IDRIVEACLASSIC reviews: MK1 Astra - Opel Kadett D

Today's video is on the lesser spotted MK1 Vauxhall Astra! The car has been kindly loaned by Great British Car Journey in Derbyshire. To find out more about them, visit their website: https://greatbritishcarjourney.com

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The MK1 Astra (Opel Kadett D)

This is the MK1 Astra, as launched in spring of 1980 and the first front wheel drive vehicle for Vauxhall and replaced the Viva HC in the Vauxhall line up.

The front wheel drive aspect meant Vauxhall now had a real competitor for the growing market of popular FWD vehicles like the VW Golf.

The car quickly gained positive reviews and was crowned What Car’s car of the year in 1980 and only beaten to European Car of the year by the Lancia Delta.

If you remember in the Chevette video, we discussed how the T car platform had given Vauxhall a bit of wiggle room to create a car which was suited to the palette of the Brit car buyer, but with the Astra, the car was pretty much identical to the Opel Kadett D which had been made on the continent.

Although at first the car was made in West Germany, production was brought to Ellesmere Port by 1981 and production levels soared to meet demand.

The range at first was small, with only the 1300S GL and 1300 L estate being on offer but the range was added to rather quickly over the four years with E version producing a slightly lower 60bhp in comparison to the 75bhp we’re getting with this 1300 we’re testing today.

In 1982, the range welcomed a rather spicy 90bhp 1.6 litre variant which really challenged some of the GTi models. If that wasn’t spicy enough, the GTE joined the range in April 83, offering 115bhp supported by a 1.8 fuel injected engine.

Over time, dwindling values, scrap schemes, rust, camshafts and first car owners with a heavy right foot have killed off many of the MK1 Astras which once graced the roads of Great Britain.

There are people out there who will see this car as simply an old banger, but with doing so they overlook so much of what the Astra did for both Vauxhall and the buying public at the time and really how much of a force it was to be reckoned with.

So how does the MK1 story end?

The MK1 was made until 1984 and as of 2022, we’re into the eighth generation of Astras and even people who don’t like cars would be hard pushed to say they didn’t know what an Astra was, which is what makes this MK1 a classic.

It may not be a traditional chrome bumper, black and white numberplate classic, but this Astra definitely sits firmly in the new wave of classics defining an era of motoring.

This is a brief history and there are plenty more booklets online and owners forums where more information can be found, but in today’s video, I’m now going to chat to you about the interior of the vehicle before our test drive.