Road Test: Vauxhall Cavalier Mk2 SRi - early UK car in NZ!

[@jimmywaffles5285]

Hey, that's my old car! I got it from Nelson few years back because I accidentally bought it at the pub while trying to talk a mate into it. We flew down and raced it home to Wellington via every brewery we could find. I put a clutch in it a decade earlier when I was in Auckland. Swapped it for a Buick LeSabre if I remember right, I have problems.

[@owensteele1274]

Makes a lovely change to see some 1983 Chequered Recaros without totally frayed and holed bolsters.

[@dazt103]

Always liked the Mk2 SRi. It just looked right for the time. Loved the Recaro's too. Pretty much every salesman in 80's Uk had one :) Always amazes me how cars sold in the millions disappear from roads so quickly.

[@misterads123]

My old man had a white SRI in 1982. This brings back great memories of him as he recently passed away. Thank you Mr HubNut, you have made my day!

[@matty6848]

My dad did as well but a 84 in silver. Used to love it just because it had Sri on the back🤣

[@neilwalsh4058]

Nice to see an SRi again. Owned a 7 year old 130 Sri in 1995 and went on a driving holiday to Czech Republic for 3 weeks in it. Comfy, quick, ultra reliable and got lots of appreciative nods and thumbs up crossing Germany flat out on the autobahns. Not a sports car, never designed or marketed as such, but a very capable mile munching medium sized saloon or hatch. One of Vauxhalls best efforts IMHO

[@spinosauruswearingboots4156]

My dad had an 85 B 1.6 L the car of my childhood. Loved seeing the lights and the high lip the curse of every dad lifting bikes and suitcases in and out. My dads was just a sea of blank switches making us dream of the delights of higher spec models! Our rear wiper went beyond its stopping point once and gouged the paint away on the boot lid. Happening in the dark on a wet motorway towing the caravan home from somewhere. Did anyone else get static electric shocks off the seats on hot summers days? Thanks for the memories. What a great car.

[@geoffbaker4452]

I drove one if these for a day, back in the 80's. I recall it really went like the clappers. But then my own car at the time was a Reliant Kitten!

[@chubbyroyston3880]

I had one of those in grey back in the 80 s hard ride from what I recall

[@hunchanchoc8418]

Hey, a Kitten is no slouch...

[@geoffbaker4452]

Yes I had 2 kittens. They were quite quick but with an engine half the service of the cavalier's it tended to run out of steam at about 60mph

[@peterolley7159]

@@chubbyroyston3880 your right they was a hard ride and handled pretty well ,,the cdis felt heavy and rolled around a lot

[@alexrankin1046]

Geoff Baker , it was a quick car back then.

[@vwestlife]

The knob on the side of the seat is for folding the backrest forward, which Recaros always had because most of them were put into 2-door cars and they didn't make a separate version without it for 4-door cars.

[@timelwell7002]

When a Citroen 2CV driver says ' That's quite a lot of roll' - you need to take note! The cavalier has good gear ratios, as I can testify, having hired one for long distance motorway driving back in the Eighties. Good review - as always!

[@benday1218]

My Uncle had a CD, which in the mid-late 80s with its headlight wipers, velour and rear headrests felt like an absolute mini luxobarge.

[@richardsmith5249]

My divisional director had one about then. I had to pick it up from the garage after a service once, which involved reversing out onto Southwark Bridge Road. At the time, I had a Golf with a pretty heavy clutch. The CD was an automatic, which I was unused to. I backed out, knocked it into Drive, and sped off before the traffic caught up. Then I made the mistake of trying to grab second gear. It wasn't what I did with the gear shift was the problem - it was my attempt to disengage the clutch that put me sideways across the road. Fortunately, London drivers seem to be able to cope with most things, so nobody actually drove into me.

[@alastairward2774]

My Dad had a CD Carlton (for a few weeks before figuring out that it was rolled, repaired and sold without that advertised) with those features too, I was very impressed as a kid.

