"(Many years ago) I refused to road-test the Vectra on Top Gear, arguing that if Vauxhall couldn’t be bothered to make the car interesting in any way whatsoever, I couldn’t be bothered to drive it. To understand just how dull this car was, you need to visualise a chartered accountant in a tweed jacket with elbow patches, playing cricket, in a period drama by Jane Austen, in Belgium, while reading out details of the Enron scandal in a Birmingham accent." - Clarkson on why he hated the Vectra, 2002
My dad had a Vectra Saloon as his second car, which was kept for domestic use ( Going out in) as apposed to work use which he kept his estate car for (Manual Labour). Both did there job okay, but if you wanted luxury you would go for a Jag or Mercedes. Top Gear, of cause went middle class then elitist forgetting what cars were for, to make life that bit easier.
@@GryphLane lol, it's in good nick and goes 110. I wouldn't mind it when I passed my test but said I don't want to learn in it any more so hes give me a couple grand to get a car of my choosing
Same. Had a red one. It turned off the engine when you turned hard so I had to have one hand free and turn the ignition in tight turns. Loved it. Drove many girls in it. Got rear ended and scrapped.
vectras are better thant its competitions and something he doesnt mention that vectra had controls on the steering wheel..who cares about sun glasses storage..u can put them everywhere u want :D.btw i got Opel Vectra which is very reliable car and i wouldn't choose mondeo or that renault. and that stupid vauxhall badge isnt really looking good on Vectra because of that grill V..
Good, solid motor, aged far better than than its rivals. I know of one that achieved in excess of half a million miles and would have done more with a new gearbox.
Yes and i know of a red mk1 mondeo 1.8td taxi that's done 1,000,000 miles! Probably had a few clutches though. Probably never thrashed and well serviced.
Absolutely. In general, I think Fords are usually just a little bit better than the equivalent Vauxhall, and I've hade plenty of both. I thought the Vectra was a good car, no less reliable than any Ford, and the styling held up well over time. Lord knows why pricks like the other bloke get so uptight about a near twenty year old car.
It was 1999 and I was a sales manager working in Berkshire. Our cars were replaced every 4 years, with most of them racking up 40k a year plus. I ignored the 318's and 1.8 A4's all my colleagues chose and went for a 4 door Vectra 2.6 SRI, the budget even stretched to adding electric rear windows, CC and metallic paint! My colleagues all 'enjoyed' their wheezing 'premium' German models, while I left them behind with a throaty roar. I bought it off the company with 170k on the clock, the only thing it needed before I sold it with 190k was a new exhaust manifold and a alternator.
I drive one for 9 years now, after 12 to 16 months we will celebrate a half a milli - still stock, still runnin smooth, still lookin good among newer cars, timeless. Most reliabe - I can get in it any time and go anywhere and Im 1000% sure it gonna take me there and back. Haters gonna hate, my Vectra gonna drive. muHahahaha... :)
My dad had 3 vectras all used and cheap as chips, used as work horses (very hard lives) and ran like dreams to be honest they are not bad, have enough room to fit his market stock in every week end and his ladders on the roof with a roof rack for his window cleaning. Great work horses and comfortable enough.
I just bought the salon 1.6 16V Vectra and really love it (my first car). Even compared to all it's rivals at the end I think it is the best by looks and all else, granted when it was new the price was a lot and at that time it may not have been something great but now in 2017 I think they are actually quite nice and for a first car really good. Only thing I really want to change on mine is the fabrics of the interior.
In my opinion B Vectra looked very good in comparison to other cars in it's segment. However the driving qualities weren't that good and the low end torque was weak in motors 1.6-2.0. All and all I would have chosen the Mondeo even though I always liked the looks of Vectra better.
they sold is as a Saturn L300 in America, we only had two engines; the 2.2 Ecotec from the Chevy Cavalier (140hp 150lb ft) or a 3.0 V6 that was from your Vectra. I always liked the Vectras styling, the L300 was rather funny looking.
The only remotely interesting thing I can remember about this car (other than Jezza roasting it), is when I had to inspect one for contraband (whilst working in security), and noticed that it had a Vauxhall badge on the bonnet, and an Opel one on the boot. I joked with the driver that "seems you've got a cut and shut here".
i have one of these cars ,bought it second hand and its been one of the best cars i have ever had still going strong . the bbc should of let jeremy try it out with a caravan towed on the back that would have upset him.
This was my dream car in 1995. I got the CD from a number on the magazine advert. I had parts of the car cut out from brochures and stuck on the wall in my student digs.
@@iainmclaughlan1557 I thought it was a joke, I have a poster with a Bertone mk4 astra coupe on it, but I have to admit its the old calibre coachworks one on an old mac power poster
The thing was, Vauxhall was calling it a new model, when in reality it was scarcely changed from the preceding model. The 1990 Escort was similarly slated when launched. Reviewers won't say it's good if it's not significantly better than the outgoing model. The vectra was as if Vauxhall simply accepted that the bulk of sales were going to be as rep cars and hardly bothered to make the car in any way appealing, as its most drivers would have no choice in the matter
@@lemmykilmister4919 incorrect. Like all Vauxhall cars after the Victor FE, the design may have come from Opel but Assembly (or making, to use your terminology) took place in various factories, including Vauxhall's Ellesmere port facility.
