I have a Mk2 GTE. As much as I like it (had it for 28yrs) I still think the Mk1 is the better looking car.

Even the standard 1.3 Mk1 Astra was great. Having driven a mk 3 Escort and a mk 1 Astra back in the day, the Astra had it for me.

I have been driving now since 1996 and over the years I have had everything from mk1/mk2GTE's, RS Turbo's, R5 GT Turbos, Cosworths, Calibra Turbo, Impreza's etc and the MK1 Astra GTE is one of the few I would have back in a heart beat

Sits / looks so well. One owner , that advert. Even adverts have gone backwards in the 4 decades since.

Oh man what a absolute classic. Trouble with the 80s hot hatches all we see are Fords XR3s and XR2s and Cosworths. Which is lovely but rarely do we see such a clean beautiful classic like this. 115bhp doesn’t seem a lot by todays standards but when you compare that too the power to weight ratio they went like the clappers. I’d much rather have this over a fast ford, because their so rare.

I feel privileged to have owned one. I miss it alot.

My uncle had an A reg one in 84 it was awesome back then wheel spinning absolutely everywhere happy days! 👍👍

Bought a red 84 mk1 GTE in 1991 for £925 loved it drove like a go kart insurance was steep at time mainly down to theft like other vauxhalls of the period cavaliers etc the door locks could be popped with a screwdriver . Rot was a problem water traps under bodykit and with usual drain holes blocked doors tailgate etc i guess thats why they are rare nowadays shame still lovely looking cars.

I owned four of these back in the day, along with multiple Manta's, Mk2 Cav's etc. I still miss mine so much! I even had an SRi 130 with the black bodykit. All worth huge amounts these days.

Would love a mk1 astra gte! Top looking car so rare now.

my favourite car in the world.. had 5 but 1 was the SR! really miss it!

Wow had one of these back in the 1992 and absolutely loved it.. Just wish I could have another one for sensible money but thats never gonna happen😂

Friend at uni had a lowered red one. Cornered on rails. Can still remember the insane speed he went down the Uxbridge Road, then turned right to uni with hardly a lift.

When I was a school child my best mates next door neighbour had a brand new A reg GTE in black. It must have made an impression as my first car in 1989 was an X reg MK1 Astra L 1200S. Not quite as fast but your first car is always the most fun.

I shall impart my advice as a former owner of an A Reg Mk1 GTE in the 90s (in carmine red)... the BODY KIT !!...that will eat your car alive...it traps dirt, salt, water and it's no surprise the prime areas for rust on a GTE are...the Sills, the wings and the wheel arches. I know it's a faff but I strongly recommend that every 8 months or every year, remove the body trim and thoroughly clean and inspect the metalwork. you WILL see a dirt shadow of where the body kit is when you take it off. Check also the lip of the boot lid, that will turn into a Jacob's cream cracker if you're not careful. Lastly, the brakes.... the floating caliper brakes WILL seize unless you check the rubber boots are not split. I ended up doing a 180 on a main road during an emergency stop as my offside front seized open and the nearest front pulled me round....other than that.... best car I had..

That tax disc says September 1996. Has it sat since then? That's mental, what a golden find!

Had one in the same colour it made me feel great back in the day.

I loved these, the Maestro Turbo and it’s saloon counterpart Montego Turbo are much maligned but are great cars.

Top car wish I still had mine loved it.

Love these, wish i had got one before they all dissolved🙃 my 88 16v mk2 Golf passed its mot first time, advisory free this morning so I wont feel too sad about missing out on an astra gte😁

22k wow......mine cost me £4500 on B reg had loads of fun driving it proud to have been an owner...Mrs got pregnant...struggled to sell it....wish I knew then what I know now 😢

Love, love love this car. I had an '83 in silver, after owning a 1300 GL previously, which was also great. In silver the car looks more timeless than the white in my view. Great drivers car, with none of the aids that you mention to keep you out of trouble, I really learned how to drive properly in that thing. I say that, but I did end up crashing it into the back of a Montego when distracted by a passing rally, so that was the end of that. Wish I still had it.

To this day the mk1 is the best looking Astra.

