern, practical family car. The hot 16-Valve Astra GTE kept the Golf GTI and Escort XR3i honest, whereas the estate model was a sales rep favourite. The name endures to today, with the new 8th generation car, so we decided to revisit the origins of the Vauxhall Astra!
Road tests sponsored by CAARParts: www.caarparts.co.uk/
Thanks to Drive Dad's Car for loan of this car: drivedadscar.com/
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Chapters
0:00 Introduction
0:53 Chevette History
1:21 Opel Partnership
1:53 The Astra!
2:22 Interior & Practicality
3:12 Modern Suspension & Engine
3:52 Driving Impressions
4:48 Starting Small - Strong Sales
5:40 The Fast One! Astra GTE
5:58 Sales Success?
7:19 A Family Favourite

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6 июл 2024

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Комментарии : 110

@countludwigvonnippeltassel 11 месяцев назад

My first car was a 1981 Opel Kadett 1.3S in bronze. I loved that car but sadly the gearbox failed on it. The 1990 Ford Escort that replaced it was nowhere near as good and didn't find a place in my heart like the Kadett did.

@sydnorth5868 11 месяцев назад

This reminds me of when I first learnt to drive. At the time an Astra GTE or an Escort XR3 was the dream. By 1983 I had a friend (who was a few years older than me) who had a Mk1 Golf GTI (my first experience of a hot hatch). In 1985 another friend bought a brand new Astra 1.3. He was the first of my generation to buy a brand new car. It took me until 1989 until I had my first brand new car... an Escort 1.3L!

@johanbrand8601 11 месяцев назад

I love these Opel Kadetts so much. They fill a very special place in my heart. I grew up with one, it was the first car I ever drove and I bought one as my first car and will never let it go. They aged so well. They are legends.

@-DC- 11 месяцев назад

Superb OHC engines in this and later generations lifted these over the Escorts of the time, Quick Reliable Fuel Efficient.

@ClassicsWorldUK 11 месяцев назад

Indeed!

@Dirt-Diggler 11 месяцев назад

Blimey a post in YT comments that isn't BS or a sycophantic arse kiss to the channel 😵 Indeed back in the 80s when I was a minicab driver the cav was way better on fuel than the sierra and the possibly the better car for that job 👍 The mk3 escort was an improvement but the CVH was rougher than the OHC in the vauxhalls of the time 👍

@leccybadger 11 месяцев назад

Brings back happy memories of passing my test in 1988 and being handed the keys to my mum's 84 plate Astra 1.3L, in poo brown with a single speaker, AM/MW radio in the dash.... Happy times 🎉

@chrishart8548 11 месяцев назад

Didn't have long wave so you could get Atlantic 252 amazing to think most cars back then only had LW/MW and one speaker. My first car a 1984 fiesta 1.0 popular Didn't have any radio or even space for a radio.

@markwoodhouse4284 10 месяцев назад

How dare you 😂 it was Brazil Brown 😁

@mikeh2006 10 месяцев назад

My friend had one in vomit Green with the tan interior. Certainly a look. One day we were out in it on a day trip. On the way home it was raining and the window wipers stopped working, then as we pulled over on the busy main road to attempt to fix it, a brake pipe burst. The car was probably about 20 years old at the point as it was, but in otherwise good order. Anyway, we managed to get the wipers sorted and my friend did something with the brakes so they were 'safe'... probably. Anyway, it then stopped raining (as obviously it would after you've just spent 20 mins in the rain fixing the wipers). We continued on our way, the grimey spray was quite bad from the passing cars on the dual carriage way, but the newly repaired wipers and screen wash sorted that. Until we ran out of screenwash, and couldn't see. Fun

@paulc9588 11 месяцев назад

Good video. I think the Mk1 Astra was the best looking and most desirable of the late 70s/early 80s crop of family hatchbacks (Mk3 Escort, Horizon, Maestro, Strada etc.). Ditching the droop snoot was the right decision and gave a sharp new look for a new decade.

@AdamMcCarthy74 11 месяцев назад

My grandfather had one. Many great memories as a kid of sitting in the back heading to the beach. He drove it until about 1996!

@mattbod 10 месяцев назад

Wow can’t believe the condition of that yellow Vauxhall Astra mk1. I remember they had great engines and a distinctive exhaust note.

@wessmith3161 11 месяцев назад

The company where my dad worked bought a handful of Opel Kadett diesels around 1982 that were collected directly from belgium. One of these cars became my car a few years later. A china blue example, brilliant little car if a bit agricultural.