With all respect Clarkson was wrong with his attitude. Thousands of those 90's Vectras still drive in the entire world. But you won't fund thousands of Lagunas or Xantias... and thousands of BMW from 90's. Vectras got rusty, but still reliable. While 25 years old BMWs become just a pain. Lagunas got "de-electricized", Citroens got "de-suspensionised". Maybe those years Fords are close to survive... but not so much.
My old local taxi firm that took me to and from school had 2 of these Vectras!! One was a maroon 2.0dti ls not too sure what the other silver one was, might have been the same! They were eventually replaced by mainly Skoda Octavias! The boss also liked the newer Vectra so had few of them in the fleet as well!
In the 1990s, fleets of these were bought by many companies, including rental giants for up to 40% less than the public paid. They sold them to the public when 18 months old at what they paid or more. Car firms achieved massive sales targets, rental firms did fine and the public thought that they were getting a good buy at auction.
Always thought this Vectra looked brilliant. It's funny how Clarkson says no boy would ever grow up wanting one but it is one of the more memorable cars from the late 90s BTCC; Cleland, Plato and Muller all drove it. I've never quite understood his hatred for it because yes, it's a boring A-B car but there are l o a d s of boring A-B cars but none of them get anywhere near the disproportionate hatred that he gives this Vectra.
Vauxhall still gets a disproportionate amount of hate from the press, and I've never been able to figure out why. Yes, some of their products aren't that good, and the Vectra B was a high point, but the newer ones certainly don't deserve the kind of lambasting that's otherwise reserved for Protons, Ssangyongs and Suzukis.
A seminal TV moment, when the review is more about Clarkson than the Vectra. Ok so it did not set the world on fire, doesn't change direction like a housefly or accelerate to sixty in a gazillionth of a second. Nor did it cost £200,000. It was driven by decent folks doing a solid job and it did so pretty well,. From now on TG was all about JC, the Hamster and Captain Slow... blowing up caravans, hanging the tail out in those £200k cars, launching Reliant three wheeler rockets and generally trashing anything that the mortal public drove. Insight, information and a good review were dead. Because of course that is a little bit harder to do well. Bring back William Woolard. And yes, I had a 2.5 V6 back in the day - it went well and it was a decent family car. I've had them all since then including the more exciting Italians, but nothing forgives a review like this. The Jezster may still despise the Vectra, but its aged better than the man himself.
these were sold as a chevrolet vectra in brazil and they were my childhood dream car... but yeah all the competitors shown in the video were at the time sold as higher segment, they were all imported. I believe the vectra was produced in brazil. it shows that this car was intended to be a lower segment car compared to what it was being sold by vauxhall, hence the blandness
The Vectra was designed for people that aren't into cars....they just want something that is comfortable, and will get them from point A to point B with little fuss or drama.
Funny you should say that as Clarkson himself once said that he always thought that the Vectra was designed in a coffee break by someone who wasn't interested in cars! So, there you have it! It was designed by someone who wasn't interested in cars FOR people who weren't interested in cars!
I always liked the Vectra, had a 51 reg which was 8 months old at the time, pretty much a brand new car and it felt amazing driving it back in 2002, had presence on the road. Rarely see them now. The CD model was nice and comfy, they had something modern day Vauxhall lack, even though i now have a Insignia and it is a good car, it does just feel like a car and I think ill have more nostalgia for my old Vectra in years to come.
I have one. Awful rust damage to internal support parts, but I love and keep it. My silver arrow will get a full restoration somewhen, once I have the budget and time. My opel Vectra is great!
I remember seeing this when it was first shown. It was, I think, the first time Clarkson was relentlessly rude about a car on the show and it divided opinion quite a bit at first. But funny how the show ended up going downhill rather quickly once he left. I can't help wondering if history is going to repeat itself...
z00h It depends on how honest you're willing to be. Honesty, coupled with diplomacy, is fine. But being honest without thought for the feelings of others isn't. And considering Vauxhall were doing him a favour by giving him a car to review (and therefore keeping him in a job), his excessive honesty is pretty rude.
leopold Emergency? Hi, I've got a bad case of politically correct brainwashed social justice warrior, can you send a coroner over please. Thanks and you're welcome... world.
Got to be said - you still see Vectras (and would see more if it wasn't for the scrappage scheme). When was the last time you saw a Laguna outside of this video and old touring car highlights?
Wait, we've got to the point where people's Grandads had Vectras and they're old enough to talk about it on the internet? And this comment was from 4 years ago? Where in the name of all that is holy has the time gone?
I served my time on Opel in Ireland in the late 90s early 00s I remember them braking timing belts and doing head gaskets All the time but thay were very easy car's to work on
Yes the 36k timing belt replacement interval was a little long! Between my own cars and a friends we had a number of 1.6 16v Astra’s from that era. My friends belt snapped at 36k the week it was booked in to be replaced.
A lot of them were bought by the police. As a police car they were great. Loads of space in the trunk for equipment and performance was not bad. The handling on the other hand before 1999 was quite bad. I have a 1998 model and it handles like a couch. The car has to much body roll and it understears like mad and even worse if you hit the brakes in mid corner the rear slides out. I also have a 1996 astra caravan and it has a better handling than the vectra
It really didn't effect sales. Vauxhall just got pissy for someone telling it like it was, that Opel had lumped Vauxhall with something as interesting as a bucket of wallpaper paste.
Never understood why exactly he held the Vectra grudge even years after this, going as far as saying he'd rather have some sort of plague than drive it. Besides being a boring car, it was a decently reliable one. Bought a Vectra 1.6 for 380 pounds worth . The clock never worked but besides that the thing ran 3 years without any major fixes or basically any maintenance.
