Old Top Gear 1991 - Vauxhall Astra

Old top Gear from 1991 - Chris Goffey tests the all new Vauxhall astra 2.0 GLi. Taken from season 14, episode 12.

[@WAYNE1977100]

The red Astra J349 NPP was last taxed in 2004. Not bad for a prototype

[@soundseeker63]

Compare the interior of this to an escort of the same year, its like they are a dacade apart! Astra > Escort.

[@robdixon3953]

the dash and trim on these cars was light years beyond anything the competition offered in 1991

[@General.Longstreet]

Chris Goffey the King of comfortable knitwear.

[@ajuk1]

I miss road tests like this.

[@BobM925]

People like to slag the old Vauxhalls off. I've never had any trouble with any of the (many) Vauxhalls I have owned over the years - Astras, Cavaliers etc Can't say the same of the Ford's I've owned. I once owned a Renault (my god what was I thinking?) Still see a few of these old Astras knocking about even now in 2016, they seem to last well enough if you keep on top of the chronic rust!

[@theagemon5]

yeah i have an astra f from 95 its my first car and i almost fell in love with it imidiatelly. now i have done a few "mods" on it and i really want to keep it. the engine is unbeatable the headgasket has been leaking for half a year i have newer done an oil change on it. dont know when it last had a service it drinks oil and antifreeze but still starts and runs evereday im waitinh for it to die so i can swap it out but it never dies haha and i mostly drive it at 120-140 kmh so its runnng mostly on 4k rpm xD absoluteley love it :)

[@MrRohanThomas]

Lot of old Vauxhalls that were good like Astra and Zafira, the newer ones aren't as reliable as the old ones but Vauxhall are still high up on reliability than other car brands, according to google they came fourth in the Telegraph's top 20 brands for reliability

[@anparsons70]

FORD, Fix Or Repair Daily.

[@user-zr4wh3lh5v]

I really liked them especially the 1998-2006 model in dark/navy blue. They called it metallic blue

[@colinpowell7949]

When top gear was worth watching

[@365tips]

In Finland Astra sold pretty well, but Opel´s worst enemy, rust, took these cars off the road in very early age. Also other quality problems Opel had in the 90´s made these cars value drop very fast. Neighbour of mine in the mid 90´s bought a few years old Astra 2,0 CD sedan in 1995 or 96. After a couple of years the car had significant rust issues and it was hard to sell. Nowdays you almost never see Astras on the road.

[@draconpost]

I still have one of those, the rust is an issue, and the newer the car - the worse it was. Mines from 1994 - an older version and made in Germany so it kinda still holds but the engine head got damaged. I'm waiting for the weather to get warmer and then I'm going to do a swap fix.

[@therealzipp0r]

i had one of these with the 1.4 MPI engines for years, was surprisingly quick and economical.

[@danielalexander8588]

I once had a '95 Astra Arizona that had had 9 previous owners, once used as a learner car, broke into at least twice and attempted stole at least once. It had 160k on the clock and had absolutely no go at all. But, I couldn't help but fall in love with it!

[@tammclean9276]

Still good looking cars today better than most cars now !

[@chickmagnet3149]

Agree! I have the caravan with the face lift

[@Samspianopage]

I think this version of the Astra was the best looking of all of em Certainly the new ones not bad but it looks like soo many other modern cars

[@rafaelramosmelim735]

I have a 1996 astra 1.4 16v caravan only problem I had was the radiator that started to leak and I replaced it today. I also have a 1996 1.7 turbo diesel isuzu engine hatchback since new never had any kind of problem not even rust. If you do the proper maintenence at the correct time they will last. The petrol one has 380.000 km or around 240.000 miles and the diesel one has 600.000 km or around 400.000 miles.

[@Amp1771]

I had to scrap my old astra after of 20 years, nothing drove like it. Mine was a rare Saloon version. Even my mechanic who we sold it to said he'll drive it before he'd scrap it for us because nothing dorve like it. Such a beautiful car.