@nikmwh 11 месяцев назад

The Astra mk1 is an excellent car and gave Vauxhall a huge step forward in the market place at the time

@ianhamilton5201 11 месяцев назад

First car I drove after passing my test was my dads 1983 Bedford Astravan with rear seat conversion. Absolutely loved that thing, felt far quicker than it should have been and was miles better than my mates mk3 Escort.

@nigelbond4056 11 месяцев назад

The Mk 1 Astra was a great car. Let’s not forget that the Chevette was largely designed in America where the Astra was a European effort. As others have said, the Mk 1 GTE was am unobtainable dream for for me; my boss had a white one that always turned me green with envy.

@TG-pd3ft 11 месяцев назад

Nice cars. I had an estate. Great steering and gearbox and the little engine loved to rev

@johanvandersandt8904 11 месяцев назад

We had the Kadet here in South Africa. They are few and far between these days but cool none the less!

@lewis72 11 месяцев назад

There was also an Astra saloon, which looked almost identical to the Astra hatch. Tellingly, you can see two hinges at the top of the boot lid, below the rear glass.

@ggj666 11 месяцев назад

I had a black 1984 MK1 Astra 1.6 SR Recaro seats as standard, was great fun to drive at a good rate of speed.

@markwoodhouse4284 10 месяцев назад

Super rare even back then 👍

@Suprahampton 11 месяцев назад

My dad had a mk1 Astra estate, white A128JVM & an old girlfriend's older brother had a mk1 GTE

@darrenmeears3912 11 месяцев назад

I drove that astra last year and can confirm it's a cracking car in both looks & driving ❤👌👍🏻👏👏

@davidrumming4734 10 месяцев назад

Our family car back in the day. Only we had the Base spec 1.2 facelift* The 1.2 was the old opel 1196cc OHV engine-but they disguised it well. Early versions had a different gear lever. The facelift introduced the cavalier mk2 style gear lever as in the video. Early models had round headlights. A small facelift replaced that with the ones in the video. There was also a saloon of sorts…the glass was fixed in place and only the letter box metal flap opened. From the outside it looked like the hatchback.

@user-cf7cz6cw9t 16 дней назад

Loved mine wish I still had it

@KeithCramerLongfield 11 месяцев назад

The first Astra I ever drove back in 1987 was a W plate 1300S in that same colour. I couldn't believe how lively it was. Soooo mnuch better than the Escort.

@rogernevin7461 10 месяцев назад

The mk1 1300 S was a flyer ! (only 4 speed box) but boy could they go !

@bearded-flipflop7122 11 месяцев назад

My first car was an X reg mk 1 1300s 5 door that I only paid £40 for, I spent a weekend re-building the engine with my dad. Then we 2 toned it with the light blue original colour on the top and dark blue on the bottom. I then I put some GTE bucket seats in it and lowered it. I wish I still had it. It was a lot of fun to drive, but i used to go through a lot of brake pads in it though. I got the mk3 after and didn't enjoy that anywhere near as much.

@rogernevin7461 10 месяцев назад

I hired a mk1 1300s Astra to go to lake district in 1983. Could not believe how quick this car was ! It was only a four speed gear-box ! It went like shi% off a shovel.

@alundavies5171 11 месяцев назад

in the late 80s early 90s the astra van was one of the fastest vehicles on British motorways!!

@keijak1 11 месяцев назад

It cannot be be said enough how superior in reliability, performance and design the OHC Family one 1.3/1.6 engines were over the equivalent Ford CVHs. Not just that servicing was a fleetmanagers dream, a clutch change could be done an hour, a cambelt in 30 minutes. I used to manage a fleet of 30+ Mk2 Astra petrols that would easily reach 100k with no problems. I'm convinced that were it not for tinworm there would still be 1000s of Astra Mk1, 2 and and 3s on the road with massive mileages and the same goes for Cavalier Mk2s and 3.

@andrewpreston4127 11 месяцев назад

I bought a brand new one of these in 1981. A 1.3 GL, in Sapphire Blue. It drove well, it handled well, it was in every way a modern car . It was just that after a fortnight or a few more weeks, it all started to feel rather bland. It was like, underneath it all, every bit of character had been squeezed out of the car by the Opel/GM designers, engineers, stylists, bean counters and the GM committees. Just enough power to be able to not say there was not enough, but not enough to at all feel that it could really go a bit. There was nothing I could really point to and think ... "Hey, wow..." . All these years down the way, my view hasn't really changed. Whereas, when the Mk3 Escort came out, I did think that looked absoutely great, and still think it's a brilliant example of '1980's Angular' design. By the way, that 1.3 GL Astra cost me £5,000 in 1981.