+ydin9 he held a grude against the vectra for a similar reaosn that he hated the nissan Sunny and the totyoa corolla. Not bad cars, any of them but nor crucially are they godo cars. They are average cars, average in every aspect they do. All the traits he hates in people. Average, reasonable, nice, satisfactory.......(se ehis nissan sunny review on his worst cars video for reference points.
ilcool90 What's so weird about it? Needed a cheap used car. Volvo we originally had in mind had expensive looking issues with steering and suspension on test drive. The Vectra sat on the same lot, same price range. less mileage , better service history and everything worked besides the dash screen/clock,
He once said he felt that the Vectra was designed in a coffee break by someone who had no interest in cars. He also said that this was the hardest thing that he did on the old Top Gear as he felt that the Vectra didn't warrant 6 seconds of attention nevermind 6 minutes of it!
Had nothing but trouble with my 96 1.8 ecotec vectra camshaft sensor, crankshaft, sensor, airflow sensor spent more time in the garage then on the road
I bought a Vectra 5 years ago to keep the commuter miles off my BMW 535d. It had 88k miles on it when I got it and it now has 160k miles. It is a bit boring but I am amazed that it just keeps chugging along reliably. The clock - when I first got it I thought the previous owner must have been a bit anal because the clock was always spot on. Now I know why. I have grown to really like it.
I don’t how well these cars aged in Britain for long term ownership. But here in a Australia sold under the Holden name they fell apart and melted like an ice cream on a hot summer’s day.
Yes, I worked in Holden service and all the Vectras were absolute dogs. I'm amazed at all these Brits saying they got a good run out of them. They were bloody awful.
@@CynicalBastard511 yea but come on have you seen a mint vauxhall cavalier SRI in black they had WAY more charm and head turning power,also a RARE car If you saw a mint black Cavalier SRI at a petrol station you watch the people stop and stare💯👌
The vectra diesel was the fastest car I’ve ever driven. When my ex wife tried to burn my house down, I went from Lewisham in South London to Batley in West Yorkshire in 2hrs and 35mins. Not even a hire car is that quick.
Toyota, Subaru or Lexus if you want a car to last many years. Buy a good one, look after it, keep it. People waste too much money trading cars in all their lives for newer models, when there is probably nothing wrong with the one they already have.
funny enough it's replacement the opel insignia also sold as a vauxhall in england is the new holden commodore in australia with the chevrolet sourced malibu sitting below it.holden were idiots they went from audi rivals with the very last of the vectras to what was at the time daewoo sourced crap.
He single handedly effected Vauxhall sales figures and they hated him for it. the best thing they could have done is take his opinions on board and used them to make a better car...win win situation. He would have made a mint out of them they would have an even stupider car that people would buy and sell well...
Actually it is look similar to Cavalier, because in the rest of the world your Cavalier is just first gen Vectra, and this is the second one. It is a pretty reliable car and cheap for maintenance. I have one from 10 years and now she is on 24 years old and still driving well and faster than many modern cars.
almost all of the world.that first generation Vectra was not sold in Australia thanks to the Holden and Toyota model sharing arrangement that existed between 1989 and 1996.we got what was essentially the 1987 Camry as an Apollo for the Camira replacement and would not see an actual GM J car till 1997.
This was a Saturn L300 in America. We either had a 140hp 2.2 4 cylinder, or the 3.0 V6 carried over from the Vectra. It was a popular car when introduced, but reliability problems plauged it. Only sold from 1999-2005 and they killed it for the Aura, also based on your Vectra. We used a 252hp 3.6 V6 with 6 speed auto. It was fast. Alas, Saturn died in 2008. Americans no longer receive Vauxhall rebrands.
Buick still sells Opels. By the way, Vauxhalls are rebadged Opels. So what you are buying are essentially Opels. Probably the shittest cars made in Germany.
Was this review from 1995, or 1996? The two Vectras were both registered in August 1995, making them very early press cars belonging to Vauxhall! So, was it filmed in 1995 or 1996?
Clarkson just didn't review the right cars, we had a fleet of Vectras when they first came out at our company and they all had a problem of randomly stalling. This made them very interesting indeed, especially at roundabouts and running bump starts became the thing to do. They had strong engine mounts though.
Me too, with a 1994 Cavalier CDX, with the 2.0-litre Ecotec engine. It would tend to cut out abruptly at the most annoying/dangerous time, such as going around a fast bend or across a railway crossing! I could never get to the bottom of it and when the head gasket blew, I scrapped it.
In reality it's not a Vauxhall its just a rebadged Opel Vectra. Opel and Vauxhall did produce some really bad crap in the 90's- early 00's but are better now.
@@garylumley7610 depends where they were made. My Vectra saloon was built in Russelheim and stamped Opel , some of the hatchbacks were built in Luton so yes they are Vauxhall built. I miss that car I had it a long time, started life as a 1.8LS but when I finally parted with it was a 2 seat, 2litre turbo. Most standard cars of the time were boring but the platform was a good base.