[@user-ph1cd6ri7t]

Amp stop it please give it up

[@MrRohanThomas]

most people that owned Vauxhall cars are idiots themselves, go on Ebay or just go drive around and look at the old Vauxhalls, they're neglected so bad, looks like shit and then they wonder why it has lots of problems, I had a Vauxhall, I don't like neglecting stuff, I looked after it and its 15 year old paint still looks better than most the cars on the road and its never had a single issue. Funny how people saying Vauxhall are unreliable, google even says Vauxhall came fourth in the Telegraph's top 20 brands for reliability

[@user-zr4wh3lh5v]

Amp That's brilliant. I have always loved the Astra especially the 1998-2006 model in dark/navy blue. They called it metallic blue

[@themanmaschine]

I miss Top Gear like this!!

[@ca9968]

I had a 180is 16V Opel Kadett (Astra hatchback) in South Africa back in the late 90`s...still the best car i`ve ever owned...I put 200 000km`s on her and the only time she ever let me down was due to a dead battery...bulletproof engine!

[@lanehogger1532]

When I was 17 my dads company pool had an L reg 1.6 CD hatch like the blue one in this clip. I loved that car and never hammered it as I respected it too much. Unlike the Cavalier Envoy and Rover 620sli that we’re also available. They got red lined regularly 😁

[@anxiousbottle]

Little did he know that another top gear host would use one as a dart

[@FerrarifanOls95]

The Astra is now my favourite reasonably priced car now for 2 reasons The old one like this one because it's got really good styling and I always liked the interior and the steering wheel, and the new one because the diesel version will do nearly 130mph and has got epic acceleration

[@lukedavidrobinson]

I normally don't like the MK3 astra but seeing it shiny and new it looks quite nice. It's surprising how many I still see on the road today, albiet looking quite faded and dull these days. I'll still take my mk4 though.

[@techtinkerin]

Proper solid car, never missed a beat..😊❤️🚙

[@jacklee8168]

got k reg mk3 astra sri estate in white had it since 98 Still going Strong use it every day

[@Sam-wh4of]

They're fantastic cars. Do you still own it? I myself am the happy owner of an L reg 1.4 Merit

[@lukecharles3880]

I miss when Obi-Wan used to review cars

[@AllWheelsGood]

Who was that? Chris Goffey?

[@lukecharles3880]

@@AllWheelsGood no idea lol, I just think he looks vaguely bloke Ewan McGregor

[@Martynn-wo4rn]

this was miles better than the Escort at the time. I had an estate version and it lasted me years and felt quite fast.

[@1100HondaCB]

Mum had a mk3 1.4 Astra with over 130 000 miles on it and the engine ran as sweet as new. You had to remind yourself it was still running when at a set of lights. The mk3 did feel a bit "tinny" when closing the doors. The visibility was good and the gear changes were slick. The mk2 however looked better and the drag coefficient was quite good and I think the mk3 Cavalier shared many of the mk2's design features. My brother had a mk3 2.0 SRi which was fast. Give me a mk1 or 156bhp mk2 SRi anyday!

[@asldkjaslkdj]

'I'm sure at some point, I'll hit my head on the bootlid.' Well look where you're going then!!!!

[@waynelewis9783]

Never owned a MK3 astra I had MK1 and MK2 my best one was a white Sri 1.8 had it tuned very quick but had a family so went on to the cavaliers

[@scotty87able]

Still quite a few around 15 yrs after the mk 4 arrived

[@vivamalta127]

Had an exact model like the blue one at 1:08 - it was L reg and a isuzu turbodiesel, had 158,000 miles but still drove like new, ran it on a mix of veg/diesel and had no problems on emissions. got wrote off in 2011, nothing drove so smooth for its age. Currntly have a 1.5d corsa--same engine but slower lol :D

[@fatwalletboy2]

At 4.55flippin eck chris dont spare the horses.....hes properly giving it the beans.