There can't be many if these left now?,I remember my brothers mate had a black one back in the late 90s and they were thin on the ground then.

The shape/profile of this car is simply perfect. Glad to have owned a 1981 Opel Kadett 1.3 Berlina in a kind of burnt orange colour. Great car.

I had the EXP model 1.3 in hazel brown and gold metallic. Fantastic car! Very simple to work on. Brought it in 1988 and drove it daily until 2000! It never once left me stranded. Just after I brought it, my dad brought a white Manta GT/E which he gave to me in 2001/2. I still have the Manta.

Couldn’t help but do a reg check on the promo advert, A532LTM first registered 18 Aug 1983, untaxed due 19 Oct 1989, no mot details held, didn’t have first mot at 3 yrs old, last V5C issued 03 Nov 1987. Sorry for being that guy that had to look!

I had a red one in 88 with a twin titanium tailpipe a friend made for me, I swapped it for a Eddie Lawson Kawasaki Z1000 with a Harris race pipe & braced swing arm they were both a lot of fun 🙂

Wow I still got magazines with a mk1 gte in group tests they were good looking cars

I had the 1.6 sr version on a1984 a reg absolutely loved that car recaro seats and handled very well and was pretty fast for what is was in them days, I met a transit van head on in it on my 25th birthday needless to say we came off worse 😀

A700 BAL Black, it was a beauty.

I love these, they are the epitome of english 80s cool

Fantastic car I had a black A reg one in the early 90s but I sold it because I wanted a MK2 Astra GTE 16v instead now I look back I wish I'd kept them both

Sorry to say I put Kenwood Speakers in my MK1 GTE back in the day, with 6 Kenwood Amps in the boot. Loved the car and the stereo!

I had one of the first in the UK. It was infact an Opel according to the badges under the bonnet.

Great video fab car

How much for the cat...?

My first car was a brand new 1984 B reg Mk1 Astra 1.6SR in white, i was 18 and paid just shy of £2000 for insurance!! Kept it 8 years and did 120000 miles. The SR and GTE had different clocks to lesser astras, they had a rev counter ,voltage gauge, and oil pressure gauge (not just an oil light)

I had a MK1 1.6 Diesel van and I’ve raced A couple in the banger racing

I had 2 a white one and a silver one paid £500 each for them in 1995 absolutely loved everything about them bullet-proof engine there is one up the road from me in very good condition old boy drives it always admire it

Had the mk2 which was quick at the age of 18… I sold it to a local lad and he’d took it off a bridge 3 weeks later and landed it on some disused railway lines! Bloody lucky he lived. 28 years later I’ve still got the original 1.8 engine from the car in my garage.

That stereo was out of a later MK2,....circa D reg onwards ;-) Philips DC751 I think.

my mk2 cav has the exact same fade on the seat belt release buttons

I had a mk1 Astra, A984KLF, a Leaf green 1.3S. it rusted to death after 10 years. So any remaining now are rare and rust free if well loooked after or restored.

Great video, new to your channel

Oh dear god, that has made me weak! My second car was a 1984 Vauxhall Astra 1.6S (we'll not talk about my first car!), and I totally, totally lusted after these..... as you do as a spotty 18 year old in the very late 80's! A88 PTM was the reg, though no idea what happened to it after it left me (records show tax was due May 1989...... Uhhhh....... I'm saying nothing!), but I think it went to Ireland after it left me, hence never being taxed in the UK again. It was referred to as the 'Pre Menstrual Tension' car due to the reg......yeah, yeah..... terrible I know... but we were a bunch of teenagers in the late 80's - it was funny to us at the time!! 🤣

She’s so pretty 😍

In the late 80s I had a silver Mark1 GTE as a 19-21 year old lad and absolutely adored it, fabulous car to drive and so much rarer than the fast Fords and Golfs. A291 GLO - it's still around and is on Instagram, but unfortunately it has been bastardised and repainted gold with black wheels...

My mate had a red one. He went full max power with it with a monster sub woofer and venoms! His name was Tom though!

My uncle brought a 5 door Opel version of this beauty from France to Portugal, about 30 years ago, but while trying to license it here the company just lost the documents and the car is stopped since then with just around 70000 Kms!