[@timhancock6626]

Our best friends were Vauxhall dealers at the time and this was one of Vauxhalls better efforts. They were a bit easy to steal if I remember correctly. My last company car was a Mk3 Cav V6 in 94 which I really liked. My only ever GM car !

[@stamfordhatter5612]

That brought back some memories. My dad had an 82 1.6l in henna red, then a blue 86 Antibes special edition, both of which we loved as our family car. Later Dad had a mk3 Sri 89 which was a very different car. Thanks for bringing back happy days!

[@maheshyogi1028]

The Mk2 was the only model “In class” that ever beat Ford in my opinion. Loved my Mk2!

[@matty6848]

Ah but what Ford? Beats the Escort & fiesta but not the likes of the Granada. Especially the 2.8 I Ghia!

[@halohunter5217]

The IRS on the Escort was definitely a step above the twist beam on these.

[@srichards9707]

I remember my Dad renting one of these for our family holiday. The thing I liked most was that I could lift the parcel shelf to access the boot, cheekily stealing the picnic goodies.

[@stevejones1972]

I remember my Cavaliers well, owned them back in the early 90s. The first one was a 1983 Y reg hatchback, as of my first cars after passing my test in 1990, but then I got a much nicer one, a 1985 1.8 CDi top of range hatchback, which was a really great car, still remember the reg B497SNX. When Hubnut was talking about the position of the rear wiper being on the drivers side from 1984 onwards, I had to go and check an old photo of my 1985 model, and indeed he was right, it did park on the drivers side, and this was something I never realised about the difference between early Mk2 Cavaliers and later ones. I fitted a tailgate trim that went between the back lights under the number plate that was fitted to later Mk2 models to my own B reg CDi, which instantly made it look newer than it really was, and if I remember rightly, it also had headlight wipers, which I know Mr Hubnut loves ! Really nice cars, but they did have a bit of a "sales rep" image to them and I was not seen as very "cool" to be 19 years old and driving a Vauxhall Cavalier CDi, when other lads my age were driving Astra SRi, 205 Gti, Golf Gti models. I always liked the hatchback shape of the Mk2 as it reminded me of the Rover SD1, which I also wanted to own, but would not have been able to afford to run at my age back then.

[@jcdmodena]

I had one of this car , but 2 doors here in Brazil, they were the Chevrolet monza here, and also had a saloon facelift version between 1991 and 1996. Thanks for the video, and many greetings from Brazil!

[@gosportjamie]

Definitely the best version of the SRi with the early, quicker ratio steering rack, the 6 dial instrument panel, proper Recaro seats, Bilstein suspension in original form and, as memory serves, slightly closer ratios on the gearbox which was shared with the mk1 Astra GT/E and Opel Kadett GSi. The build quality on the earlier cars was generally a lot better too as most of the early SRis, and the predecessor SR, were built in the Opel factories in Belgium or Germany. Sadly, they're almost extinct in the UK now, having been killed off by boy racers, rust and pretty minor MoT issues making them uneconomic to repair. I was lucky enough to be around and driving when these early cars were still around in numbers so I've driven lots of them and owned 3, plus an SR and a post-1985 face-lift car. If I could find and afford another one I'd have it tomorrow, they really are lovely and affordable sports saloons that prove if you want to move swiftly and carry your family and their kit around you don't need to get a BMW. The later cars just got softer, flabbier and slower... The plastic strip along the bottom of the front valance would have been original equipment on all early Cavaliers. It's so unusual to see them now as they usually fell off pretty quickly due to being made from a plastic that could get brittle quite quickly so the clips snapped off and nobody every bothered to replace them. It used to be very common to see/run over them lying in the road, especially on motorways, where they'd dropped off a hard-driven retired repmobile... Yes, there was a 2-door Cavalier saloon, only in the very early cars, I think it got killed off for the UK market in either 1983 or 1984. They were almost all base spec, often with the 1300 engine, though a number were built for Motability with the 1600 lump and auto box. They were absolute death on the used car market, you could barely give them away and I imagine the vast majority of the not very many that were sold in the UK have long since had their date with the crusher. That body, however, did continue with Opel for a long time and maybe right up to the end of mk2 Cavalier/Ascona C production as larger 2-door saloons were more popular, there was even a 2-door version of the mk1/2 Vauxhall Carlton/Opel Rekord that was a big seller in a variety of European markets right up to the aerodynamic Carlton/Opel Omega A was launched in 1986. It was a bit of a missed opportunity for Vauxhall not to build a 2-door Cavalier SR and SRi as it could have sold well to people who wanted something bigger than the Astra GT/E and more upright and cheaper than the Manta GT/E, although there was a 2-door sporty Ascona in Europe... The handles on the sides of the Recaro seats in early SRis are for tilting the seats. The seats were also used in the Opel Manta GT/E and the mk1 Astra GT/E, both of which were two passenger doors only in the UK, though the Opel Kadett D GSi was available in 5-door form in European markets. With most of the vehicles that used those seats requiring tipping seats then it made sense for GM to just buy in tipping seats and use them in everything rather than buying smaller quantities of non-tipping seats which would have cost more due to economies of scale. So, early Cavaliers with the Recaro seats had tipping front seats even though, in the UK, they were only available as 4-door saloons and 5-door hatchbacks and, therefore, were not requiring them...

