IDRIVEACLASSIC reviews: MK1 Astra - Opel Kadett D
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- Опубликовано: 4 июл 2024
- Today's video is on the lesser spotted MK1 Vauxhall Astra! The car has been kindly loaned by Great British Car Journey in Derbyshire. To find out more about them, visit their website: greatbritishcarjourney.com
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The MK1 Astra (Opel Kadett D)
This is the MK1 Astra, as launched in spring of 1980 and the first front wheel drive vehicle for Vauxhall and replaced the Viva HC in the Vauxhall line up.
The front wheel drive aspect meant Vauxhall now had a real competitor for the growing market of popular FWD vehicles like the VW Golf.
The car quickly gained positive reviews and was crowned What Car’s car of the year in 1980 and only beaten to European Car of the year by the Lancia Delta.
If you remember in the Chevette video, we discussed how the T car platform had given Vauxhall a bit of wiggle room to create a car which was suited to the palette of the Brit car buyer, but with the Astra, the car was pretty much identical to the Opel Kadett D which had been made on the continent.
Although at first the car was made in West Germany, production was brought to Ellesmere Port by 1981 and production levels soared to meet demand.
The range at first was small, with only the 1300S GL and 1300 L estate being on offer but the range was added to rather quickly over the four years with E version producing a slightly lower 60bhp in comparison to the 75bhp we’re getting with this 1300 we’re testing today.
In 1982, the range welcomed a rather spicy 90bhp 1.6 litre variant which really challenged some of the GTi models. If that wasn’t spicy enough, the GTE joined the range in April 83, offering 115bhp supported by a 1.8 fuel injected engine.
Over time, dwindling values, scrap schemes, rust, camshafts and first car owners with a heavy right foot have killed off many of the MK1 Astras which once graced the roads of Great Britain.
There are people out there who will see this car as simply an old banger, but with doing so they overlook so much of what the Astra did for both Vauxhall and the buying public at the time and really how much of a force it was to be reckoned with.
So how does the MK1 story end?
The MK1 was made until 1984 and as of 2022, we’re into the eighth generation of Astras and even people who don’t like cars would be hard pushed to say they didn’t know what an Astra was, which is what makes this MK1 a classic.
It may not be a traditional chrome bumper, black and white numberplate classic, but this Astra definitely sits firmly in the new wave of classics defining an era of motoring.
This is a brief history and there are plenty more booklets online and owners forums where more information can be found, but in today’s video, I’m now going to chat to you about the interior of the vehicle before our test drive. 
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I know UDG51X very well.. it belonged to a good friend of mine the late John Brown of Charlton Kings Cheltenham who always loved, cherished and garaged it after buying it from new. I bought it from him in about 2006 as he struggled with the lack of power steering. He would be very pleased to know it's still going and looking as good as the day he bought..
Rest in peace John, we miss you.. Alan
These were awesome cars and really paved the way to make Vauxhall so successful in the 80s and 90s.
I love this. The 3 door is tidy, the yellow is cool and you just don't see them any more. A nice mix of 70s into 80s. A "Video killed the radio star" of the car world
Red or white for me 😅
I remember the telly advert for the GTE.
115 break horsepower
115 miles per hour
Built to make your heart to beat faster !
That was an absolutely cracking little car.
Don't know what it was like in the UK but here in Ireland joyriders absolutely loved Opels and Vauxhalls of this generation. They were very easy to steal and quite fast.
Feels like only yesterday...they were everywhere.
I had the Cavalier equivalent.
Great car.
I was born in 1980 and just love cars from this era. I love how simple they are and I love how you don’t feel as isolated and disconnected from the road and the outside as you do in modern cars. Cars seem obsessed with providing as much silence and comfort as possible now and I remember I time when those where only qualities that old people looked for in motoring. What’s that song lyric? “Your dad’s black Honda was a Maybach”
So much great Vauxhall content on youtube recently! Hub nut done an Astra mk3, fd done a Corsa B and Matty's Cars done a Cavalier SRI
That rorty exhaust note takes me right back to when I worked at my local Opel/Vauxhall dealership. If you think that felt punchy you would have loved our 1.6 Astra part vans, it went like a rocket 😀
The parts vans were quicker than a GTE from the driving examples I saw back in the day.
