Vauxhall Astra
The Astra is a General Motors (GM) small family car, badged as an Opel in continental Europe, a Vauxhall in the United Kingdom, a Holden in Australasia, and a Chevrolet in Latin America. The Astra is now built in Germany, Belgium, the UK, Brazil South Africa and India, as well as being assembled in completely knocked-down (CKD) kits in other countries. It competes against the Ford Focus and VW Golf.
There have been five basic generations of Astra, summarised below:
1979
The Astra name originated with Vauxhall's 1979 model, though the car was designed and built in Germany as an Opel Kadett. This model replaced the Vauxhall Chevette in the UK, and the earlier Kadett which was broadly similar to the Chevette. (However, the Chevette remained on the price list for several years afterwards until the Vauxhall Nova was launched.) The car featured a new unified engine for Vauxhall/Opel, featuring an all-aluminium head, overhead camshaft and hydraulic valve lifters. The engine was a huge leap forward from the earlier generation of small engines used in Vauxhall and Opel cars in terms of power, economy and refinement. It was initially available in 1300 and 1600 forms, and later an 1800 fuel-injected version was added to the range, used in the Mk. 1 Astra GTE model, introduced in 1981.
1984
The Mk. 2 Astra used the same range of engines and running gear as the Mk. 1, but with a completely restyled body with much better aerodynamics. A new GTE using a 2-litre fuel injected model was also introduced, and early models of these featured an all electronic dash with digital speedometer. This was largely received as a gimmick, and later models reverted to traditional analogue instrumentation. A special twin-camshaft version of the engine was also developed and a high performance version of the GTE was created around it. This engine developed 156 bhp in standard form, giving spritely performance. The Mk. 2 was long-lived, and was available in estate, hatchback, saloon (sedan) and cabriolet versions. The Mk. 3/C model was essentially an evolution of the Mk 2, rather than a redesign. The Mk. 2 is still built under license as the Daewoo Nexia and Cielo in some countries.
1991
The world car version of the Astra (model C) was released in 1991. It was offered as a three- or five-door hatchback, a sedan (saloon), and station wagon (estate), known as Caravan. A cabriolet was also offered, designed and built by Bertone in Italy. It was known as the "Astra C" to signify the continuity between the two model names. In South Africa, the Kadett name was retained for the Astra hatchback range until 1999, which included a two-litre turbo called the 200T, unique to that market. Controversially, the Kadett and Astra in South Africa won the title of 'Car of the Year' in two consecutive years (1992 and 1993) even though they were versions of the same car.
This model also became available in Australasia badged as a Holden, first in New Zealand in 1995, and then Australia in 1996. The first models were imported from the UK, but the current model is imported from Belgium. The original Holden Astra was in fact a rebadged Nissan Pulsar, sold in Australia in the mid 1980s.
1998
The Astra D was launched in Europe in 1998, again including Coupé and Cabrio models designed and built by Bertone. The biggest innovation at the time was the introduction of a natural gas-powered engine. The popular people carrier Zafira is based on the Astra D.
2004
GM Europe launched Astra E (Mk. 5 in Vauxhall terms) at the end of 2003. Based on the outgoing model, the platform has increased in size, the engines improved and the styling and interior made distinctly more dynamic. Handling has been further improved with each engine provided with its own Lotus tuned suspension settings. It is so far available as a five-door hatchback, a five-door Caravan station wagon and a sporty three-door hatchback, designated the GTC for European markets.
A first for any major European car is the availablity of digital radio on some versions of the new Astra.