[@vitorskoda]

My parents had a Opel Caravan 97. Great car, not very spacious but surprisingly comfortable and fast for his 1.4 16v 90bhp engine. And as Chris says, "very well appointed". Seems like Opel standards were a bit better than Vauxhalls in terms of quality though... And by side, the 5 doors resembles somehow the Austin Maetro, but in a better way

[@CarambleTV]

Remember back in the day the GSi looked really good and there was lots of replica ones knocking about! Shame the MK3 Astra just was not much of a car, the MK2 before it was quite advanced for the time with the styling etc while the MK3 just looked pretty dull.

[@southendparaquest]

I owned 2 1.4i MkIII hatches and a 1.7d Estate. Rarely any problems. And any that did surface, were cheap and easy to sort out. I could squeeze 50mpg out of the 1.4i's and 70mpg from the diesel. Oh and the load capacity (especially the Estate was excellent. I have a Saab 9-5 Estate now. And although it's a bigger car, the load space is smaller than my old 1.7d est.

[@EportChris]

This seems as though it was filmed on the country roads in hooton and rossmore on the edge of the factory 😊

[@TheAllMightyGodofCod]

I remember watchin the first advert for this car's launch and thinking "oh my good! So beautiful and high tech!" I remember having my first ride in the back of these astra and thinking "this must be wrong.... A Corsa is nicer to travel in..." And I remember how crappy and problematic these become over time while the cars from the competition kept on going and going. This was the car that made me stop being an Opel/Vauxhall fan.

[@edgarbeat275]

look up the Maxi based Austin Aquila concept car 1972. Insane how similar looking it is to that 90s era Vauxhall Astra. Austin Aquila still exists.

[@Current-Thing]

First time seeing and hearing about The Aquila, it's crazy how ahead of it's time the designing was. I mean, sure it looks pretty 70;s but it's something else. even though i don't really see any similarities with the Astra, it's a great looking car!

[@edgarbeat275]

@@Current-Thing Agreed but round of the edges headlamps and you have a 90s car. its the basic two box , plus plastic bumpers. Austin should have made it instead of the Maxi. I am 36 I think I was 8 or 10 when iI read it in the book Car Time Forgot. Even the name is like what Vauxhall would name a car :).I just thought then its such a cool car loads of potential. on google images compare the top left red vauxhall with a front 3/4 view of the Aquila door rear vent window frames etc. :) google Mk3 Vauxhall astra Red car top left on google images. austin aquila google images middle photo Even has the same rubbing strip between wheel arches :)

[@edgarbeat275]

Its red these days used on the road the odd occasion.

[@kylefraser5490]

The mk1 is my favourite gte

[@Brain320]

I still drive the 1996 one with 1.6L engine...

[@franzchong5889]

that's the year this was launched by holden in australia very belatedly.the reason we were denied this was holden's small car agreement with toyota at the time of the 91 launch so we got a corolla badged as a nova,we all know translated from spanish to english it meant no go and was a flop compared to the original and we missed out on their better variants(no seca liftback/no wagon for instance)

[@darrenwilson8042]

ha ha ha - that wing / door interface - garbage - I had a flame red one - it was dusty pink aged 4 years old but Vauxhall insisted there was nothing wrong with how the paint finish was applied

[@TakeMeOffYourMailingList]

Hey, El Port factory. I work there!

[@Trance88]

Not a bad looking car at all for a '91. Too bad the states never got such body styling from GM until the mid to late 90's.

[@Blue-moon12]

2.0 GSI model was a beat.

[@vitorskoda]

and i did felt the sharp edge of that boot several times...!

[@bensmithkent22]

Id pay to see goffey irrationally angry.

[@voiceofreason2008]

@PlayTheStation HAHA? understand that the models shown were prototypes and not showroom models panel fitting is the least of a manufacturers worries when it comes to production at prototype level a LOT goes to any car that spends it life on the road if the manufacturer is responsible enough i own a Red (faded i grant you) 1997 P reg 1.4 8v single point injection model (for 1 year and 3 months) it has 103,000 on the clock but has never let me down, that is good engineering my friend EOS!