@@glenjones6980 you got that right 🤣
Vauxhall’s engines back then were far ahead of the game, much more refined and powerful than Ford’s equivalents
Too right !!!!..... The Mk1 GTE was a 130mph job......(service ...head gasket ....clutch all "half hour jobs").
...
The one slight problem was the earth for the ignition was on a spade connection by the windscreen wipers that caused breakdowns !!!
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The head gaskets were "touqued" down with air guns for speed ... and they went !!!!
...
Only problem... Russian bearings in the gearbox ... that made them whine !!!
(That job took a morning).............. BRILLIANT DESIGN !!!!
The rorty exhaust note only lasted for 1980 MY. Mainstream (dull) British buyers didn't like it, so they had a normal (boring) exhaust from 1981 onwards.
This is really taking me back to being a kid in my dad's polar white mk1 astra 1300. I remember it felt very quick for a 1300 and I'll never forget that engine sound.
I bought an Astra Celebrity brand new in 1984.....I wish I had it now. It was a stunning car and extremely rare now.
A great video Steph......very enjoyable.
they looked amazing in the two tone paint
@@danielrussell446 spot on Daniel....Black on top, silver in middle then black again at the bottom.
Then it had pin stripes. It was only N astra, but I loved it.
I remember the first of these could be had with a seperate boot with no tailgate,like the Allegro.
When Vauxhall-Opel really turned itself around after years in the doldrums!
I think once a car gets to 40-years old, even if it is an everyday working-class vehicle like this, it should be considered classic status just as much as all the GTs and sports cars. After all, there is nothing remotely like it made today, and it's probably a damned sight rarer that a lot of 'classic' classics too.
Yes, still getting to grips with the 80s being 40-years ago...
Excellent review - thank you Steph :-)
My dear old dad bought one of these brand new in 1983. Curiously, it was very VERY difficult to warm start. It started fine when cold - or hot - but not when only warm. We started planning journeys accordingly!
Neat car! Being Canadian, I love sing a bunch of the unique classics you have across the pond that we don't here
I had a second hand one in the early 90s. It handled really well, good little engine.
You're looking well Steph
What engine did you have ?
@@julienbee3467 only the 1.3
@@dangerman01582 was it sluggish or fun ?
That Astra GTE 'digital dash'; what a time to be alive!
And a clutch could be replaced without separating the engine and gearbox
Use to see loads around in a 'terracotta' brown - bit of a daring colour for VX to launch with the Astra (at the aftermath of late 70s rebellion against brown ,bronze and beige) but the public must have liked that rather different shade..
These were so cool.
I was a VW snob back then but now I tend to like all old school motors in my older age.
I still want to modify them though, tastefully and subtly.
Wow Steph, I don’t believe it. I owned an identical 1981 Vauxhall Astra L 1.3, same colour inside and out. I loved it so much and
boy could it move. I had an alarm fitted ‘cos they were one of the cars the joyriders loved in 1980s.
Vauxhalls and Opels were sold
in Ireland along side each other. The Kadett wasn’t as nicely finished as the Astra. I also owned a 1977 Chevette Estate in white with red vinyl interior. It was terrific. My brother owned a 1978 Chevette Hatch in GL trim in a sort of peach colour and my dad owned a white 1978 Chevette E 2 door saloon. In 1981 he bought a red Vauxhall Astra E. we were all great fans. Love your videos 👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Nice review Steph. That internal light function was a well hidden feature - to me at least. Back in the day, I was on my fourth Vauxhall before I found out. I had kept opening the doors to get the light on. Trip down memory lane and thanks for making me laugh at myself again!
Me and my dad had no idea about that interior light switch either!
I will add unless confirmed by the owner it's more than likely 146000 miles. Could never tell if these cars were around the clock because of the lack of digits.
Great survivor this MK 1 Astra the start of their 80's range of cars
Steph, I love your reviews! Thanks for your very unique presentation! Big smile from Berlin
Really great to see this, thank you. This is just like my dad's first ever company car in the early 80s. It was an Opel Kadett in orange, but UK registered and RHD.