[@johnwhelan9834]

Brought back some great memories, of one of the best cars I have ever owned...reliable to the end,,I had a mid 1980s cav antibes,,bought in 1989...owned it for around 10 years,when unfortunately it was written off in an accident..great video ian..thanks..

[@bobmirdiff2043]

The Mk II Cavalier was a wonderful 'Mile-Eater!' I had a Base Model 1.6 (Not even an L) in 1984 - Slime Green throughout! - But forget the colour, it went around the clock twice! - Never failed!

[@mattytarling4273]

My dad had light green SR saloon, that brings me back seeing this vid Top work👍👍👴👴

[@alexalbans2637]

My dad had an ‘88 LX saloon in gunmetal grey that I was allowed to drive to school in the 6th form! Took all my gear to university in its huge boot. Loved driving it down the A44 to Aberystwyth!

[@Thecrazyvaclav]

Still a good looking car,can't believe it's nearly 40 years old

[@thomash2806]

The lever on the side of the front seat is for when the seat is fitted to a two/three-door vehicle and not a lumbar adjuster.

[@charliechaz1982]

Always loved the Mk2 and it's smiley front end. My childhood car, our family had 3 of them over the course of the 80's/early 90's with no issues on any. Great reliable family cars.

[@GeorgesChannel]

Great video! I had the german 2 door version in red (Opel Ascona SR/E). Its not the best and sportiest car in the world, but its my personal dream car and i love everything about it! Thank you for taking me back in time.

[@TheFlyingBusman]

I miss mine. Silver over graphite saloon. Was reasonably pokey enough to encourage hooliganism. Loved the Recaro seats. Wouldn’t mind another and give it the red top treatment. One brilliant thing (car designers and manufacturers please take note) was the ease of service. I could change CV boots in ten mins without splitting a balljoint and swap a clutch out in half an hour due to the clever gearbox design.

[@3550rebel]

The first Holden Camira version, JB, won the 1982 Wheels Car of The Year award.

[@leooostveen4435]

My father bought one in August 1982. I used to drive it, loved it. A month later I had one too. They were great cars despite their reputation. We both moved on to the JD with the same engine as this Cavalier, but my memory of the Camiras is of a much better car than this Vauxhall

[@GaryGSF]

I had one back in the day. It was great fun. Sharp enough performance and was not too softly sprung. Nice to see one again.

[@johngreen6375]

My mum had an identical one in the same colour! The reg was: UKY 448Y. I loved it. We were rear ended by an old girl in a Volvo. It died in 1993.

