Friday 21st September 2012

SOTW: Opel Senator

From a time when men were men, tabs were smoked and cassettes were listened to

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Ok, confession time. Up until stumbling across this yesterday and it meeting with PH approval, I was unaware that this generation of Opel/Vauxhall Senator even existed. The word Senator conjured images of the second-generation car with two rectangular exhaust tips, a 24v badge and, more often than not, full Police livery. This is the first Senator 'A' I've ever seen, for sale or on the road.

Squishy: the Velcro delights of velour

So, what to make of it? Well, it clearly hails from a time when categorising cars was far simpler than now, when 'crossover' was what you did between lanes and a luxury car was always a saloon with plentiful room for driver, passengers and their luggage. There's a big (2.5-litre) and a smooth straight six in the front, powering the rear wheels through a conventional automatic 'box. Lovely.

At 4841mm long, the Senator was probably a massive car on British roads in 1984. Today, it's 1cm longer than a Vauxhall Insignia saloon. Moreover, because the general consensus on crash safety in the 80s was not to have much, the Senator is unencumbered by high-tensile steel pillars or safety cells. I mean, look at the size of the glass areas and how narrow the pillars are. This will feel like an open-air theatre to those accustomed to piloting more modern cars, and the (factory-fit option) sunroof will only add to the sense of space and lightness.

As well as that, would you check out those wheels and big, plump tyres, just the thing for wafting your passengers along in total comfort whilst they watch the world go by.

Yo ho me hearties, steer east-sou-east

Though it seems I'm banging on about the good ol' days, there are certain areas where progress has delivered welcome change. Interiors, for example. That of the Senator is certainly not as appealing as its other features; the centre console is a cliff face, the steering wheel gigantic and the lever for the auto 'box resembles a mallet. And where's the leather?

But it's cruel to look for foibles in such an elusive old barge, especially one that appears in such great condition and is on offer at such a low price. Its 69,000 miles and four owners have certainly been kind to it; with tax and an MOT until next year, it's ready for someone to become the fifth and glide around for a few more. Just be prepared to tell people what it is...

Original advert is reproduced below

Paint code - Ron Burgundy

1984 2.5 Opel Senator. Carnelian Red with Black Velour Interior. Just 4 previous owners. 69,000 miles on the clock and old MOTs back to 2003. Current MOT until March 2013 and taxed until the end Jan 2013.Factory Fitted Tilt and Slide Steel Sunroof. Central Locking. 4 x Electric Windows. Original Alloys, good tyres. Blaupunkt Radio Cassette. Nice reliable classic. Might consider swap. WHY? £999

[X5TUU]

Well it epitomises the word "barge" .... I have seen these before and seems a whole lot of car for the money but worrying old vauxhall build quality would scare me, but I'm sure the weigh in value would be HUUUUUGE on this in a worst case scenario lol!

[GTIAlex]

The wrong side of retro and cool for me, im out.

[teacake]

Oh, dear me no. Not at that price. £300 maybe, but £999?

[kambites]

I think that's rather lovely, in a thoroughly non-pretentious sort of way.

[Drakey52]

Granada 2.8 Ghia of this era - yes, Professionals cool. The Senator, sadly not. However....a Monza at this price would make the cut I think.

[Krikkit]

That's a nice old wallower, definitely not going to be stuck next to another in a queue!

[trando]

Just shows you how far car design/safety etc has come in the last 20 years. Not my cup of tea but I can see why it would appeal to some...

[PatrickOUFC]

Not seen one of these on the roads for years. I like it, in a leftfield sort of way...
Good shed

[esvcg]

Wrong colour for me, saw one in a gun metal type grey, and it looked good. If this one was that colour, I would be very interested.

Also you wouldn't lose any money on this.

[bakerstreet]

My dad had a Cavalier of the same era. It rotted alot! It also had the same cliff face dash and some tasteful velour seats. I didn't like it and on that basis I don't really like the Senator. I do like the rear lights though

[rossub]

I love a lot of 80s cars, but not this. I cant really think of anything thats good about it.

[Trusty Steed]

Mates dad had a 3.0 on on a B' plate I think.... It did go well I thought! My Dad still had his Toledo, so the Senator was a big step up! Good Shed... Wonders if there are any Monza's left out there still????

[Sifly]

I had a Carlton 2.5 of the same era when I was about 18.
Lovely comfy motorway barge, but burnt more oil than petrol!!
Replaced it with an Astra GTE 6 months later.

[stu67]

My dad had one of those in 80's gold. Damn good car if I can remember, certainly the overall feel and build quality was better than the mk4 Cortina that was traded in for it. I'm sure his was a 3 litre though? lots of european jaunt's undertaken in great (well for the day) comfort.

I'm in! now wheres the Duran Duran tapes?

[CDP]

I always liked these (though preferred the MK2). That's such a cool '80s colour too, rather than all these monochromatic German cars of today.

Ironically GM dropped the Opel name in the 80's because they thought the German badge was hurting sales. Then again the problem with Vauxhall was more Vectra related than the British badge; I don't think an Opel sticker would have made much difference.

[Garlick]

I may have had an input into this one.

YES PLEASE

[JamesHayward]

I think it's pretty cool (and I am not a Vauxhall fan!) on the basis of it's Aussie cousin. The HDT VK SS



which came from...



I'm sure you can pick up a 308 engine pretty cheap these days and start building yourself a proper weapon!

Still not sure it's worth a grand though

[Sifly]

Trusty Steed said:

Mates dad had a 3.0 on on a B' plate I think.... It did go well I thought! My Dad still had his Toledo, so the Senator was a big step up! Good Shed... Wonders if there are any Monza's left out there still????

Yes! Theres been a couple of nice low mile Monza's for sale with specialists recently for around £5000!

Here you go
http://www.4starclassics.com/Opel-Monza-GSE-For-Sa...

Edited by Sifly on Friday 21st September 10:21

[mrtwisty]

esvcg said:

...you wouldn't lose any money on this.

Really?

Interesting and different, and I'm very glad that some are willing to keep stuff like this on the road... but I just can't see how it is worth a bag of anyone's hard earned. A monkey maybe, a grand - no thanks.

[Hugo a Gogo]

I think it was more common as a Vauxhall Royale in the UK