Back in the early 80s my father had one of these except it was the Opal Kadett Version. It was also bright yellow. Thank you for sharing the great memories and experience.
Always watch your videos. You're really good at reviewing and keeping these classics alive. I envy you getting to drive them 😜 reminds me a lot of my first car, a K reg vauxhall nova SX. Was black and I miss it a lot.
My mate’s mum had a terracotta-coloured 1300S back in the ‘90s! It was absolutely spotless. Loved going for drives in that. Great video Steph!
🙂 Fond memories of my first ever car when I was 17 in 1991,.....a 1981 X reg Snot Green 5-door 1.3S GL, with 99k on the clock. I adored the shape of the rear end,....much meaner looking than the Escort etc. The GL had the stuff of dreams, like crushed velour upholstery, a clock, carpet on the lower doors, and proper grab-handle things on the inner door-pulls. My mate then bought an A reg GL in terracotta, but that swine had factory tints on his, as well as a 6-clock dash, a cassette player, headlights on a warning buzzer,....and TWO rear fog lights!! I always understood them to be 70 bhp, and the 1.6 to be 90 bhp. A few cars later, I managed to get my dream MK1 GTE in Polar White 🙂
I owned a 1984 red Astra GTE from 1990-1993 & enjoyed it very much.
I had 2 MK1 Astra's, first one was a A reg 3 door 1300s in red. I remember it having the clock though. My second was a Y reg 1600 SR in metallic blue, 6 dial dash and recaro seats. Watching this video has made me hark back to simpler times. Great vid thank you.
Thank you for reviewing the mark 1 it took me right back to my Grandads mark 1 Astra (which was yellow) he had the Astra and my dad had the mark 2 Cavalier which I loved just as much as the Astra. Funny thing is I never inherited their love for Vauxhalls. I developed my own love of Skodas which they both kind of got. Enjoy the videos keep them coming.
I had 2 of these (1300 Celebrity and 1600) in the 80s and an Astra diesel work van. I miss the simplicity of working on these.
Oh, the memories!.
My cousin had one with a saloon back end, it was brown and on a v plate, I’ve not seen one on the road in years, my mum had a Astra mk2 saloon, Belmont I remember Daewoo brought it back with the Nexia.
Great to see this video. Buddy of mine back in the late 80s had one. Great memories! 👍
This was my first car, in red on an A registration. Absolutely loved it, and the exhaust sound? I always equated it to that of a VW Beetle. No other car had a sound like it.
A great video.
Now that's great looking car . Another great test drive , like the yellow dress goes well with the car.
Had a brown and gold auto about ten years ago. Good reliable car
My folks had one. It was a great car. A real step-change for Vauxhall.
Thank you for this. My dad had a red mk1 5 door estate until from the early 90s until about 1999/2000, reg A182 TOU, though the details at DVLA aren't quite right. I loved that car and we used to go camping in it. It had two wing mirrors though, a clock, washer on the stalk and a Philips cassette radio. Neither me nor my dad knew that pulling the headlight knob out turned on the interior light, damn!! It had the same interior only in black and the tweed seats were black and grey. The interior had a wonderful smell of engine oil, sawdust and earth, but I'm sure the materials also had something to do with it. Unfortunately, I must say that the materials and switchgear were not very durable. The speedo, fuel gauge, heater blower, door lock catches, some of the door handles all broke. It was freezing in the winter. The tape player could start to smoke after a while. The trim in the boot deteriorated and I remember the side of the driver's seat wore down, and I'm sure it was stuffed with straw from the factory! I remember reading that GM's approach with the mk1 was to make a car that was an affordable disposal item but that could be fixed easily and cheaply and for which parts were inexpensive. This was as opposed to an expensive durable car that would last longer, but harder and expensive to fix. This might be why so few of them are left on the roads today. I compare this with my first car, a 1989 mk4 Escort F162 RHM on which all the equipment inside was tough as hell - nothing broke - but the body and sills rusted around it, so those efforts in interior longevity were kind of a false economy. My Volvo 740 GL