[@IHeartMyLada]

My cousin has a '98 Caravan 1.4 8V. I have driven it a few times, even though its engine is very reliable, it's painfully sluggish when starting from a stop and the pedals are just as rough and hard as they were in my beater Lada. It's still kinda popular here in Hungary as it was the first Western European model which was assembled here.

[@streesmut70]

@WAYNE1977100 You're the owner of that J349 NPP? , do you know this?

[@djmatxon8374]

Nice opel Power!

[@mustsilm]

Wasnt a bad car but rust was huge issue.

[@darrenwilson8042]

Just after the launch of this though the MK3 Golf was launched - and that was NOT a car to try and aspire to

[@vectra4ever]

It's a 2.0I CD ;-)

[@user-zr4wh3lh5v]

Astra I loved the Astra especially the 1998/2006 model in dark/navy blue. They called it metallic blue

[@RoadCone411]

I can only hope that body panel fit was because this was a pre-production car. Still can’t explain why GM would give a car like that to the motoring press. My aunt had a Mk3 similar to the green one in this video. Didn’t age well. Very plasticky cabin and had major mechanical problems before its 5th birthday...and she wasn’t a high mileage driver. She separated from the car very soon after that. I bet that car was cubified 20 years ago.

[@briansteffmagnussen9078]

I don't like cars that will recycle them self all the while i drive them. Honestly Those Astra is made with timebombs that makes them disintegrate after a certain amount of driven miles.

[@martinprince1500]

Wtf I'm watching this is 2021,but I did have 2 of these,1.6 16v sport & a 2.0 16v cdx aswel both good cars,& worth a fortune if I kept them now

[@franciswambeck5822]

A MANUALLY-operated sunroof!?!?

[@GruszkuEntertainment]

Francis Wambeck You're clearly an utter idiot

[@und4287]

this is from 1991 after all

[@alexanderstefanov6474]

As if people that skied in the alps drove vauxhalls

[@nic3Chris]

Haha my Golf Mk2 from 1991 does not have 5 gears

[@cupidstunt22]

Chris Goffey likes a coffee

[@MsVanorak]

. . . . . mine was stolen from outside the pub.

[@DB103Freak]

0:12 Yeeeeah Clannad - Harry's Game 😀

[@ridanann]

I was a small child in 1991 everything was so Celtic the voice of Enya is a hell of the sound for a childhood almost otterworldly

[@piotr346]

I still drive it xD

[@WAYNE1977100]

@streesmut70 the dvla database.

[@DavidDavid-kl4ru]

Nice modor car

[@harryneil4523]

121mph for a 1991 2.0 litre vauxhall?

[@chrisredfield3240]

Is that fast or slow ? Sounds about right to me.

[@RWL2012]

I think it's a 2.0 8V so that's about right

[@Samspianopage]

I really don't get where Chris is coming from. Yes the Mk 2 Astra was a much crisper, sharper design, BUT it looked ancient and horrible I think in comparison to this. I dunno why people dislike this generation, I think it looked brilliant for it's time. How can anyone have thought that looked old in 1991? Consider, the Escort, piss ugly. The Golf, good looking car but still had it's original 1979's shape in 1991. The Rover 200, decent but boring looking I thought. The Citroen ZX, again brilliant car but pretty boxy looking for the time. Peugeot 309, again boxy late 70's styling. I just don't understand why folk don't get this car. We had the 1.7 Isuzu Turbodiesel and yeah sure it wasn't the best car ye could hope to have but we never had any trouble with it. Went like shit off a shovel. If anything the interior trim and fabric as other said was a rough as a bear's arse wasn't nice at all but apart from that everything else was way beyond anyone else at the time. Maybe it was just the shape was too Easter Egg LOL and people didn't like it's goofy-ness. The Mk 4 after it was bloody awful looking I think. But hey each to their own.