IMO his finest hour. Just enough tongue in cheek to avoid being completely unsufferable. Unfortunately, like children picking on a chosen kid at school, once he had set the precedent, the Vectra, and eventually Vauxhall, ended up with an embarrassing image, and being tacitly avoided by those doing the choosing. As a result I daresay there are those in Luton who would genuinely have him lynched were he to set foot there for the harm he did to peoples' livelihoods in the area. . He may have had a point that the Vectra was unexciting, but his ire could have just as easily been directed at any of the others in the segment, these were bread and butter cars. And thus Top Gear ceased to become a motoring magazine show and became the very popular farce it remains.
I think he's 100% right. Those cars are not worth reviewing because they get you from a to b without fuss nor emotion. They aren't bad cars, they are quite OK cars actually (I've got a mondeo mk2 and I sort of like the old thing) but they're boring like unsalted bread. I'm not interested at all in a review about something that has nothing special to it - no real flaws, no real perks. Would you like to review, or watch reviews about, I don't know, a range of teaspoons? Top Gear has always been a very informative motoring show, if you know how to listen. Anyway, now that Peugeot bought Opel I think Clarkson would love spewing even more acid at them than ever. :D
"(Many years ago) I refused to road-test the Vectra on Top Gear, arguing that if Vauxhall couldn’t be bothered to make the car interesting in any way whatsoever, I couldn’t be bothered to drive it.
To understand just how dull this car was, you need to visualise a chartered accountant in a tweed jacket with elbow patches, playing cricket, in a period drama by Jane Austen, in Belgium, while reading out details of the Enron scandal in a Birmingham accent."
- Clarkson on why he hated the Vectra, 2002
My dad had a Vectra Saloon as his second car, which was kept for domestic use ( Going out in) as apposed to work use which he kept his estate car for (Manual Labour).
Both did there job okay, but if you wanted luxury you would go for a Jag or Mercedes. Top Gear, of cause went middle class then elitist forgetting what cars
were for, to make life that bit easier.
@@zarrow50you're wrong there, Jeremy and the gang own SUVs too and yes, they do enjoy it, they just dont like box on wheels
@@zarrow50also my father had a vectra the 1992;and was really a not good car;was thinked like an Audi 80 but for poor money people
didn't Vauxhall lose their shit when they saw this? Apparently asked the BBC to FORCE Clarkson into a proper review and he refused haha.
Yeah they were angry and said they wanted a professional car review and it not done by clarkson.
Mr Clarkson is a prize twerp but this review really is reality; the Vectra does have nice door mirrors but is like a Cavalier.
Robert Taylor it's just a boring car.
that little swoopy line of the door mirrors is really nice though and..................sorry I fell asleep again.
The car that pretty much nearly put Luton out of business....
N667DUR - scrapped in 27-06-2008
N684DUR - Untaxed since 2009
Short lives
I like to think Jeremy himself watched it get scrapped
The scrappage scheme took a lot of early models. Others would have gone before then due to high mileage from being repmobiles or taxis.
Thing is I still see some of those Vectra's on the roads, and none of the competition.
s1d3k1ckRO Well where I live I still see Mondeo's of that era but the only Vextra's I see are the newer 2002 on.
I see shit loads of Vw Passats and the odd Mondeo and Accord, never any early Vectras though.
I just turned 17 and my dad's given me his 02 vectra to learn in.
@@notinuse2110 You poor thing!
@@GryphLane lol, it's in good nick and goes 110. I wouldn't mind it when I passed my test but said I don't want to learn in it any more so hes give me a couple grand to get a car of my choosing
That was my first car. Same color also hatchback. I loved the car it never let me down. Good memories ^^
Same. Had a red one. It turned off the engine when you turned hard so I had to have one hand free and turn the ignition in tight turns.
Loved it. Drove many girls in it. Got rear ended and scrapped.
@@Osquar what were the back seats like?
They've aged quite nicely. Hard to think they turn 21 this year
+Kieran White They certainly aged quite better than the competition!
my dad had 3 vectras and he wants another one
I didn't think the last Vectras were too bad but these earlier models are disgusting and Jeremy is spot on - dull as hell
vectras are better thant its competitions and something he doesnt mention that vectra had controls on the steering wheel..who cares about sun glasses storage..u can put them everywhere u want :D.btw i got Opel Vectra which is very reliable car and i wouldn't choose mondeo or that renault. and that stupid vauxhall badge isnt really looking good on Vectra because of that grill V..
*****
did they?
Arguably the beginning of new top gear lol
Good, solid motor, aged far better than than its rivals. I know of one that achieved in excess of half a million miles and would have done more with a new gearbox.
Wow, so it's Japanese level reliability?
Yes and i know of a red mk1 mondeo 1.8td taxi that's done 1,000,000 miles! Probably had a few clutches though. Probably never thrashed and well serviced.
Calm down little man.
Each to their own I say. Ford vs gm. BMW vs mercs. Ferrari vs lambs. It never ends. Competition is healthy out there.
Absolutely. In general, I think Fords are usually just a little bit better than the equivalent Vauxhall, and I've hade plenty of both. I thought the Vectra was a good car, no less reliable than any Ford, and the styling held up well over time. Lord knows why pricks like the other bloke get so uptight about a near twenty year old car.
I had an all leather SRI 140. Stonking car. Engine was lovely and it never missed a beat in 3 years.
My 2001 Opel Vectra B 1.6 is now 21 years old and still runs strong.