estate later on was the opposite: reliable, the body is still perfectly intact, but the interior, like the mk1 Astra, is brittle and breaks. I love anything GM though, and I really like the styling. All over the world, every division used the same design language. Specifically including the crease down the centre of the bonnet and usually to a chevron-shaped grille, or a split grille if a Pontiac or HC Viva etc. I must book up to drive this lovely yellow Astra. Really good observation about the gradual changes in fashion between the decades. I love those transitional eras, and 78-82 is my favourite - the best of both worlds, like Adidas pumps. I reckon there's a big exception to this: 50s into the 60s. Buddy Holly, Eddie Cochran and the Big Bopper died in a short space of time and Elvis joined the army. American cars (which led the way style-wise) reached the peak of chrome and fin excess in 1959. In 1960, those fins were chopped back to a 3 box sedan trend as a reaction to criticism that Detroit had gone too far. Pinks, canary yellows, surf greens and baby blues were also out, replaced by black, navy and burgundy. Soon you had the Beatles in black suits. It seems as though the bubblebum colour had instantly been drained out of popular culture temporarily, only to be gradually re-coloured as the summer of love drew closer. That's my take on things anyway.
Wonderful review Steph
I still own a Kadett GT (similar to a MK2 Astra) but with the 16v two liter engine and it is almost done rebuilding. I already had a little test drive in it and it put a right grin on my face. I too am very used to driving modern cars, and it is quite different both in the good and the bad sense, but if I had to choose, I'd take the Astra all day long. It is just such an involved drive and it is still quite fast. When it is ready I would welcome you to come and review it.
Great review Steph, take care out in the hot sun.
Hi Stéphanie ! We visited yesterday the British car museum in Ambergate, Derbyshire. So nice a place ! A very intersting and tidy car collection. Friendly lads !!!!
My granddad had one of those in that shade of colour, it was a 1.2 litre as far as I remember.
Excellent video -- thank you! 🚗
Absolutely Brilliant Review Steph, Love the Colour, Proper 80s!
A guy I worked for had one, and I used to belt down to Tonbridge from Suffolk in it on alternate Sundays! I didn't mind the looks of it, but I preferred his Chevette estate! :-)
Good video, thank you Steph! And good to see you looking so happy! :-)
Thanks for video. Briefly drove a Mk1 Astra and remember it was very nice to drive. Very unusually, it was a diesel. I think engine was from a Bedford Astra Van. Fuel economy was amazing! Not only did it do about 50mpg, diesel was cheaper than petrol back then.
Wow. Lovely looking car. Especially the colour combo! Amazing condition too 😀
ahhh memories, grandpa had a kadett D /astra estate, loved driving with him, a lovely car. har myself a kadett E 1,3s - loved hooning that car around, the engine is brilliant.
I inherited an old Chevette from my dad that I learnt to drive in. It was on its last legs by the time I had it but was good to drive. The first car I bought with my own money was a brown and gold Mk 1 Astra 1.3 EXP limited edition. It was basically a GTE without the GTE engine ! Was a great little car. Good memories
Such a long time since I've seen one of these I'm the wild. I remember the MK2 and MK3 being current and the MK1 being the old model that could be had for peanuts.
In the 90's as a teenager I knew someone a few years older than me who owned a pretty basic 1.3 5dr MK1 which he had repainted black and aftermarket alloy wheels.
It's nice to see a survivor in such origional condition.
I learned to drive in a brown Opel Kadett D with round headlights. Wonderful little car!
Great review Steph 👏 I'm going to have to pay this place a visit.
I had a Mk 1 Astra GTE briefly in 1989 when I was 21. Loved that car but was written off sadly when another young guy in a Golf lost control of his car on a narrow country road. Subsequently had a MK 2 GTe16V which was just about the fastest hot hatch of the time which a brilliant engine though the chassis was a bit overwhelmed by the power. Had many hot hatches and the most fun was a Pug 205GTI 1.9 was so much fun to drive but build quality was crap. Enjoy your videos by the way, keep them coming.