@mastercylinder1939 10 месяцев назад

I liked it back in the day. My friends family had one, he borrowed it, unfortunately we ran out of gas, we both got out to push the car to the gas station, we’d been pushing a while when we came to a slight incline, hardly noticeable, but slowly the car started to get faster, by this time I was gassed as well, and could only stand gasping as my friend chased the car down the “hill” trying to steer it through the window....

@russellstraw 11 месяцев назад

Always liked the mk1astra a mate had a1600 estate and he liked it a lot

@GaznShaz 24 дня назад

My first car back in 1990. Loved it. Burnt orange opel kadett. 1.3. Crashed it then got a mg maestro with digital dash. The opel was better 👍

@Opel_Guy 11 месяцев назад

Had the EXP version in brown and gold. Brought it in 1988 and drove it daily until 2000! Never once did it leave me stranded. Sold it and brought a Manta.

@petedenton9434 11 месяцев назад

I have it in mind that although 'the all white GTE' is what people tend to remember, it was available in a choice of white, black, red or silver.

@ClassicsWorldUK 11 месяцев назад

It was! But who doesn't love the oh-so-80s white one? :D

@squeaksvids5886 11 месяцев назад

My late father had a Mk1 1300 estate, lovely car.

@carolynhollingworth4082 11 месяцев назад

Can remember not long after I got married in 1987 we had a car identical to this one,same colour but an A reg.Great little car.

@paultaylor7082 11 месяцев назад

Loved My Cavalier 2 litre CDi hatchback, complete with electric windows and PAS, I had it for 5 years, from 40K miles on the clock when I bought it in 1993, to 1998, by which time it had clocked up 130K miles, when it was replaced

@neilgent1595 11 месяцев назад

Lovely torquey engines if I remember correctly. What a stunning colour that test car is.

@ClassicsWorldUK 11 месяцев назад

Yes indeed!

@robertmarsh3588 11 месяцев назад

I loved this Mk1 Astra, especially the GTE. There were two at the Costwold Vintage show last weekend. The Mk2 was another distinctive design, though it looked best in top trims. A work colleague bought a the pre cat 156 horsepower 16v GTE when it came out, which was quite a car. Mind you, he'd traded in a V12 XJS for it!

@Grump_Bender 11 месяцев назад

I remember my grandfather having a two tone Invader edition in the 80's.

@MarcusTDM 11 месяцев назад

The Escort estate also came in a 5 door. Also the first astras had a boot and a 1.2 ohv engine.

@cedley1969 10 месяцев назад

I had a 1.2 ohv hatchback, it was an excellent little car.

@leonshackleford9585 11 месяцев назад

Very Interesting on Vauxhall G.M. Opel & Fords Beater

@blackpool321 11 месяцев назад

My mum had one when a current car , it was a 1300 estate car in beige , i remember it had cam shaft issues.

@paultaylor7082 11 месяцев назад

Always preferred the Mk I and Mk 2 Astras to the Mk III & IV Ford Escorts, especially the Mk IV Escort Estate, which had very little loading space at the back, compared with an Astra Mk II Estate. When able to choose an estate car by my employer, I chose an Astra, rather than a Ford. The Mk II LXi estate was also a really nice car, with a 1.8 litre engine, if I remember correctly.

@paultaylor7082 11 месяцев назад

Correction 1.8LXi Belmont.

@Robhalifax 11 месяцев назад

I had one of these, x reg in Brown in the mid 80's. Traded it in for a Sierra thinking it was a step up. Regretted it in hindsight as the Sierra was unreliable.

@richardmaddog1110 11 месяцев назад

Mad thing is as the crow flies the astra was built no more than 3 miles away from the escort over the mersey estuary

@JohnnyPaton 11 месяцев назад

Astras were good up to H. Astra Gs were excellent workhorses and you still see lots of them about. After that from J onwards they’ve not been particularly good.

@Dirt-Diggler 11 месяцев назад

I'm helping a pensioner lightly resto a 98 astra 1.4 16v at the mo, just painted the bonnet as the lacquer is lifting off wholesale all over the thing, still it lasted longer than BMW lacquer 👍

@barryjackson8512 11 месяцев назад

Great cars. Had a few mk1’s. Own a mk2 estate at the minute

@ClassicsWorldUK 11 месяцев назад

Very cool!

@liverush24 11 месяцев назад

The mkI Astra SR, was, in my opinion, the best-looking of them.