[@TheStwat]

I had a B reg 1.8GLSi with lovely velour interior in the mid 90's. God i loved that thing, even though the rear arches and most of the sils had rotted away already by that point. Nothing that a tin of body filler couldn't fix hehe. The seats were sublime, very bolstered and huggy. This may be a false memory, but I'm sure it had headlamp wipers fitted too. I seem to have a memory of freeing up the seized wiper motors. Ooo good memories. I learnt a lot about bodywork bodgery and rattle can painting with that car. Thanks so much for bringing back many happy memories for me, Mr, Nut. :) :) :)

[@PHAER]

That was a very cool video, thanks!! In Brazil we had the cavalier/ascona as Chevrolet Monza from 1982 to 1990 (hatchback and saloon in original design) and from 1991 to 1996 (facelift, only saloon). The hatchback was sold in Brazil ONLY with 2-door, and The SR version always had slightly firmer suspension and a shorter/closer gear ratios in comparison to the saloon. It had the 1.8 liter running on ethanol and 115hp, and later, got the torquier 2.0 liter. The original Monza lineup had 1.6 (only on the first years), 1.8 and 2.0 engines, always with carburetors, with the exception of a special 2.0i version of the saloon in 1990 (Named 500EF for Emerson Fittipaldi and his win on Indianapolis 500). From 1992 on, already facelifted, the 1.8 and 2.0 were always fuel injected, from 98 to 120hp, and the Classic SE versions got even digital cluster and ABS brakes available. These cars are very special for me, as I also spend a big part of my childhood and beggining of teenage phase inside of the 3 Monzas that my father had ('82 silver hatchback 1.8, '88 green saloon 1.8 and '93 green saloon 2.0). Thanks again for the video and here is something you might find interesting: a SR 2.0 2 door in Brazil. It's only in portuguese, unfortunately, but the automatic subtitles are ok-ish enough to give you a bit of information! See ya! kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZTFpH-wrc1-e7s

[@DeePaignall]

Had a white over gray 2.0 130 saloon back then, drove it 'like I stole it' to meetings in Wiltshire, was late for an appointment one day with a General at an Army camp (not a good idea), hooned it all the way through the country roads. Got to the camp where the armed guards raised their rifles at me and yelled 'GET OUT OF THE CAR! GET OUT OF THE CAR! - I got out of the car and asked 'Why?' - 'IT'S ON FIRE!! IT'S ON FIRE!! was the answer. 'Ah, that's my brakes' I said, 'they do that'. Thanks for the blast from the past, happy motoring!

[@RichieRouge206]

That’s so cool seeing a Vauxhall in NZ! Great cars... great video Ian, really enjoyed this one. It reminds me so much - especially the dash - of my E-reg Nova (first car!)

[@jezb9762]

My first car was a MK2, this takes me back, not many left now.

[@GeordietheJoiner]

Good detailed video man of the early SRi , takes me back to 90s when as an Aussie living in the Uk in 90s , I owned one like this same colour and then 2 other SRi 130 2.0 litre engine, great fun cars I loved to drive and street racing was on all the time back then !!!

[@DalekBuilder]

More that a few friends had Cavaliers of one form or the other with most of them wanting a SRi at some point. I have lots of memories of doing many miles in a SRi. The one that has the most memories was a quite tired SRi 130 saloon a friend picked up for very little. It looked very much past its best but went far better than it looked. Agreed on the LX and LXi. We had them on fleet when the mk2 cavalier was coming to the end of its life as a runout model before the mk3 cavalier arrived. Another roadtest that brings back so many good times from more than a few years ago now.

[@TG-pd3ft]

What a classic. Those Recaros were a game-changer.

[@BrikMT]

I had a blue mk. 2 Cav in lowly L spec for a while, the front of the roof had gone rusty along the top of the windscreen! Also a mate had a white 1.8 LXi hatch that he used to drive like he stole it, many memories of him flying past us on the way back from Ciders, he got a motorbike a few years later and I'm sad to say died after coming off it. RIP Deckka.

[@sudzonicful]

So many childhood memory's, my dad had an SRI saloon in the same colour as that one. He owned new in the 80s then again in the mid 90s, my first car was a bog standard white 1.3 caviler Mk2.