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Fond memories of being taken to school in the Netherlands in a mk1 Opel Kadet that ran on LPG
Can see where the nova got its looks from, I must say that this was a very nice presentation of this car will watch all your other one’s
lovely review steph i have always liked mk1 astra and have been in many including the celebrity special edition which are extremely rare now
my dad missed the mk1 astra due to having a succession of early Novas and chevettes including one of the last
dad had one of the mk2 (a very early base model) when it launched and they moved the game on again and as you said things moved on incrementally from the chevette and i would agree with that
lovely hearing those sounds of the vauxhall 8 valve engines which i grew up with!
Funnily enough my dad kept with the chevette due to familiarity and preferred them to the nova!
Just realised...you filmed at the site of "Johnson & Nephew" an old wire works that was a customer of mine way back in the 1980's,I would have travelled there in my Talbot Horizon,I recall the reception had a one of those plug in switch boards,you know with wires every where? Did you see the old family home situated over the bridge?
I’m not joking at all here but this review changed my mind on the mk1 Astra. Seems really peppy and usable, thank you for the video
Friend of mine had a red 1300S as his first car. Very surprised by it as it went like stink and left a good impression. Nice to see one being reviewed. :)
Fantastic video I love old Vauxhall/ Opel
I owned a 1600s estate MK1 I would prefer the engine in that one to a modern vauxhall engine it was truly reliable
You're great. And so are your videos.
Good Video Steph Again something different car Nice Dress I love your variety of vehicles you drive
Another one of these cars that my Grandad once had.
I had one of these (in green) for about 5 years. It was an excellent car and everything you said about the performance is correct. I would have loved a 5-speed gearbox on it. Sadly, the wings rusted very badly but it was one of my favourites of all the cars I have owned.
The Astra was a big deal in it's day. The GTE was a real working class hero too. I had a 1.6SR for a while and it was a real fun car. Very nice work as usual Steph. You keep bringing back some real good memories for me.
The mate had a silver GTE astra, lovely looking car but the floors disintegrated pretty badly, he had his in 93 and it needed a bit of welding then. Always loved the gte logo👌
I had the 1.6 sr good car but always hankered for the gte lol
@@doodsydoodsy5370 bet you wish you had it now, SR would be worth a few quid now
@@ciartdsfa4899 Absolutely. That and many others.
@@ciartdsfa4899 I certainly do mate when I think of the cars I went through when I was in my twentys like mk 1 v4 capris, mgbs, the stag and so many more I could cry I treated them all as disposable like we all did I expect 😢 beats the focus I now drive but in twenty years I'll be crowing about that to I expect 😆 take care 🙂
A great example of a great car
I had 2 Mk1's in the early 90's, both 1.2's, 1 had a boot (very early model) and 1 had a hatch. I loved both of those cars, decent to drive and very good on fuel but they were throw away at the time I had them.
My grandad had the Vauxhall 1300l, Opel Kadet 1600SR and the GTE too , me I had a black 1600 4 door I put a 2.0 litre 8 valve + 6 speed with mk2 white GTE alloys, digital clocks, Recaro seats disc brakes all round... :)
@@kylereese4822 Sounds like your family are the ones to know for great Astras. I always liked the mk1 GTE over the mk2 and Fords and VW's of the same era and the Kadett a great warm hatch. Your car must have been pretty rapid, do you regret moving it on?
So many old Astras on RUclips at the moment, I wonder if it was planned? Anyway, great video, this Astra looks so good
Awsome video Steph
We had 1.2 ohv engine, basic economy version,with round head lights ,2 door(no third door on a back!),when I was little…happy days!
Wants named this version 2 door?
@@user-gd2sf3ee2f I think they were just the very early ones. boot/trunk door opened like a Mini one if you get me. the hatchback was added slightly later.