Yet another car from my long line of car's I should never have sold, owned a couple over the years, a white (deffo the best colour) Irmscher kitted one B393MDF around 89-91/92 (after I had it, it got painted black apparently 😒) and later I had a black one A370HDX, for a short time, great fun cars, never see one at classic car shows these days.

My friends dad had one, despite only 118bhp, it was very quick. Probably because there are card board boxes heavier than it. One of my best mates had the mk2 16v years later, another car way faster than it bhp would suggest.

This was our family car from 1983 to 1991.

Hi Guys! Can me please someone explain why are the Uk GTEs with the bigger mirrors produced? My '83 SR and '84 GTE is with the smaller Engelmann mirrors. Greetings from Hungary.

I was just a young lad when these came out, & they didn't cross the pond unfortunately (I was 6 in 1983 😋). I'm just now hearing about them b/c of a recent episode of Wheeler Dealers. I don't suppose GM made a cooresponding Hot Hatch for The States did they? You'd think they would have made a "Cavalier GTE", or whatever the small car was that was available in '84?

got a white mk2 gte 8v running project that may be for sale soon.

whats the soundtrack used in the video?

Hell yes

Mmm yes please 😍👌

The B Reg cars were so much better with the close ratio box, the A plate cars had the Cavalier CD long ratio box and felt sluggish in 4th and 5th gears

I had a gold mk 1 1.6 astra sport nice car, pretty nippy it was too, but not as quick and don't laugh as the vauxhall Belmont I had...it it looked pretty basic, but it was quick!

There's a reason these are lightweight. I remember seeing one in the aftermath of a collision with a Honda (Accord or Prelude - I can't remember which). The Honda got a fat lip, but the GTE basically had its face caved in. Thanks but no thanks.

If it's got a squeaky clutch pedal...i'll have it 😆

115........no way........ my 1.6 astra estate could do 120........ 4 speed manual.... :) it was a B reg though........B218 CFV wow...orginal phillips.....tuneeees.... mine had at least three nicked... :) A thing of boxyness this is...:) N x

‘Capable of 115mph’ 😂 I think the sales team missed the point of the thing, I mean I’m guessing it’s got a short ratio box meant for acceleration, not top speed. Even a 1L Seat Arosa can sit at 110mph (I’ve heard).

I had B registration GTE in black bought it for £250 in the mid 90s was good for handbrake turns 😄

White on white

Not many left because they were all nicked and crashed. An absolute twockers delight.

If you think these are rare, then how about my Corolla Gti-16v. Only 29 on the road in q3 2022

I love it, but I’d prefer to spend my money on civic type R FK8..

There was nothing wrong with Venoms back in the day 😛

The Astra GTE in the TV advert does exist and I have been the owner of it since 2005. The car actually used and confirmed by Vauxhall along with 1983 photographs was a pre production Astra GTE registered as GTM 420Y and was used by them in 1983 as a test & development car with occasional press duties, the car was sent to Ireland by Vauxhall to film the TV advert in the spring of 1983 and filmed displaying a newer DVLA reserved A registration plate (A532 LTM) that plate would later in 1983 be assigned to Andrew Woods GpA Astra GTE rally car. Also later in 1983 GTM 420Y became a works supported GpN rally car driven very successfully by Brian Wiggins winning the 1984 GpN British Rally Championship. Brian Wiggins is featured on the Vauxhall poster in your video wearing rally overalls applying rally decals to a B registered road GTE

It weights 30% more with that tow bar.

Beautiful car but for 22k it bloody stay that way lol

needs some under the bonnet attention

What is that car worth 1 owner crazy number 🤪🤪🤪🤪

I had a MkI SR. Not fast, a bit tatty, but alright really. Until some moron stole the front seats, that is.

We had a white Astra Gte as a pool car at Computer Automation in the '80s, we called it the fridge. Real licence loser.

any one else notice the disconnected speedo , that is fraud , this car has done more miles than is on the clock , typical 2nd hand car dealer

NOT THAT MANY LEFT COS THEY WAS NICKED & STRIPED ,THEY WAS A NICE CAR

The assistant manager of a motorists shop I worked at had a Mazda 323GT that was quite impressive too.