Vauxhall Astra

The Astra was Vauxhall Motors' first front wheel drive[?] car produced for sale. It was launched in 1979 and is still manufactured in an updated form today. The Astra is also built in Germany as the Opel Kadett[?], and in Australia as the Holden Astra.

• Mk 1 (1979-1984)
• Mk 2 (1985- 1991)
• Mk 3 (1992 - 1999)
• Mk 4 (2000 - )

All models were designed as three or five door hatchbacks. The Astra originally superseded the Chevette, but the first models were sold alongside the Chevette. The Astra was a wholly new design, not derived from any of the earlier Vauxhall models. It featured a new engine design with an overhead camshaft[?], aluminium alloy cylinder head, hydraulic valve lifters, with capacities of 1300 and 1600cc. Later, an 1800cc version was introduced for the Mk 1 GTE model. For the Mk 2, capacities were raised to 1400cc, 1800cc and a new 2000cc engine, again used on the Mk 2 GTE. In addition, a 16-valve twin-cam version of the 2000cc engine was developed for a high performance GTE model, yielding 156 bhp in manufactured form. This range of engines was also used for later models of the Cavalier[?], Nova[?], Vectra[?], etc.

The Mk 2 Astra was also developed into a more conventional "three box" design with a boot (trunk), and badged as the Belmont[?].