[@edgarbeat275]

Quite a few on the road where I live. I love the Mk3 Astra in all specs. compared to a Ford Escort I'd pick the Vauxhall any day. Have a look at the 1972 Austin Aquila styling wise so similar to the Mk3 Astra.

[@davebassman5339]

Poor Chris - always banging his head.......

[@WAYNE1977100]

The DVLA Database

[@KifazoidDesigns]

When Top Gear liked Vauxhall lol hehe what i don't understand though is It gets better each model but they don't like them

[@Samspianopage]

WHAT SONG IS THAT AT THE START? cHEERS

[@Parknest]

It is the theme music to a TV programme called "Grandstand" that was broadcast on BBC1 in the UK on Saturday afternoon and did sports coverage. It was the forerunner to channels such as Sky Sports.

[@markorollo.]

He looks just like one of my school teachers i had at that time *random*

[@Pancirr]

Why are the crappy cars in Europe, the best selling cars in Britain? Answer: thanks to Top Gear.

[@RandomBro5]

Pancir Panzer This is not a bad car.

[@Pancirr]

+RandomBro5 This is the most rusty car in Human history. It's not galvanised.

[@jotuwe6091]

+Pancir Panzer '95 1.6 Caravan, 200.000km, nearly free of rust

[@theojohn3747]

Pancir Panzer rover metro lancia thema

[@RandomBro5]

+Pancir Panzer '95 1.6 300.000km, still drives like a dream and free of rust.

[@Faraonqa]

b b b but thats a opel (i know its the same thing but why)

[@leonpalmer2429]

I rember i brought a j reg sri for 150 lol

[@mcsquare77]

It's a shame Vauxhall hasn't gone bust!

[@RoadCone411]

mcsquare77 The countdown clock keeps ticking. The Vauxhall marque is on borrowed time with its new PSA owners.

[@Samspianopage]

They're target car was the new mk3 Golf Lol! Jings they set they're sights optimisticlly high, the 2 aen't even in the same league in build quality an specifcation. Although we did have the 1.7 Isuzu turbodiesel which was pretty nippy and a very reliable motor.

[@user-ph1cd6ri7t]

Bore off it’s in the scrap yard now

[@PeaveyPV20]

A bit tinny inside, prefered the one before. Recall the ones with a boot, a very ugly car. Did used to enjoy top gear back then, this guy was a likeable presenter unlike that prat clarkson

[@TheKenjoje]

04:32 - NO! it couldn't rev at 2300 rpm at 70 mp/h, it is more likely 3200. it is 5-speed petrol from 90s for fuck's sake....the car seems it lacks grip too early....

[@chrisredfield3240]

It goes 121 mph. So what rpm do you expect that would be

[@lanehogger1532]

No they really did have gear ratios like that. I drove one ( a company pool car.) the 4th gear was like a modern day 5th.

[@spencer23dollars34]

Lane Hogger yep. My 88 cavalier did 120 in 4th and 115 in 5th!

[@jase1382]

I had one these Fooking awful car

[@ralfrisberg8009]

Horrible cars , rustbuckets like every other Opel !!!

[@njipods]

nicely finished? its horrible!

[@arthuritchybollix5064]

These were total junk

[@aspiringaspie3280]

crappiy poorly designed car

[@edwardtrickett6064]

Having owned a 12 year old Astra in 2009 for 4 year without many issues I beg to differ.

[@robdixon3953]

the dash and trim on these cars was light years beyond anything the competition offered in 1991

[@draconpost]

Indeed, there wasn't much stuff in there but the shape was very ergonomical and the quality of the materials was very nice.

[@Runeakb]

Yes, also compared to the old Astra/Kadett, it was very good, I remember the Kadett was like made from 100's of cheap toy plastic parts which made squirky noised that drove you mad

[@utubeleplague]

I had a zx citroen launched the same year and it was robust and had soft materials of the dashboard, almost leather-like. The golf mk3 was good too.

[@WAYNE1977100]

The DVLA Database