It was 1999 and I was a sales manager working in Berkshire. Our cars were replaced every 4 years, with most of them racking up 40k a year plus. I ignored the 318's and 1.8 A4's all my colleagues chose and went for a 4 door Vectra 2.6 SRI, the budget even stretched to adding electric rear windows, CC and metallic paint! My colleagues all 'enjoyed' their wheezing 'premium' German models, while I left them behind with a throaty roar. I bought it off the company with 170k on the clock, the only thing it needed before I sold it with 190k was a new exhaust manifold and a alternator.
JC showing his colours long before 'new Top Gear'. He was special even then.
The man was the main attraction of BBC car journalism looooooong before 2002.
I had a V6 SRi I bought for £800. Was a riot. Great engine note and made me smile. Clarkson is right though. Box on wheels.
What the hell! 30+ years of driving and I've just found out what that stick of plastic behind the fuel cap was. Wish I'd kept one now.
I thought that was for toggling the child lock
I drive one for 9 years now, after 12 to 16 months we will celebrate a half a milli - still stock, still runnin smooth, still lookin good among newer cars, timeless. Most reliabe - I can get in it any time and go anywhere and Im 1000% sure it gonna take me there and back. Haters gonna hate, my Vectra gonna drive. muHahahaha... :)
My dad had 3 vectras all used and cheap as chips, used as work horses (very hard lives) and ran like dreams to be honest they are not bad, have enough room to fit his market stock in every week end and his ladders on the roof with a roof rack for his window cleaning. Great work horses and comfortable enough.
When top gear reviewed realistic people's cars and not £200,000 super cars
True that!
But be honest...which one would you rather watch?
this is why they stopped
@@mikeandhisdogs niether now lol
I think this kind of review showed that it was pretty pointless. That was the whole point of this review and why they ended up changing the show.
I just bought the salon 1.6 16V Vectra and really love it (my first car). Even compared to all it's rivals at the end I think it is the best by looks and all else, granted when it was new the price was a lot and at that time it may not have been something great but now in 2017 I think they are actually quite nice and for a first car really good. Only thing I really want to change on mine is the fabrics of the interior.
Does it cut hair?
In my opinion B Vectra looked very good in comparison to other cars in it's segment. However the driving qualities weren't that good and the low end torque was weak in motors 1.6-2.0. All and all I would have chosen the Mondeo even though I always liked the looks of Vectra better.
they sold is as a Saturn L300 in America, we only had two engines; the 2.2 Ecotec from the Chevy Cavalier (140hp 150lb ft) or a 3.0 V6 that was from your Vectra. I always liked the Vectras styling, the L300 was rather funny looking.
His finest performance.... { Search: [applause] - no emoji found }
... it was downhill from then on
The only remotely interesting thing I can remember about this car (other than Jezza roasting it), is when I had to inspect one for contraband (whilst working in security), and noticed that it had a Vauxhall badge on the bonnet, and an Opel one on the boot. I joked with the driver that "seems you've got a cut and shut here".
Lmao good one
i have one of these cars ,bought it second hand and its been one of the best cars i have ever had still going strong . the bbc should of let jeremy try it out with a caravan towed on the back that would have upset him.
I remember watching this episode when it went out on the telly
What did you think of it?
Sleek & stylish - _I loved the Vectras body work!_ My only gripe was the rigid wing mirrors - in a tight spot you want retractable mirrors!
Believe it or not my vectra was the most reliable car I've owned. 170 k miles with no issues. Was very dull tho.
Joking aside. The last laugh is on Clarkson. The Vectra has definitely aged better than him 😆😆😆
This was my dream car in 1995. I got the CD from a number on the magazine advert. I had parts of the car cut out from brochures and stuck on the wall in my student digs.
🤣🤣
Yes, I know I am weird
@@iainmclaughlan1557 I thought it was a joke, I have a poster with a Bertone mk4 astra coupe on it, but I have to admit its the old calibre coachworks one on an old mac power poster
The thing was, Vauxhall was calling it a new model, when in reality it was scarcely changed from the preceding model. The 1990 Escort was similarly slated when launched. Reviewers won't say it's good if it's not significantly better than the outgoing model. The vectra was as if Vauxhall simply accepted that the bulk of sales were going to be as rep cars and hardly bothered to make the car in any way appealing, as its most drivers would have no choice in the matter
Vauxhall didn't make anything. Both the last generation Cavalier and first gen Vectra were sourced from Opel.
@@lemmykilmister4919 incorrect. Like all Vauxhall cars after the Victor FE, the design may have come from Opel but Assembly (or making, to use your terminology) took place in various factories, including Vauxhall's Ellesmere port facility.
The Vectra was really a facelifted Cavalier like when British Leyland updated the Austin Princess and Morris Marina to the Ambassador and Ital.
It wasn't.
top gear was so ahead of his time
With all respect Clarkson was wrong with his attitude. Thousands of those 90's Vectras still drive in the entire world. But you won't fund thousands of Lagunas or Xantias... and thousands of BMW from 90's. Vectras got rusty, but still reliable. While 25 years old BMWs become just a pain. Lagunas got "de-electricized", Citroens got "de-suspensionised". Maybe those years Fords are close to survive... but not so much.
Too bad you have to wait for 25 years for that information -.-
I owned a Mondeo. Didn't know what the "biro holder" was for until I saw this.
My old local taxi firm that took me to and from school had 2 of these Vectras!!
One was a maroon 2.0dti ls not too sure what the other silver one was, might have been the same!
They were eventually replaced by mainly Skoda Octavias!
The boss also liked the newer Vectra so had few of them in the fleet as well!
4 wheels and a fucking seat.
