Talk:General Motors Vectra

I'm a bit disturbed by the addition of 'General Motors' as a marque in Wikipedia for these Opels. The only car I know GM ever sold under that make was the EV-1. I know whomever created this page did so to overcome squabbling between Opel, Vauxhall, Chevrolet and Holden fans but could the principal page not be at Opel, which did engineer the car and had its models out first? Stombs 00:07, Aug 27, 2004 (UTC)


 * I agree. The agreed standard is to use the "most popular" or "longest-lived" make/model as the base article and to use redirects for any others.  I'd like to move this to Opel Vectra since that's the real home of this model. --SFoskett 18:55, Oct 4, 2004 (UTC)

User 213.122.31.131
This user just changed the entire article. Doesn't look like a copyvio, but this text should be integrated, not overwritten!

Here it is: OPEL VECTRA MK1/VAUXHALL CAVALIER MK3 (1988-1995)

The first generation Opel Vectra began production in the autumn of 1988 as replacement for the Ascona. Like its predecessor it was built in Germany, but the British-built version was sold as the Vauxhall Cavalier. It had contemporary styling on the outside and comfortable accommodation on the inside. Power came from 1.4, 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 four-cylinder petrol engines as well as a 1.7 turbo-diesel. Some of the range could be specified with power steering, electric windows, antilock brakes, alloy wheels and central locking to name a few luxuries.

Bodystyles were a five-door hatchback and a four-door saloon. There was no estate version, a disappointing ommission since the Ford Sierra, Peugeot 405 and Renault 21 were also sold as estates.

The Vectra/Cavalier's most successful year was 1991, when the British built version established itself as a better selling car than its arch rival the Ford Sierra. It was firmly established as one of the most competent cars in its class, although residuals and reliability were not brilliant.

A mild facelift in the autumn of 1992 saw the whole Vectra/Cavalier range get fuel injection engines and a few tweaks to the exterior. But it was still largely the same car which had come second in the European Car of the Year Awards four years earlier.

VAUXHALL/OPEL VECTRA MK2 (1995-2002)

Late in 1995, General Motors introduced an all-new Vectra which was so named on British Vauxhalls as well as European Opels. There was also an Australian built version called the Holden Vectra, and in 1999 the Vectra chassis spawned the American-built Saturn SC-1.

As before, the Vectra was available as a five-door hatchback and four-door saloon but this time there was also an estate car. The 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0 16-valve engines were all-new but criticised for their disappointing performance. The chassis too was hardly exciting. Vauxhall/Opel answered this criticism within a year of the launch by introducing a 2.5 V6 24-valve Vectra which could exceed 140mph.

A facelift in the spring of 1999 with 2,500 improvements boosted the Vectra range, but it was still overtaken in several areas by the class leading Peugeot 406 and Ford Mondeo.

In 2000 there were two additions to the Vectra's engine line-up, 2.2 four-cylinder and 2.6 V6 petrol engines. Both of these power units kept to Vauxhall-Opel's reputation of producing refined and strong performing engines.

VAUXHALL/OPEL VECTRA MK3 (2002-present)

In the spring of 2002, the Vauxhall-Opel Vectra was relaunched in an entirely new format. It was all-round improvement over its predecessor in terms of build quality, refinement, handling and performance, but could not match the all-round competency of the Ford Mondeo.

Flagship of the new Vectra range was the impressively refined and strong performing 3.2 V6 which could top 150mph. The interior was unimaginatively styled but extremely spacious and comfortable.

The Vectra chassis also spawned a larger five-door hatchback called the Signum, which contained probably the best interior of any car Vauxhall-Opel had ever produced.

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_Vectra"