[@paulwarren5106]

My Grandad had a MK2 GLS in Antique Gold on a Y reg as a company car. It was his second Cav having had a GL mk1 from 1979 and had to get from Essex to Cornwall fast as his sister had been taken ill. He said that he sat at 90-100 on the M4 and M5 all the way and was so impressed he had Cavaliers and Vectras until he left us. My favourite was his K plate CD 2ltr he had. It was a flying machine

[@pdtech4524]

Interesting review! I used to have a 1984 Opel Manta 2.0 GTE those recaro seats looked very similar to the ones in the Manta. 👍😎

[@jackkinkead868]

My Dad had a silver saloon version as a company car, 1985-87. Stolen the first night he got it - recovered from Wild West Belfast the next day. They were a soft target for thieves. He still loved it - I only have vague memories of it, being only 3 when it was replaced...

[@jeffhughes1318]

I inherited my dad's silver C reg MkII GLS 1.6 hatchback. At the time I was doing a lot of motorway miles and it was a lovely cruiser. I eventually sold it to a friend who found it so comfy that he fell asleep in it on the motorway and wrote it off!

[@doorman437]

I had a 1987 sri130. Damn I miss her. She was my first decent car. Keep up the videos brother.

[@edwinvanschijndel4638]

Nice. I owned an Opel Ascona 1.6S Hatchback in the mid nineties. It was a fine car and pretty good on the road on long distances. I always found the hatchback the beautiest version of this model.

[@Galahadfairlight]

When I moved to Bristol 20 years ago, I already had a 1.6 Cavalier MK2 (D309JKK which Paid £60 and a few old mobile phones!), those things were everywhere. For the next 3 years, I was trawling peoples driveways to take them away and fix them to return to the road because they were so easy to work on. One was an A reg SRi with a 4 speed box, damn I wish I could have kept it, would be awesome to have now. Really love a straight looking MK2 Cavalier, such a shame they've all mostly gone. The great weather in NZ will ensure that one lives on for years to come. Awesome

[@johnnorth9355]

Good memories of good times - these were a treat back in the day for a young rep !

[@b.2221]

What an appropriate vintage car to get the Hubnut treatment. Love it Sir 👍 Tam.

[@marknelson5929]

I had use of one of these as a company car when I moved from Oz to London in 1988, loved it. In hindsight from many angles, particularly in profile it looks like a scaled down Rover SD1.

[@petedenton9434]

The 1983 SRi was an interesting beast - we had one from 1983 to 1986. It did have firmer suspension than the rest of the Cavalier range. The engines tended to be great from new but performance dropped off after about 36,000 miles. Your criticism of the wide gearing was addressed round about 1984/5 if I remember rightly with a closer ration gearbox becoming standard fit on the SRi compared with other Cavaliers. When new it absolutely was a sports car - especially when you think a lot of fleet drivers will have upgraded to it from an old 2.0 Ford Cortina...

[@richdelgado3405]

New HubNut video, sipping some good coffee out of my HubNut mug...it's a good morning.

[@chrisharkin3741]

I thought Hubnut mugs would only accept tea.

[@richdelgado3405]

Chris Harkin I make the coffee then put it in a teapot before pouring. It’s a pain, but worth it.

[@mattbates6887]

A lovely looking car, and just look at those seats, wow!

[@simong6855]

Very nearly bought a cavalier sri when i was a younger man ;) Bought an mk2 astra sri instead. Over 25 years ago now , time flies !

[@mazdaman1286]

My neighbour had one of these with the notorious valve stem seal problem. I stripped and rebuilt the head at the same time clearing the valve throats of roughness and miss matching. With a new cambelt etc he said it had never been so quick, and having borrowed it to drive up to Scotland i can confirm it was smooth free revving and very economical pulling a tall final gear. Susequently I did many of these heads at work and the inlet ports were so badly cast, a little more care or cleaning up with a flap wheel would have paid massive dividends as I had already found out. The Cavalier was cheapish inside but streets ahead of the Ford Sierra of the time. Clutches were great to do as well ,once did one in less than 20 mins.!