I love Planes, Trains & Auomobiles. Great film.
In the 1990s, fleets of these were bought by many companies, including rental giants for up to 40% less than the public paid. They sold them to the public when 18 months old at what they paid or more. Car firms achieved massive sales targets, rental firms did fine and the public thought that they were getting a good buy at auction.
Win, win all round.
Clarkson was always Clarkson :))
Always thought this Vectra looked brilliant. It's funny how Clarkson says no boy would ever grow up wanting one but it is one of the more memorable cars from the late 90s BTCC; Cleland, Plato and Muller all drove it. I've never quite understood his hatred for it because yes, it's a boring A-B car but there are l o a d s of boring A-B cars but none of them get anywhere near the disproportionate hatred that he gives this Vectra.
Vauxhall still gets a disproportionate amount of hate from the press, and I've never been able to figure out why. Yes, some of their products aren't that good, and the Vectra B was a high point, but the newer ones certainly don't deserve the kind of lambasting that's otherwise reserved for Protons, Ssangyongs and Suzukis.
A seminal TV moment, when the review is more about Clarkson than the Vectra. Ok so it did not set the world on fire, doesn't change direction like a housefly or accelerate to sixty in a gazillionth of a second.
Nor did it cost £200,000.
It was driven by decent folks doing a solid job and it did so pretty well,. From now on TG was all about JC, the Hamster and Captain Slow... blowing up caravans, hanging the tail out in those £200k cars, launching Reliant three wheeler rockets and generally trashing anything that the mortal public drove.
Insight, information and a good review were dead. Because of course that is a little bit harder to do well. Bring back William Woolard.
And yes, I had a 2.5 V6 back in the day - it went well and it was a decent family car. I've had them all since then including the more exciting Italians, but nothing forgives a review like this.
The Jezster may still despise the Vectra, but its aged better than the man himself.
Its probably the car that made that brought out the Jezza we have today.
that guy at 4:46 is right! a vauxhall vector is not an apollo moon mission! genius.
I had this car. Infact identical. Never had a problem at all and was brilliant. So this review is harsh. Personally mine was awesome and lived it.
I don’t think it’s harsh it’s just reality that it’s a boring car
these cars handled like they were on rails... when you turn the wheel it kept going straight....
these were sold as a chevrolet vectra in brazil and they were my childhood dream car... but yeah all the competitors shown in the video were at the time sold as higher segment, they were all imported. I believe the vectra was produced in brazil. it shows that this car was intended to be a lower segment car compared to what it was being sold by vauxhall, hence the blandness
My Dad bought a Vectra in 2000. 2.6 Litre V6 170bhp. Fantastic Car! You can go 240km/h in that car!
i owned one of these. best seats ever!
I love how they used Alright by Supergrass in this review, which came out around the same time!
I still like those door mirrors. Always quietly reminded me of a tiny part of female anatomy, but I'm willing to accept that's just me.
its the driver that reminds me of the female anatomy.
The Vectra was designed for people that aren't into cars....they just want something that is comfortable, and will get them from point A to point B with little fuss or drama.
Funny you should say that as Clarkson himself once said that he always thought that the Vectra was designed in a coffee break by someone who wasn't interested in cars! So, there you have it! It was designed by someone who wasn't interested in cars FOR people who weren't interested in cars!
@@georgejacob3162 he said that for a 160 mph Vectra though. 🤣 It's a fwd muscle car.
This is why literally everyone in the UK now drives a 3-Series
I always liked the Vectra, had a 51 reg which was 8 months old at the time, pretty much a brand new car and it felt amazing driving it back in 2002, had presence on the road. Rarely see them now. The CD model was nice and comfy, they had something modern day Vauxhall lack, even though i now have a Insignia and it is a good car, it does just feel like a car and I think ill have more nostalgia for my old Vectra in years to come.
I bought a 20 year old Vectra for £450 and ran it for 2 years! 1.8 petrol on an S reg. Loved driving it till the electrics gave out!
Might have been dull, but the one Clarkson drove had his last MOT in 2008 with 127,549 miles on the clock. Not bad I think
I have one. Awful rust damage to internal support parts, but I love and keep it. My silver arrow will get a full restoration somewhen, once I have the budget and time. My opel Vectra is great!
I remember seeing this when it was first shown. It was, I think, the first time Clarkson was relentlessly rude about a car on the show and it divided opinion quite a bit at first. But funny how the show ended up going downhill rather quickly once he left. I can't help wondering if history is going to repeat itself...
+leopold since when honest = rude?
z00h It depends on how honest you're willing to be. Honesty, coupled with diplomacy, is fine. But being honest without thought for the feelings of others isn't. And considering Vauxhall were doing him a favour by giving him a car to review (and therefore keeping him in a job), his excessive honesty is pretty rude.
leopold Emergency? Hi, I've got a bad case of politically correct brainwashed social justice warrior, can you send a coroner over please. Thanks and you're welcome... world.
***** Lefties achieved one thing for sure, they killed what we used to call sarcasm. Now being sarcastic = being rude. GTFO.
+leopold This can't have been the first time he was ever rude about a car.
Got to be said - you still see Vectras (and would see more if it wasn't for the scrappage scheme). When was the last time you saw a Laguna outside of this video and old touring car highlights?
Great cars my grandad had one from new put it twice around the clock never any trouble because he looked after it h
Wait, we've got to the point where people's Grandads had Vectras and they're old enough to talk about it on the internet? And this comment was from 4 years ago? Where in the name of all that is holy has the time gone?
