VX220 - the car they couldn't sell?

[300bhp/ton]

Never released these photos before. But came across them again recently and thought I'd share.

Clearly Vauxhall had issues shifting the VX220 (a shame as a cracking car!!). They were abandoned in this compound for many months back in the day.

[Tycho]

Wow, didn't realise they had that much difficulty shifting them. The crap advertising wouldn't have helped back in the day. Having said that, values are now rising and I really like the look of the Turbo versions although they are currently out of reach for me.

[Wacky Racer]

Where was this?

[TonyRPH]

Back in early 2000 I used to drive past a Vauxhall dealership on a daily basis, on the way to work.

I remember seeing these heavily discounted, as I was rather tempted at the time.

[anonymous-user]

Who signed off on this....

[swisstoni]

Badge snobbery isn’t new.

[JordanM200]

swisstoni said:

Badge snobbery isn’t new.

Hasn't put people off buying Volkswagen.

[SteveR1979]

JordanM200 said:

Hasn't put people off buying Volkswagen.

Errrrrrr

[wpa1975]

Great car ruined by crap advertising.

[DanL]

I had one - it was ace, albeit less reliable than you’d hope. Clearly a Lotus under the covers.

[Emeye]

I remember driving a VX220 Turbo at Bedford Autodrome during one of their corporate experience day back in the early noughties.

It is probably the best road car I have ever driven - it just felt so right, even at low speed. It really left an impression on me.

[Olivera]

Joey Deacon said:

Who signed off on this....

Must be by far the worst car advert in recent memory. Can you imagine Porsche advertising the Cayman using a 'comical' adenoidal character?

[p4cks]

Fantastic cars. The advertising didn't help but neither did the fact that they were exactly the same price as a Lotus Elise and you really can't fault anyone for buying the latter.The ones photographed are all NA cars but later on they had similar issues shifting the Turbos which then became the hideous looking Lotus Europa.

For the record, I love VX220s and would have another in a heartbeat.

[anonymous-user]

You have to put yourself in the position of a new car buyer at the time and ask yourself why on earth you'd buy an uglier version of an Elise, from a dealer accustomed to supporting Corsas and Astras, and lets be honest the naffest badge in the industry does matter. You'd only buy it if it was much cheaper than the Elise, so that's what they had to do.

The turbo versions had a USP over the Elise I suppose, but the NASP ones? Why would you.

[DanL]

stickleback123 said:

You have to put yourself in the position of a new car buyer at the time and ask yourself why on earth you'd buy an uglier version of an Elise, from a dealer accustomed to supporting Corsas and Astras, and lets be honest the naffest badge in the industry does matter. You'd only buy it if it was much cheaper than the Elise, so that's what they had to do.

The turbo versions had a USP over the Elise I suppose, but the NASP ones? Why would you.

As someone who did - usability. The roof, for example, was much better than the S1 Elise in terms of ease of use. It was also more comfortable / refined inside (albeit only just!) as I recall. Finally, I’m sure the NA’s weren’t the same price as an Elise. List prices might have been close, but I doubt many people paid list…

I also preferred the looks over the S1 Elise.

[swisstoni]

Olivera said:

Joey Deacon said:

Who signed off on this....

Must be by far the worst car advert in recent memory. Can you imagine Porsche advertising the Cayman using a 'comical' adenoidal character?

Could have had a helicopter shot of it driving on a coastal road in the South of France, but Ohhh nooooo.

Edited by swisstoni on Wednesday 6th April 11:32

[Zarco]

DanL said:

stickleback123 said:

You have to put yourself in the position of a new car buyer at the time and ask yourself why on earth you'd buy an uglier version of an Elise, from a dealer accustomed to supporting Corsas and Astras, and lets be honest the naffest badge in the industry does matter. You'd only buy it if it was much cheaper than the Elise, so that's what they had to do.

The turbo versions had a USP over the Elise I suppose, but the NASP ones? Why would you.

As someone who did - usability. The roof, for example, was much better than the S1 Elise in terms of ease of use. It was also more comfortable / refined inside (albeit only just!) as I recall. Finally, I’m sure the NA’s weren’t the same price as an Elise. List prices might have been close, but I doubt many people paid list…

I also preferred the looks over the S1 Elise.

VX220 was up against the S2 Elise though.

[300bhp/ton]

Classic car sub forum??? Seriously PH mods...

[bobtail4x4]

wpa1975 said:

Great car ruined by crap advertising.

and a vauxhall badge

[DanL]

Zarco said:

VX220 was up against the S2 Elise though.

Not price-wise.