[@alastairward2774]

My father had two SRi's. He was more impressed with the 1st, he reckoned they softened the model after a few years. Coming back home one evening with Mum he took the car a bit too quick down a road he wasn't familiar with and felt the car lift, but it came down again firmly and stuck to the road so well he just kept going. I can't remember too much about being in the car as a kid, but seeing this video I'm suddenly remembering the funny lozenge shaped buttons.

[@yamahattr6006]

I had a mk2 cavalier excellent car did 150k miles no problems

[@chriseccles1454]

Mine too .

[@Grimwriggler]

@@chriseccles1454 mine got to 180k

[@chriseccles1454]

@@Grimwriggler I was heading for 200,000 A new job meant a daily round trip of 55/60miles 6 days week soon put it on. Lucas autocentre (mot service £99) managed to cross thread no4 sparkplug so after a helicoil insert times 3 and another 3 years C187 HJN bit the dust in 1995 with 241,000. Replaced by a K reg mark 3 cav.

[@Richard-Bullock]

My dad had a 1986/C reg 1.6 L 4 door when I was learning to drive. Loved it. Great car. He replaced it with a 1987/D reg Astra 1.3 S Merit. I liked that too.

[@areyouundoingthatorwhat9181]

My grandfather gave us shares which my older brother cashed in 1987,he used the money to buy a six month old red 4 door sri130 and took it to Germany where a sprintex supercharger was fitted,there wasn't much about back then that could keep up with it,a great car which we had many adventures with.

[@paultucker1272]

I was suddenly transported back to my wife's Mk1 Nova SR on hearing the creak of the glove box when you opened it! That car was completely lacking in sportiness, too, the best bit of it being the Recaro seats! :)

[@richdelgado3405]

57000 SUBSCRIBERS!!! Excellent news!

[@jamp12008]

My dad had a blue saloon. It was an E reg. he had it in the late 90s and I absolutely loved it. Was totally falling apart and you could hear the engine coming through the stereo but the seats were comfy 👍

[@randompete2204]

Excellent brought back some late 80s memories for me that did. I had forgotten how basic they were.

[@Grimwriggler]

i had a 1982 SR for 7 years i absolutely loved the car but rust got the better of it and was scrapped in 2000

[@Markycarandbikestuff]

An apprentice mechanic in a garage I worked at in 1990 had an SR, gold, great looking thing, remember being quite jealous, the SR's must be mega rare now.

[@diecastchannelminiaturasde2357]

A great car! It was also produced in Brazil and it was named Chevrolet Monza. That particular four-door hatchback was never produced, but there was a two-door hatchback sports version named Monza S/R and it featured the same types of trim and rims. The hatchback body, though, didn't sell as well as coupes and sedans. What a great car that was! Almost indestructible!

[@KeVinyl1983]

Amazing video. My favourite car. My uncle owned one in the 80s same colour as well. such a trip down memory lane Thank you :)

[@waynetetley584]

Wow what a great flashback. And with original factory wheels too! I notice it had a full compliment of GM switches ... up for on!

[@mikem1186]

I had an American version up untill tree years ago,it was great car,very cheap to maintain,had problems with head gasket but I fixed that.North American winters and road salt ate it away.good video Mr hubnut as always

[@senitnelav]

A new video everyday? Now you're just spoiling us Ian :)

[@HubNut]

Trying to keep spirits up!

[@graemew7001]

@@HubNut Thanks Ian, mental health is just as important as physical just now, really appreciating your effort 👍🏻

[@johnnytenjobs]

A colleague of mine had one of these. Same colour. Nice seats and door cards. Recaro. He drove it very very gently.

[@CharlesSmith-zt7vt]

A classic repmobile, made for those motorway miles. Looks have stood up very well, a very nicely proportioned car. That interior brings back memories, particularly the large gear knob and floppy gear linkage! You were clearly going very much native at this stage of your NZ trip, driving in bare feet...