The Internet Crazy isn’t it!
The Internet The time has been eaten to death. 😂
Yes, this is the review that caused GM to pretty much sever relations with Jeremy Clarkson.
And then they gave him the VX220 and suddenly all was right in the world
I served my time on Opel in Ireland in the late 90s early 00s I remember them braking timing belts and doing head gaskets All the time but thay were very easy car's to work on
Yes the 36k timing belt replacement interval was a little long! Between my own cars and a friends we had a number of 1.6 16v Astra’s from that era. My friends belt snapped at 36k the week it was booked in to be replaced.
"I would rather have double pneumonia than a Vectra."
this is so famous - killed the vectra's sales
A lot of them were bought by the police. As a police car they were great. Loads of space in the trunk for equipment and performance was not bad. The handling on the other hand before 1999 was quite bad. I have a 1998 model and it handles like a couch. The car has to much body roll and it understears like mad and even worse if you hit the brakes in mid corner the rear slides out. I also have a 1996 astra caravan and it has a better handling than the vectra
Nope.
It really didn't effect sales. Vauxhall just got pissy for someone telling it like it was, that Opel had lumped Vauxhall with something as interesting as a bucket of wallpaper paste.
What was the guy at 4.20 on about? How does it look in any way like a BMW?
Never have I ever seen Vectra B with working computer. :D
You haven't been about much then, have you...
My dad used to own one and it was boring, but the seats where some of the most comfortable i have ever come across in an Opel.
" It's just a box on wheels. "
Never understood why exactly he held the Vectra grudge even years after this, going as far as saying he'd rather have some sort of plague than drive it. Besides being a boring car, it was a decently reliable one. Bought a Vectra 1.6 for 380 pounds worth . The clock never worked but besides that the thing ran 3 years without any major fixes or basically any maintenance.
+ydin9 he held a grude against the vectra for a similar reaosn that he hated the nissan Sunny and the totyoa corolla. Not bad cars, any of them but nor crucially are they godo cars. They are average cars, average in every aspect they do. All the traits he hates in people. Average, reasonable, nice, satisfactory.......(se ehis nissan sunny review on his worst cars video for reference points.
Certainly not anyones dream cars, that's for sure.
+ydin9
How on earth did you came to a decision to buy a Vectra ?
ilcool90
What's so weird about it? Needed a cheap used car. Volvo we originally had in mind had expensive looking issues with steering and suspension on test drive. The Vectra sat on the same lot, same price range. less mileage , better service history and everything worked besides the dash screen/clock,
He once said he felt that the Vectra was designed in a coffee break by someone who had no interest in cars. He also said that this was the hardest thing that he did on the old Top Gear as he felt that the Vectra didn't warrant 6 seconds of attention nevermind 6 minutes of it!
Not everything in life has to be exciting, women, cars, vacations ... etc etc. Sometimes, I just want something nice and reliable.
+greathey1234 Yeah, well they arent even reliable.
+Bunka Fas they are lol had one for over 15 years with no problems what so ever
+greathey1234 vector's are notorious for being unreliable.
+Tom Forrest well if yours lasted i guess we're all wrong.
stitcha123
Hahaha, exactly !
The saloon looks bad ass.
Had nothing but trouble with my 96 1.8 ecotec vectra camshaft sensor, crankshaft, sensor, airflow sensor spent more time in the garage then on the road
For a beginner, this car is good . After a few years you look for more performance
A box on wheels?The Vectra B have shapes and curves.
I wonder how many of the few remaining Vectras in service still have the tyre valve dust cover removal tool?
Had one when i was 19 great car loved it
The succsessor looked so much better. Yet the racecar looked fire
I bought a Vectra 5 years ago to keep the commuter miles off my BMW 535d. It had 88k miles on it when I got it and it now has 160k miles. It is a bit boring but I am amazed that it just keeps chugging along reliably. The clock - when I first got it I thought the previous owner must have been a bit anal because the clock was always spot on. Now I know why. I have grown to really like it.
Wikipedia alleges that Jeremy Clarkson never drove one....perhaps it would be more accurate to say he drove one with TREMENDOUS Protest all the way...
Who does the song at 3:07?
landyachtfan79 supergrass
"Alright" by Supergrass (1995)
No, that's 1:44, guys, not 3:07 ("I Am Bored, I Am Bored"?
I don’t how well these cars aged in Britain for long term ownership. But here in a Australia sold under the Holden name they fell apart and melted like an ice cream on a hot summer’s day.
Yes, I worked in Holden service and all the Vectras were absolute dogs. I'm amazed at all these Brits saying they got a good run out of them. They were bloody awful.
1995 Vauxhall Cavalier SRI 16v any day of the week
First off, the Cavalier was a Vectra. Second, 1995 has the Ecotec engine, so forget about it.
@@CynicalBastard511 yea but come on have you seen a mint vauxhall cavalier SRI in black they had WAY more charm and head turning power,also a RARE car
If you saw a mint black Cavalier SRI at a petrol station you watch the people stop and stare💯👌
@@danbruno5945 Fair enough, but I would go for the CDX V6.
The vectra diesel was the fastest car I’ve ever driven. When my ex wife tried to burn my house down, I went from Lewisham in South London to Batley in West Yorkshire in 2hrs and 35mins. Not even a hire car is that quick.
