Friday 10th August 2007

SOTW: Senator 3.0 24v

The Carlton may have been more successful, but the Senny was the real hero

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Who could forget the Vauxhall Senator 3.0 24v?

Forget the Carlton, you want a Senator

This big British bruiser was a favourite for MDs and CIDs alike and it’s probably one of the most underrated cars on the second-hand market today.

Originally badged as an Opel, the ‘Senny’ was designed for hammering down German autobahns in luxury. It was refined, had a superb chassis and had plenty of gadgets including leather seats, electric windows and ABS all as standard.

This model on sale uses the 204bhp 3.0-litre 24v petrol unit, which was the pick of the range. It offered masses of poke, even by today’s standards, and was renowned for being bulletproof. However, most 24v engines had weak timing chain problems around 120K so if the odometer is anywhere near that figure, get it checked. A replacement may set you back £500, but that’s better than your engine going bang.

Astonishingly for a car that cost £24,000 new, most Senators now float under the grand marker. At this price, it's rare to find an example with fully-functioning electrics, so this could be the one. Get it right and the Senny is an understated luxury performance saloon you can use everyday.

 

 

Vauxhall Senator 3.0 24v Auto (trade) £695

Silver, petrol, J reg. Very clean car inside & out, excellent driver, new MoT and new tax, all the extras, everything works.

Source: www.autotrader.co.uk

[Road_Terrorist]

I think you mean Odometer rather than Tachometer

[JulesV]

That is an almost irresistible shed! Have always rasther liked these and somehow they look even better now. Add a nice straight 6, rwd and comfy interior and what more could you want? Maybe I should get one as my daily runaround......

[Morningside]

I had the 2.5L version and it was a great car. Very comfortable and good top end. Would make a great barge, but looks a bit long in the tooth now. The only thing that let it down IMO was the nasty (cheap) looking grill.

Apart from that

[Garlick]

Road_Terrorist said:

I think you mean Odometer rather than Tachometer

Sorted

[plasticpig]

They are great barges and very comfortable. I used to have a white one and had a great time on motorways flashing my lights on and off so every one would get out of my way

[Mafioso]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Isn't exactly an attractive classic is it!?

[Mafioso]

Why has this item just disappeared from the home page!?!?

[Aerofoil]

When I was a naughty youngster, once took my dads one out for a bit of a rag. Managed to get it up to 150 leptons, straight past a police car coming down the fly over....... By luck he didn't have his camera etc turned on, but I sure as hell got the rap for it when the police came round my house to advise my dad on not letting such a young lad out in such a high powered car!

[Stu R]

far from pretty but great cars

[stuartbuckell]

Look at that lovely plastic plank down the side of it.

Might be £695 quid, but theres a good reason for it!



Edit... actually might make a bloody good car to do a European rally in. Use and dump!

Edited by stuartbuckell on Friday 10th August 17:22

[b11ocx]

I did manage to send a 3.0 24V to the great scrap yard in the sky. Had one as a company car and had a fairly low speed head on with an Artic. Held up surprisingly well !

[scruffy]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

[flattotheboards]

Aerofoil said:

When I was a naughty youngster, once took my dads one out for a bit of a rag. Managed to get it up to 150 leptons, straight past a police car coming down the fly over....... By luck he didn't have his camera etc turned on, but I sure as hell got the rap for it when the police came round my house to advise my dad on not letting such a young lad out in such a high powered car!

150leptons? isnt that like 15000mph? anyway absolute bargain for what you are getting.

[Kubica]

Are these always autos? what power are the 3.0l Carltons? 204bhp in a slightly smaller lighter car could be rather fun for a track shed

[Craig]

used to have the 3.0 12v version

was a great drive - loads of power and very refined

only problem was I had a £900 service bill with loads of things picked up

I remember the digital dash had a fault where every now and again all the info would vanish and it would only rest irself a few seconds later - bit worrying when you can't tell what speed you are doing!

also the cruise control stopped working such that when you activated it it just kept on accelerating!

scary!

Craig

[DennisTheMenace]

a mate bought bob the planners off him for £20 still going strong today

[Lippy]

i've got the 3.0 Omega Elite - great cars, loads available for not much more than this one

mines a manual too, not a poxy auto!

[sidevinders]

"also the cruise control stopped working such that when you activated it it just kept on accelerating!

scary!"


Actually it want broke, We used to have one of theese 3.0 24v....superb car, shame the electrics werent as bullet proof as the engine

The cruise control on our car worked as thus..

press cc button......car accelerates
press cc again to set speed once at desired speed

It does seem an odd set up i agree it did catch mum out a couple of times tho 90...100...110 err mum what speed are we soing and why?

You can say what you like about the styling they were roomy, luxurious, quick, good sound system. The perfect barge

[Rob_the_Sparky]

You really wonder if the people slagging it off have ever experienced one...great cars although better after the police had been fettling them! No electrics to go wrong, manual box and tweaked suspension (possibly tweaked engine but never got that confirmed).

Rob

[h4muf]

I enjoyed the lump better in my old gsi3000.
loved that car,would love a proper minter but there getting rare.