[@robinforrest7680]

I had a 1984 red 1.3L. I loved that car. It was my company car when I was a sales rep for General Foods in South Wales. The only car I ever had new and chose the colour. Even though it was only an L it had a sunroof, a 4 speaker radio cassette, velour interior, headrests and tinted windows. The only things I didn't like were the steering wheel and the lack of a rev counter. Brilliant car. I used to do over 3000 miles a week. Some of my colleagues had 1.6 Sierras. My Cavalier was way better in every way.

[@notrut]

In the mid 80s I worked for one of large Utility companies and the SRi was popular amongst Middle Management. But they were so fast several of 'em got nicked for ram raid jobs. I recall that it was too easy to bend the offset alloys on kerbs leading to vibration. Torque Steer was also a characteristic, but overall a great product.

[@konradc12]

I had a 1985 Mk1 Astra 1.6 GLS 5 door. It had the same instruments as the Cavalier, 5 speed gearbox. I remember getting a special radio mount from a scrapped Astra, so I could fit. Any radio. First thing I had to do was change the water pump and cam belt. Easy job. I also fitted Opel Manta twin horns. Had to scrap because of rotten chassis. Then I had a facelift Mk3 '93 1.8i LS, with single point injection and catalytic converter. It had very long gearing compared to the Astra. That's my Vauxhall ownership over 7 years.

[@safetyguy2046]

I had a 1.6 saloon...the SR...went to it from a 1.6 mk3 Escort....loved the Cav....it seemed to handle well at the time...had a hunger for front tyres tho....Jamaica yellow and graphite...loved it...lovely to there are still some about...

[@nicnak4475]

Brings back the memories !

[@smiffy1071]

The mk2 cavalier (and also Astra of that era) had a really neat trick when it came time to replace the clutch.... There is an inspection cover in the bottom of the bell housing, which means you don’t need to remove the gearbox, or engine. Easiest car ever to replace a clutch, 30 mins work! I had a 1.6d, and a 1.6 commander petrol, both were saloon cars.

[@-DC-]

Had a clicking sound from the clutch pedal on mine which turned out to be the bulkhead was cracked, quickly fixed by cable tying the clutch pedal bracket and trading it in !

[@ShedTV]

Brings back memories. Everyone's dad had a Mk2 Cavalier when was I a kid!

[@sinkingfeeling9550]

1st job was working for Vauxhall dealer parts dept in 1988 when these were still new, used to dream of owning an SRI, eight years later had the chance to own an Artic White SRI 130 hatch, probably my favourite of the 30 plus cars I’ve owned...it didn’t half go as well, 130 bhp with most of it getting to the wheels

[@gti505]

Was an Ascona in the Netherlands as well. My grandfather had a sedan Opel Ascona 1.8 Litre. Nice car!

[@jester5ify]

Beautiful drive. The sunroof is a metal slide, pull the lever down, the back end drops down and slide back. My first car a Cavalier Sportshatch (manta) had the same. The lever on the side of the seat should flip the seat back all the way forward, as if it was a 2 door.

[@matthewgodwin3050]

Back in the day, this was the car you bought in your late teens and early twenties when the insurance premiums for an Astra GTE were a little out of reach. Really nice to see one again. The evil rust monster has claimed many a MK2 Cavalier, but thankfully the NZ dry climate has preserved this one for prosperity. Nice little reminder of my youth.

[@stewartbrown4394]

I've a bit of a soft spot for the mk2 cavalier, owned a y reg 1.6 L in white with orange interior, then a SRi 130 in red. I still remember the reg F261OFA. Bloody quick and handled well, one car I regret selling......

