Vauxhall Calibra Turbo 4x4 | PH Auction Block
Fancy a time machine? Course you do...
It is easy now, through the doom-scroll lens of 2026, to understand why a young person might find the ‘90s intriguing. Though it didn’t necessarily feel like Xanadu as a lived experience (because life isn’t like that), in retrospect it definitely feels like we were having considerably more fun than seems permissible today. Certainly we drank more, in public, for frighteningly less outlay. But, of course, we were also as innocent as lambs - largely shielded from cultural globalisation and virtually immune from social media or its pernicious effects.
It is a measure of this innocence that we thought the Calibra dead cool. Or at the very least, cool for something that would most likely be owned by your mate’s dad. There is some evidence to suggest that, commercially speaking, Vauxhall was attempting to see off the likes of the Honda Prelude and Toyota Celica with a sporty coupe of its own - although in many ways this seems like post-internet justification: the third-gen Prelude and fifth-gen Celica were hardly world beaters. More likely Vauxhall did it because that’s how it rolled back in the day. And to knacker the Ford Probe.
This rival it need hardly have worried about; the Probe looked like the proverbial tramp’s hat, and was about as popular in the UK as an actual tramp at a royal wedding. The Calibra, meanwhile, was shaped like a bullet (it proving the most aerodynamically efficient mass-produced car of its era was a factoid that apparently every owner knew), an attribute that helped conceal the stock Vectra A platform beneath and the humble eight-valve four-pot that powered the entry-level model.
Things were infinitely more lively with the 16-valve red top, though it wasn’t until Vauxhall attached a KKK turbocharger that the Calibra earned an output beyond 200hp. Helpfully, the upgrade came hand-in-hand with all-wheel drive, which saw the model’s 0-62mph time dip below 7 seconds and made 150mph a genuine possibility. The Getrag six-speed manual was a novelty, too, thanks to its additional ratio.
Granted, no E36 M3 owner would’ve been looking over their shoulder - certainly not on any road with corners - but the Turbo had more grunt than a Mk3 Golf VR6, and the traction to go with it. From the perspective of a ‘90s teenager (one untroubled by the worldliness that comes with a smartphone), its unlikely combination of qualities spoke for themselves. Its appetite for petrol and consumables was easily forgiven in the light of its performance, though the former likely dented its appeal when new.
This made it uncommon in its day, and rarer than hen’s teeth more than thirty years later. Hence the rapturous (if age-appropriate) reception at PH towers for this example, slowly making its way to auction next weekend. No, it isn’t museum-grade, and its low mileage is partly the result of a lengthy stint in dry storage. But it’s been recommissioned and apparently passed its last MOT with flying colours. It seems like an overstatement to suggest there are none like it, though you won’t find much in 2026 that resonates at quite the same frequency. Unless you've already made a considerably larger offer for this.
The comment about E36 M3 has me remembering a time when my E36 328 was absolutely trounced by a Vectra V6 turbo, and it wasn’t the VXR.
. I quite liked them at the time but didn't desire one like an Escort Cosworth.
I know it’s just a Cavalier underneath (they were criticised for this at the time along with the cavalier interior) but they look so good.
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