@alanproctor9316 10 месяцев назад

My brother & myself both had '82/'83 reg (Y) red Astras, i thought it was a great car.

@jimmyquinn9639 11 месяцев назад

Excellent video 🚗🚙🚘👍👍👍👏👏👏⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

@chrispenn715 2 месяца назад

I looked at the mk2 booted version (Belmont) when new - Ended up buying a Citroen BX instead - The BX engine was a bit rattly, but overall the BX was a much better car back to back.... 🙂

@michaelarchangel1163 11 месяцев назад

Had 120 MPH out of a 1300S model with five of us in the car, en route to Bournemouth many years ago. Hell of a good engine ! A 1.3 Escort was out of puff at 95.

@lewis72 11 месяцев назад

The speedo may have read 120mph but a 1.3 Astra would never have gone anywhere near that fast. Even the 115bhp GTE was all out at 115mph. 1.3 had 75bhp, which was all out at 99mph, according to Motor Road Tests magazine.

@DolleHengst 11 месяцев назад

@@lewis72 Not in stock form perhaps. One of my uncles had a 1984 Nova/Corsa 1.3S Luxus, and that engine made a very healthy 75 PS. Already felt like a bit more. It had twin carburettors from the factory, and after fitting sportsbike carbs the thing ran 200km/h.

@michaelarchangel1163 5 месяцев назад

With respect Lewis, I think you're mistaken. I say this because a pal, who was at the time working with a gang of chaps selling uPVC windows were in two cars, one an Astra 1.3S, the other being a Cavalier with a much larger engine, and I recall him telling me that they constantly toyed with and blew past the Cav numerous times on the motorway. Christ only knows what these Astras revved out to, but they seemed to quite literally soar at the top end. I've driven some very powerful German saloons but consider this Vauxhall engine as one of the greatest ever at punching massively above its weight.@@lewis72

@Rouxenator 11 месяцев назад

Ford lost in the end by canning all their cars (Focus included). The Astra is still going strong. Currently I am on my 3rd, a 2015 mk6 sedan with 1.6t engine and 6sp manual box.

@klutchcustoms2428 11 месяцев назад

The vauxhall astra was a triumph? I thought that was the Honda ballade? 😅

@ClassicsWorldUK 11 месяцев назад

Ba-dum *tish*!

@spainter1985 11 месяцев назад

It wasn't always just a humble hatchback, the poverty spec Mk1 Astra was a pretty silly saloon! 😆

@nickyboy. 11 месяцев назад

"It endured for over 50 years" You need some new batteries for your calculator

@ClassicsWorldUK 11 месяцев назад

*ahem* it will be 50 years eventually 😅

@GMT439 8 месяцев назад

The GTE version definitely superior to Fords XR3 or XR2 (None 'i') cars of that time. 1.8L (115bhp) for the GTE and only 1.6L (90bhp) for the XR3 & XR2.

@darrenwilson8042 11 месяцев назад

The originals were a booted saloon not a hatchback - my mate had one

@deanosaur808 2 месяца назад

Only the basic model had the boot. That was dropped after the first 2 years. It's very rare now. The astra 1.2 E had distinctive round headlights.

@offgrid7837 11 месяцев назад

I'd much rather have a Mk1 Astra than a Mk8. I guarantee the Mk8 will not be running perfectly in 40+ years.

@SA-zoom1 11 месяцев назад

Why does it sound like a tool chest falling down a flight of stairs? From memory these were pretty well screwed together.

@deanosaur808 2 месяца назад

40+ years old 😅 my knees sound like that now 🤣

@546268 11 месяцев назад

All the Vauxhall cars I’ve driven, including the astra but not the mk1, have horrible understeer. The fords, even in fwd form, handle vastly better.

@Dirt-Diggler 11 месяцев назад

You do know Ford also made a 4 door estate mk3/4 escort 🤔

@ClassicsWorldUK 11 месяцев назад

Yep, hence the caption 😁

@briansaiditsoitmustbetrue4206 10 месяцев назад

I had a very late example 1984 B Reg plate one many Years ago.... The 1.3 OHC engine was very tought and far superior to Fords CHV engine

@Adam.Piper62 11 месяцев назад

Vauxhall's have always had the same trouble with brand image for some reason. They still have it today.- looking over the past years more often than not Vauxhall have had the better cars than their competitors but for whatever reason just cannot crack the image or marketing.

@ivanfernyhough3851 11 месяцев назад

Thats because theyre not better cars by any stretch of the imagination.