[@chrisskelhorn5727]

Apparently the 2-door Cav was a very poor seller, so it was dropped. The Ascona (and other models) continued with 2-door saloons in other markets! :-) The manager of my workplace bought a new one when the Mk II was launched, as his wife was disabled, and it was easier to get her in and out of a 2-door car! But like you, that's the only one I've seen! :-)

[@Fulano-bo8vc]

Here in Brazil it was sold as Chevrolet Monza. It was the best selling car in Brazil in 1984, 1985 and 1986. In 1991 it received a facelift, and it got the nickname Monza "Tubarão" (shark).

[@Ratty_Rex]

A610 *something* The reg of a Mk2 Cav 130 that used to do emission tests on my Mk2 cav 1.6 EVERYDAY if i didn't accelerate fast enough away from the lights. Great video...... awesome knowledge. Takes me back. Thank you for making isolationism fun. :)

[@mikeyboy4772]

Ah, the lovely SRi (Sales Rep inside) I had a 130 saloon version and, absolutely loved it.

[@pit_stop77]

I had exactly that car in the late 90's. Loved it 👍

[@Sash_Window]

I loved my SRi 130, I bought it for £500 when I was 20 years of age with Koni suspension and a PECO back box! It was battered but I loved it! One of my all time favourite cars I've owned. >.

[@glynjones2540]

We had a 2 litre version new in '87 and boy did it go, GTi's left trailing. Until, that is, it went in for its first service at 9000 miles. Never quite the same again and we were convinced that it had been reprogrammed to tone it down. Major issue was that the whole back end was rusty at 3 years. Vertical park for rear wiper allowed for snow to be pushed down rather than motor be burned out pushing up.

[@seancooke4127]

We forget how much everyone needed to have red trim accents and boot spoilers in 1983 as well as loud wheels. Lovely engines and good bodywork. Vauxhall did address the power with the 130 but handling could be floaty at speed. However, as day to day they looked well and were desirable. Hey, how many twisty bits are on motorways anyway. Recaros are so class where ever they are fitted. Thank you totally unexpected. They were cool in this colour and red of course.

[@ironica15031955]

Hi, just to confirm we built 500 two door MkII Cavaliers for the launch. I was working in the body shop lifting the doors on and they were heavy! The Convertible was built in Germany with a conversion done by Hammond & Thiede. There were 1216 registered in the U.K. I started the Vauxhall Cavalier Convertible Club in 1990, owning about a dozen of these over the years.

[@HubNut]

Thank you. A friend has bought the blue two-door that was on eBay recently. I'm thrilled.

[@danneykisby3386]

My dad had a 86 C SRI in black with the revised rear tail lights. That had electric windows all round. Quick car.

[@martinm3446]

Great car back in the day brings back great memories 👍

[@ts6070]

I remember the MK2 SRI 130 very fast car for its day..although the Mk3 SRI is more of executive comfort car 🚙

[@philtowle4683]

My mate once bought a cheap badly running sri130 from a bloke called P*ssboy, he even had it on the back of the rugby shirt he was wearing! One of the injector plugs was loose, he popped it back on and it ran mint.

[@stevenjones19-m8i]

Hi Ian,I remember these very well back in the 80s,the SRI version was a nice car,still a few about, valeting the back window was awkward as the carpeted panel partly covering it.the wheels were ideal with Vauxhall, awesome video.

[@icascone]

NZ does have HUGE variety of cars!!

[@davidyoung9561]

That is correct regarding the engine between the CDi and SRi. The 1.8 EFi engine is the same in my mk1 Astra GTE. The instrument cluster in this Cavalier is almost identical to the one in my GTE albeit slightly different colour in the graphics on the gauges.

[@jonholding3880]

I guy I worked with in the late 80s had a 2 door mk2 Cavalier saloon. I think it was X reg. I remember it being very orange inside.

[@0161pumaste]

Wow, you just brought back some great memories for me Ian, in the mid 80's my mates uncle had one in gold, and those recaro seats looked better in biege. you're right about the tall gearing though, as he used to do 65mph in 2nd gear! i think his was a 1984 A reg :-)

[@alexrankin1046]

stephen nunnerley The gold one I remember had beige seats, and I agree, they are a better colour combo