1980's MK1 Vauxhall Astra GTE...your thoughts about them

[newts]

Mostly a Ford man, but my Uncle was a Vauxhall man. He had an Cavalier MK1 and an Opel Manta. The Manta looked great. I haven't seen one on the road for many years..

Prior to the Astra I had a MK1 Manta. Unfortunately the previous owner had thrashed it hard.
A naive buy for my first car, but still outperformed my dad's Maxi that I learnt to drive in.

 

[MrGrumpy]

Always wanted my Dad to buy a Manta . Not a hope in hell . Bog standard cavalier 1.6L , it was basic to say the least !! Astra GTE was on my wanted list as well, however back in the day it was MK2 escorts and Fiestas. ( geez that looks like the top shelf in the newsagents )

 

[Drago]

Lost it's cachet when GM stuck the nose on the Cavalier.

Didn't the Cavalier Coupe pre date that generation of the Manta? If my dodgy memory serves me correctly that generation of the Manta was designed in Luton, and used the Cav Coupe and Sportshatch as its base, and not the other way around.

 

[lazybloke]

My brother's Astra GTE was stolen and returned to him twice.
First time was just a few days. 2nd time it was gone for weeks; he eventually got a call that it had been abandoned in a pub near Dover so we went to take a look. The footwells were almost up to the knees with rubbish - mostly cigarette butts, there was a baby seat in the back, and there were receipts from at least two countries in Europe!
It also had fake plates but was undamaged, apart from needing the deepest clean ever.

No built-in alarms in those days.

 

[Gunk]

I was always a Golf GTi man, back in late 1987 I took delivery of a brand new black 16V, for a 23 year old I though all my Christmases had come at once

 

[BianchiVirgin]

For the 80s, cool. Cooler than a Golf.

 

[Gunk]

For the 80s, cool. Cooler than a Golf.

Now they're cool in a sort of retro way, at the time a 205 GTi 1.9 and a Golf Gti 16V were the Daddies. they were the most desirable. XR3 and GTE were definitely second tier

 

[Profpointy]

A mate had one (may have been the mk2?) and it was rather good. Had a ride to Italy in in, but I don't think I was on the insurance so didn't drive it myself. We had an astra van at work at the time and that was great to drive and went like a rocket so the GTE would have been quite something. The contemporary front wheel drive escort was horrid to drive though admittedly I never drove the xr3 version.

He'd had an Opel Manta previously - rear wheel drive but same kind of thing.

 

[NorthernDave]

If it was on the Top Gear Cool Wall it would be sub-zero, although very few survive - the ones that weren't stolen or crashed suffered badly from corrosion.

I had the much more exclusive Opel Kadett 1.6SR, the model below the GTE, and it was a cracking car at the time but it rusted like no-ones business.
I had a MK2 Cavalier after the Kadett. Also a rust magnet, but the old Vauxhall camshaft issue finished that one off.

 

[Drago]

My brother's Astra GTE was stolen and returned to him twice.
First time was just a few days. 2nd time it was gone for weeks; he eventually got a call that it had been abandoned in a pub near Dover so we went to take a look. The footwells were almost up to the knees with rubbish - mostly cigarette butts, there was a baby seat in the back, and there were receipts from at least two countries in Europe!
It also had fake plates but was undamaged, apart from needing the deepest clean ever.

No built-in alarms in those days.

When I was in The Valley a colleague of mine finished work one evening and walked out to his Astra GTE to find someone trying to hot wire it. The poor scumbag was very clumsy and fell down the stairs several times before the on-dury officers arrived to take him away. Ah, the mid 90's!

 

[gbb]

Didn't the Cavalier Coupe pre date that generation of the Manta? If my dodgy memory serves me correctly that generation of the Manta was designed in Luton, and used the Cav Coupe and Sportshatch as its base, and not the other way around.

Would the Cavalier coupe /droop snoot have been equivelent to a Cavalier Mk2 ?, the early Manta was (I think) a purely Opel thing around before the Cavaliers, a much earlier design, quite european looking, later Mantas followed with later Cavalier models of course. I'm just musing, I have no idea really
I had the 1978 or 9 Opel Ascona Berlina 2.0 SR, (basically a Cavalier Mk1 design) I think the Manta was was a stylised and slightly higher performance rated car based on the ascona. The 2ltr went well but as mine was relatively old even then, so I didnt hammer it .
Sorry, I'm distressing from the OP.
Astra GTE certainly has a following, as do most hot hatch cars from that era.

 

[Drago]

The Cav coupe and Sportsback were based on the cav mark 1, itself a mildly tweaked Opel Ascona.

The Mk2 Cav was the bland, but excellent, J series. These were FWD and a major departure from the Ascona derived model that came before.

 

[Ridgeway]

Very nearly bought a Mk1 in about 87, it was white but something wasn't quite right about it so i left it. Then test drove a Manta GTE (gold) but that felt big and heavy, ended up with a Golf MK1 GTI and loved it to bits.

Still have a hankering for a Manta GTE, love the look of them

 

[Accy cyclist]

https://mathewsons.co.uk/auctions/auction-dates/vehicles/17231-1984-vauxhall-astra-gte-mk1
Estimate: £16,000 - £18,000

Heck,i thought they'd be around 4 to 5 grand.

 

[biggs682]

https://mathewsons.co.uk/auctions/auction-dates/vehicles/17231-1984-vauxhall-astra-gte-mk1
Estimate: £16,000 - £18,000

Heck,i thought they'd be around 4 to 5 grand.

Yes some crazy prices
They never appealed to me but then not a Vauxhall lover