Hi All looking to buy VX Astra Van and have found an Opel Astra for sale. Looking at the V5/Log Book i see that the Date of registration and the Date of Registration IN THE UK are identical dates. Also front page of V5 declares 'New at registration'.And the V5 States Vauxhall (not Opel!). I always thought Opel where imported from Europe and thus it would be declared an import on the V5? Or did dealers sell Opels direct in the UK at some stage?
Also the Opel Astra is badged with standard Vauxhall Badges front and rear but has the Opel Logo on wheels, Steering wheel and door shut protectors etc? Is this normal?
Please hlep me I am confused!
Also will the Insurance be higher for an Opel than Vauxhall?
s
Edited by Dynamic Dave on 05/10/2007 at 20:01
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AFAIK Opels have not been sold in the UK since the '80s - the Opel Manta was probably the last official import. It sounds as if the car you're looking at has been unofficially imported and then had the easy-to-change badges swapped for Vauxhall items...
Peter
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the Opel Manta was probably the last official import.
Mum had a 1.9 SRi in pillar-box red with big fat Dunlop tyres. By my standards it went like a rocket, with a spine-tingling surge as the second choke opened. L-reg so '73 or '74.
Hawkeye
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Stranger in a strange land
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It was popular a few years ago to import from Europe without registering there first (cars are cheaper on the continent), so the GM cars were badged as Opel but still RHD and never registered until they arrived in the UK. Sounds like someone's changed a couple of the easy badges but left the difficult ones (steering wheel etc).
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I saw a Holden Corsa once. Apparently the owner had the badges sent from a relative in that ex-penal colony somewhere south of Madagascar.
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>>I saw a Holden Corsa once.
There was actually significant Holden content in one Vauxhall - the mkII Cavalier estate. All the bits that were unique to the estate would typically arrive from the parts department in Holden boxes.
The estates were a bit carp - they needed plenty of those Holden branded boxes to be obtained fro them! - not as good as the mainstream models. It makes me wonder what the Monaros are going to be like after a year or two.
Number_Cruncher
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The estates were a bit carp
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>they certainly were,you would look at them when they were at the auction and if a rep had had them as invariably they had, then they were literally breaking their backs where the dog leg in the door shuts were and all across,they literally used to sit lower from the back here and it must have been the roof holding everything together
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i wouldnt worry either way and the insurance will be the same
probably better built and thicker underseal underneath anyway
henjoy and sit back for the ride
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Opel Monza and Opel Manta were the last official imports of Opels, in the '80s, and the Opel Senator was re-branded Vauxhall Senator.
More recently, some Opels were imported and re-badged as Vauxhalls. A large discount dealer in Cannock (there are several) was successfully prosecuted by Staffordshire Trading Standards.
GM production is cross-border - Opel Astras are built at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, alongside Vauxhall versions and many Vauxhalls are built in European factories, alongside Opels.
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"The Opel name largely disappeared from the UK in 1981 after Vauxhall and Opel dealerships were merged, with only the Manta and the Monza (the coupe version of the Senator) being sold as Opels, until they were discontinued in 1988 and 1987 respectively."
So Wikipedia says.
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The OP may find that he's seen a misbuild.
IE meant to be a Vauxhall but fallen victim to some Opel branded stuff being available on the Ellemsmere Port line at the wrong time.
The best example of a misbuild from this line I have personally heard of was an Astra that was a 3 door on one side but 5 door on the other. I have hear of two of these from different sources. Apparently one arrived on a transporter at a Leicestershire dealership once!
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The best example of a misbuild from this line I have personally heard of was an Astra that was a 3 door on one side but 5 door on the other. >>
The best example of a misbuild is the story of the creation of the GT - back in the '60s, when Luton built all models of Vauxhall on the same line, a computer error mismatched a 1.3 Viva bodyshell to a Victor 2 litre OHC powertrain. The mountings wouldn't line up but the realisation that it would fit led to the Viva GT - 2.0 OHC engine in a car that normally got 1.3 pushrod engines was an instant hit.
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Another urban myth-just like the people who found four-cylinder engines fitted to a supposedly six-cylinder vehicle-anyone who has worked in a production plant would realize the impossibility-both could be done but would need many odd parts that would not be available on the line.Having said that,there have been a number of vehicles manufactured over the years with one door on the drivers sode and two on the passengers.
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Photographs please or we are in danger of propagating urban myths. If a mismatched Astra was produced, it must have a picture posted somewhere on the net. And, a 1960s computer at Luton must have taken up a building of its own. I am sure the engine and bodyshell mix-up could have happened but at best it would be a punch-card system that was responsible. Depends how you define a computer compared with an abacus.
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Yes, computers did have buildings of their own in the '60s. It may have been unit record / punched card, that was the way 2nd generation computer systems worked, eg IBM 1401 etc.
Computer history is older than the PC!
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Photographs please or we are in danger of propagating urban myths. If a mismatched Astra was produced it must have a picture posted somewhere on the net.....
Fair comment, and I can't produce photos.
However I can vouch for both sources that I have quoted, having worked for both an automotive parts supplier to the Ellemsmere Port plant, and a large Vauxhall dealership.
These are quoted as happening during the productioon of the Mk2 Astra, app 20 years ago. Mobile phone cameras and similar did not exist then. It is likely that the only photos taken would have been on behalf of the company, and I'm sure they would not have wanted them posted in the public domain.
As far as punch cars computer systems are concerned, I saw no evidence of these when I visited the Elemsmere Port plant on behalf of the components supplier in 1987. IIRC they had an early but fully integrated production control system in operation
Edited by Hugo {P} on 06/10/2007 at 21:45
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