At the week-end I saw a car transporter loaded with 10/12 new,unregistered left hand drive Opel Kadetts on board. This was on the M5 in Worcestershire travelling south.
Would these be from Ellesmere Port where I thought, though I could be wrong on this, GM make them as Astras? There is a huge compound of unsold cars close to the M5 near Avonmouth on down the M5, their destination?
Seemed very odd for new left hand drive cars to be transported around the country. Wouldn't GM be making their left hand drive cars at their continental plants?
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I use the M53 daily and quite often see car transporters loaded with Opel-badged Astras. I guess when they designed the platform for the Astra they made it easy to change it from right to left-hand drive.
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If its badged Kadette then is not going to Europe as these are all called Astras so I would suggest Africa where it does not matter what side the steering wheel is on.
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Vauxhall Ellesmere Port doesn't have "Home of the Astra" (Opel or Vauxhall) across the front of the factory for nothing.... although the Astra is made all over the place in reality.
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I've sometimes thought that GM would be better off dropping the Vauxhall name and calling them Opel across Europe ..... for people over 40 (like me) the name still has bad associations with rusty Vivas and the like .........
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> ...the [Vauxhall] name still has bad associations...
And I suppose the number of people who remember Opel's association with German National Socialism (the shorter N-word gets starred out here) is diminishing. It's true that most of the current lineup looks better without the naff V grille. (Or is that just my pet peeve about the laziness of using an initial letter as a corporate badge?)
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At the week-end I saw a car transporter loaded with 10/12 new,unregistered left hand drive Opel Kadetts on board. This was on the M5 in Worcestershire travelling south.
Curious...AFAIK, the Kadett name was dropped, for the European market at least, years ago. According to Wikipedia, the last Opel Kadetts were made for South Africa in 1999.
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Curious...AFAIK, the Kadett name was dropped, for the European market at least, years ago. According to Wikipedia, the last Opel Kadetts were made for South Africa in 1999.
Astras have been Astras here for a fair while - 99 sounds about right.
Before that, the hatchback was a Kadett, and the booted version was the Astra.
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Maybe its like one of those postcards that turn up 50 years late and the actual mail was sent in 1998 when they still made Kadettes
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Indeed!
If it a left-hooker, It won't be local market - new LHDs are banned.
As mentioned, maybe elsewhwere in Africa, perhaps?
Off on a tangent, many local Opel owners spend $$$ on rebadging their cars as Vauxhalls!!??!!
Local accesory shops do Vauxhall bonnet/boot badges, wheel badges, steering wheel badges and stickers. Lord knows why ...
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"Local accesory shops do Vauxhall bonnet/boot badges, wheel badges, steering wheel badges and stickers. Lord knows why ..."
Perhaps it harks back to the days when Vauxhall exported its own unique models to the far flung empire?
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I remember back in the late 70s / early 80s you could buy both Opel & Vauxhall in the UK, identical cars just with different trim & badges.
Altho' the Kadett version of the first Astra didn't have a hatch but a flip-up "boot" IIRC
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Altho' the Kadett version of the first Astra didn't have a hatch but a flip-up "boot" IIRC
Yep, certainly did.
Wasn't the Chevette also called the Kadett in its Opel guise?
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Wasn't the Chevette also called the Kadett in its Opel guise? - Yes but much nicer looking cars without the dreadful shovel nose and a far better set of engines.
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