@tbeau6663 11 месяцев назад

I had one of each.......the Astra was better than the Escort of that era.

@chrishart8548 11 месяцев назад

I think it probably always was. The focus was only just better than the astra. All the escorts were not great, can't speak for the mk1/2 but I had a mk3 mk4 mk5 and a 5.5 the last was OK but they were not as great as the competition. They were always cheap though.

@leprechaunshelper 11 месяцев назад

My first car was a 1980 Astra estate 1300 LS 4 speed awesome car and went around corners like a Go kart plus mega easy to repair ❤

@dlamiss 11 месяцев назад

surely the nova replaced the chevette

@piledriverpotter9847 11 месяцев назад

Yes it did?.

@chrishart8548 11 месяцев назад

@piledriverpotter9847 but the chevette came in an estate version. Didn't nova create a new class. Or maybe at the time the chevette was rival for the escort and the fiesta.

@keijak1 11 месяцев назад

Yes more so, but there was an overlap. The Astra arrived in 1979, V suffix reg. The Corsa arrived in early 1983, Y suffix. Chevette hatch production ended in August 1983 and the saloon and estate in early 1984 (B reg)

@davidbayley9588 11 месяцев назад

Just a rebadged Opel Kadett.

@deanosaur808 2 месяца назад

The astra name won eventually 😉

@roberttaylor465 11 месяцев назад

Astra is definitely now french.

@deanosaur808 2 месяца назад

Only the new ones 😉

@terrortorn 11 месяцев назад

Aka Vauxhalls answer to the ford escort.

@davidgalea6113 11 месяцев назад

Looks more like a rival to the fiesta than the escort.

@Flub-A-Dub 11 месяцев назад

It was a lot bigger than both - the Escort always looked small & 'Flimsy' next to it

@johnearthheart4614 11 месяцев назад

The Astra mk 1 was 3998mm (157.4in) long, 1636mm (64.4in) wide, the Escort mk 3 of the same year was 3970mm (156.3in) long, 1640mm (64.6in) wide. The Fiesta mk 1 of the time was 3565mm (140.4in) long, 1567mm (61.7in) wide. Just for comparison.

@Flub-A-Dub 11 месяцев назад

@@johnearthheart4614 Interesting - Its not much bigger : and Cabin dimensions ? - I had the Mk1Astra & a friend had an Escort - Next to each other tha Astra looked a hell of bigger & chunkier : maybe it was the width of the pillars & 4 up the Astra seemed to have so much more space inside.

@johnearthheart4614 11 месяцев назад

@@Flub-A-Dub Not sure of internal dimensions but the Astra could very well have been roomier, also the design of the Astra as you say could make it appear larger externally.

@bumfluffmcregor3730 11 месяцев назад

Today this is not a modern looking car

@deanosaur808 2 месяца назад

That's because it's not modern anymore 😉

@lesklower7281 11 месяцев назад

In Australia these were sold under the Holden banner and they were the Holden Astra but they were known as the disastra they were not very good compared with the Toyota Corolla Mazda 2 Suzuki small cars although there are a few examples of them left and disappearing and compared to the Australian built Holden Comodores which there are plenty of those around a much much better car as for the Fords from the UK there mostly gone but the Toyotas are still around far better built vehicles than the British and European cars and European cars are not that popular in Australia they were in the 1960s and tapered of in the 1970s thst was when the Japanese cars started coming generally Australians like there cars to be reliable as most British and European cars are not they keep cars for over 10 years sometimes 20 and 30 years l have a 26 year old Toyota hilux and it is as reliable as the sun rising in the morning

@deanosaur808 2 месяца назад

Blame the Americans lol

@lesklower7281 2 месяца назад

@@deanosaur808 You don't have to blame the Americans the Holden Astra was just a rebadged Vauxhaul Astra they were exactly the same as except for the Holden badges on it Holden also rebadged the Toyota Camery which was the Holden Apollo there and that was in the early 1990s and l have seen a couple of those driving around as for the Holden Astra they are starting to disappear all the better and mechanics in Australia refused to work on them because they were so terrible it wasn't a great car they were terrible

@nigelbond4056 11 месяцев назад

@russcattell955i 11 месяцев назад

Chevette was based on Kadett C hatch I owned both and suspension, brakes & some body parts were interchangeable.

@robertharris7027 11 месяцев назад

All European markets got the Opel Kadett. The Vauxhall Astra was just badge engineered German Opel for the British market and not available elsewhere, so a kind of a niche car.

@deanosaur808 2 месяца назад

The British are European too 😉