Toyota, Subaru or Lexus if you want a car to last many years. Buy a good one, look after it, keep it. People waste too much money trading cars in all their lives for newer models, when there is probably nothing wrong with the one they already have.
funny enough it's replacement the opel insignia also sold as a vauxhall in england is the new holden commodore in australia with the chevrolet sourced malibu sitting below it.holden were idiots they went from audi rivals with the very last of the vectras to what was at the time daewoo sourced crap.
He single handedly effected Vauxhall sales figures and they hated him for it. the best thing they could have done is take his opinions on board and used them to make a better car...win win situation. He would have made a mint out of them they would have an even stupider car that people would buy and sell well...
They blamed him but he was right! They should have looked at their own product and said "You know what? He's right!"
Actually it is look similar to Cavalier, because in the rest of the world your Cavalier is just first gen Vectra, and this is the second one. It is a pretty reliable car and cheap for maintenance. I have one from 10 years and now she is on 24 years old and still driving well and faster than many modern cars.
almost all of the world.that first generation Vectra was not sold in Australia thanks to the Holden and Toyota model sharing arrangement that existed between 1989 and 1996.we got what was essentially the 1987 Camry as an Apollo for the Camira replacement and would not see an actual GM J car till 1997.
It’s aged far better than Clarkson.
Best car i have had 2.2 SRi on a 99 plate, still can leave modern cars for dust and its cheap, look after it and she will do well.
This was when Top gear became more about the Presenter than the car
The review that wrecked vauxhall... and deservedly too.
Top Gear is a great show.
+Gabriel Millien I would have said 'was' a great show....when Clarkson had got some the night before
This was a Saturn L300 in America. We either had a 140hp 2.2 4 cylinder, or the 3.0 V6 carried over from the Vectra. It was a popular car when introduced, but reliability problems plauged it. Only sold from 1999-2005 and they killed it for the Aura, also based on your Vectra. We used a 252hp 3.6 V6 with 6 speed auto. It was fast.
Alas, Saturn died in 2008. Americans no longer receive Vauxhall rebrands.
9890jsp Buicks are now vauxhalls
Buick still sells Opels. By the way, Vauxhalls are rebadged Opels. So what you are buying are essentially Opels. Probably the shittest cars made in Germany.
Had two very old ones didn't pay much, they were reliable and comfy .. well then again, i wasn't used to much better.
I agreed with Clarkson at the time, and still do.
They were dull then, and they have been dull ever since.
Still gets you from A to B tho. The V6 would have given a little bit of excitement perhaps.
Miss the Ericsson phone hahaha.
Citroen xantia all day long -Although the clutch pedal kept failing off 😂😂
Was this review from 1995, or 1996?
The two Vectras were both registered in August 1995, making them very early press cars belonging to Vauxhall!
So, was it filmed in 1995 or 1996?
Unsure but the car is a 1995
The 2.0 is quick!
What is the difference between a 1996 Opel Vectra and Vauxhall Vectra? Other than Vauxhall badging I mean
Clarkson just didn't review the right cars, we had a fleet of Vectras when they first came out at our company and they all had a problem of randomly stalling. This made them very interesting indeed, especially at roundabouts and running bump starts became the thing to do. They had strong engine mounts though.
Me too, with a 1994 Cavalier CDX, with the 2.0-litre Ecotec engine. It would tend to cut out abruptly at the most annoying/dangerous time, such as going around a fast bend or across a railway crossing! I could never get to the bottom of it and when the head gasket blew, I scrapped it.
In reality it's not a Vauxhall its just a rebadged Opel Vectra. Opel and Vauxhall did produce some really bad crap in the 90's- early 00's but are better now.
Think you'll find the Opels are rebadged Vauxhalls 😉
Opel and Vauxhall made crap in the 90's? 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂 Oh dude... I'm sure that you're owning a Fiat Uno... this Car has even more shit than your Comment 😂
@@garylumley7610 depends where they were made. My Vectra saloon was built in Russelheim and stamped Opel , some of the hatchbacks were built in Luton so yes they are Vauxhall built. I miss that car I had it a long time, started life as a 1.8LS but when I finally parted with it was a 2 seat, 2litre turbo. Most standard cars of the time were boring but the platform was a good base.
my god where did twenty five years go.
I love them
IMO his finest hour. Just enough tongue in cheek to avoid being completely unsufferable. Unfortunately, like children picking on a chosen kid at school, once he had set the precedent, the Vectra, and eventually Vauxhall, ended up with an embarrassing image, and being tacitly avoided by those doing the choosing. As a result I daresay there are those in Luton who would genuinely have him lynched were he to set foot there for the harm he did to peoples' livelihoods in the area. . He may have had a point that the Vectra was unexciting, but his ire could have just as easily been directed at any of the others in the segment, these were bread and butter cars. And thus Top Gear ceased to become a motoring magazine show and became the very popular farce it remains.
I think he's 100% right. Those cars are not worth reviewing because they get you from a to b without fuss nor emotion. They aren't bad cars, they are quite OK cars actually (I've got a mondeo mk2 and I sort of like the old thing) but they're boring like unsalted bread.
I'm not interested at all in a review about something that has nothing special to it - no real flaws, no real perks.
Would you like to review, or watch reviews about, I don't know, a range of teaspoons?
Top Gear has always been a very informative motoring show, if you know how to listen.
Anyway, now that Peugeot bought Opel I think Clarkson would love spewing even more acid at them than ever. :D