My mate bought a red one brand new just after launch - poverty spec but that was bog standard for 1980. The minute the MK2 came out he traded in and got one of them - not long after that Steph I seem to recall that all the MK1's seemed to just vaporise - I don't recall there being a long tail of survivors like there can be with some cars. I also recall a few folk I knew that once had a MK2 bought that Daewoo rehash in the mid/late 90's as they so liked the dash and shape
@Krroverzirconblue couple of people I know had silver one's from memory - despite a hostile motoring press owners certainly liked them. Sadly the press reviews killed 2nd hand value
Lovely little car
In my part of the world it was badged as Opel Astra. It was a very popular. Strong, reliant and drove well. Looking at your summery appearance, it seemes like the the heat has reached the UK.
Lovely yellow colour, still very reminiscent of that Chevette dash and interior.
Great video! Make some videos showing the car on the outside while you're driving!
I had opel Kadett D 13SR,very cool car
I'd love that as a base for a project. 😍
My mum had a 1300L estate in 1982, it had the camshaft replaced under warranty. It was beige five door estate .
Lovely car. I had a mk1 1300 S for my 2nd car, loved that car!
A very good and fair review. We never saw these Astras in Aus, but I noted the power plant was used up until the 90’s with the N13 Pulsar / Holden Astra (albeit updated with EFI and 1.6L). I think I’d still probably look at something Euro for an entry level car. For a “few” quid extra the Renault 18 of the same year came with comfier seats, power windows, central locking, 2 more doors and a boot. 🤣
Great review, the family DNA of the Astra was evident in the MK3 Cavalier. I remember being impressed with the power & crispness to drive of a 1982? 'Y' reg VX Cavalier a real revelation compared to the old Calalier & Cortinas of that era.
They were both rear wheel drive though. Even the Sierra didn't have that power and crispness. The 1988 mk3 cavalier really killed the Sierra.
Love how your cute dress matches its colour. The astra may of moved on but the new astra does not have the same amount of space inside as early one.
Have a good week ahead. 🙂🙂🌞🌞
Loved Vauxhall, had 4 of them but the 80's models seem to have weird colour interiors. My Silver 1984 Nova had a bathroom Green interior! The later models from the 1990's were more 'standard'.
I think weird colors were General Motors thing…
yes i can agree paul my dads original 1983 nova saloon had a green interior on a white bodied car and you could have red as well!
My first car was the Opel version of that in carmine red 👌unfortunately although the car was only 12 years old it was rotten as a pear underneath.
Fond memories though and I did love that car!
I'm just seeing Coilovers and GTE rims no matter what way I look at this car💯🤣😎🔥
Love it ! Had a 1.3 gl as my 2nd car ,felt so zippy and the 6 dial dash is just sooo cool 😊😊, ur looking well too steph 😊x
The Astra alongside the cavalier and nova were all great cars - try a mk3 escort 1.3 against this and the escort feels a bit cheaper to my eyes and I’ve had both. A 1.2 nova was a smoother drive than a mk3 escort 1.3 if you try them back to back. Sure the xr3’s were great and ushered in new levels of road composure but in the lower models the Astra is a car I prefer nowadays
Aww thanks Steph, I love yellow on a classic car more then a modern car it just suits it better.
Here in the US, the Chevette was treated to a facelift that made it LOOK like this car, but it was the same ol' thing underneath. I do think that "Chevette" would be less of a dirty word these days if our Chevette had been replaced by this in 1980.
This is a lovely example of an appliance grade car, which is often rare as time moves on. Thanks for the review.
great video.....i had a 2004 vauxhall astra .... it took me ages to work out how to turn on the interior light.....
I loved mine...... an A-reg. I later had a D-reg. mark 2. They were both excellent cars. My dad had a Cavalier. mark 1 for his company car. Probably the best ever Cavalier, IMO. It was even better than the first Astra.
Looking lovely in yellow, so does the Astra 😁, always liked the MK1 Astra especially as a GTE
Nice,always liked tha mk1 shape astra....the gte was a head turner...a friend used to own a mk1 astra sr ( ultra rare) with the recaros as standard...
I had the Kadett variant of the MK1 and that was a 1.2 in 1985 white with a red interior a 3 door, that car and my Hillman Avenger are the only cars I miss and I've had some nice cars over the years.
I had a 1984 1.6 sr model
Of this car in gold and black with
The recaro seats, was a brilliant little car which handled well back in the day