UK’s rarest cars: 1984 Vauxhall Senator, one of only nine left
Despite being a rebadged top-of-the-range Opel, this sumptuous saloon undercut the Ford Granada and appealed to ‘buy British’ sensibilities
Badge-engineering is the art of marketing the same car under a different brand name and convincing potential buyers that it is a different machine. The Mini was sold as both an Austin and a Morris during its first 10 years, while in 1984 the former Opel Senator from Germany became a “British” Vauxhall. The affluent motorist could now enjoy a fine saloon without qualms about their patriotism.
The original A1-series Opel Senator debuted in 1977, followed in 1978 by its Vauxhall Royale stablemate. In November 1982, Opel facelifted the Senator as the A2, with a more streamlined body and a choice of 2.5 and 3.0-litre engines, both with improved fuel-injection. When UK sales began in 1983, there was to be no “Vauxhall Royale A2”, as the parent company General Motors wanted to enhance its Opel marque’s image in this country.
Five years earlier, buyers could choose an Opel equivalent for almost every Vauxhall – a Kadett instead of a Chevette, an Ascona instead of a Cavalier or a Rekord instead of a Carlton. By 1983, the only Opels sold in the UK were the Senator, its three-door fastback Monza stablemate and the Manta coupé. Opel was now a brand for sporting and luxury vehicles, aiming its products at the keen social climber.
Motor found the flagship Senator 3.0 CD “a more complete and accomplished package” than the Audi 200E, even if they described its interior as having “shades of Cavalier”. The magazine also preferred the Opel to the Volvo 760 GLE and the Renault 25 V6.
On October 17 1984, The Telegraph reported that: “The splendid Opel Senator saloons are now being badged as Vauxhalls, in deference to the susceptibilities of fleet operators with a notional ‘Buy British’ policy.” As with all A2 and A1-series models, the new Vauxhall was built in Germany. However, the Luton-based firm’s Griffin badge meant the Senator now appealed to police forces and business owners who shunned a “foreign marque”.
And a 3.0i CD, such as John Hoare’s 1984 example, had much to offer a buyer who could afford the necessary £13,994, from its 180bhp engine to a 127mph top speed. Vauxhall boasted that the Senator’s price compared favourably “with more mundane executive saloons” – in other words, the CD was slightly cheaper than the Ford Granada Mk2 2.8i Ghia X at £14,154.
The 3.0i CD was also very well appointed, with air-conditioning, automatic transmission, heated front seats, a “leather-clad adjustable steering wheel”, an electronic instrument display and a velour-clad interior. This specification, according to Vauxhall at least, “compares with cars far higher priced and more expensive to run”.
Such copy translates as “we need conquest sales from ‘prestige marques’” and Hoare regards his Senator 3.0i CD as underrated compared with Jaguars and BMWs of the same era. However, he contends that the smaller Vauxhall Carlton 2.0i CD was “a similar car for about £4,000 less. You would have to have been a true Vauxhall/Opel fan to pay the extra for a new Senator.”
The Senator B replaced the A2 in 1987, after sales of 16,023 units, including the UK-market Opel versions. Only nine examples of the A2 3.0i CD are believed to remain on the road.
Hoare first bought a Senator in 1996: “It was my daily driver and I had grown to love the car.” Naturally, he wanted another A2, and encountered this example after seeing an Ebay listing in 2009. “I contacted the owner and had a very long chat with him. I put in a bid above its reserve price, won the auction, and collected the Senator from Colchester with a 460-mile round trip in one day.”
This Senator has been used for touring the UK, and Hoare finds it a “fantastic long-distance cruiser. We drove the 450 miles from Ullapool to home in 10 hours, including breaks. Thanks to room for four adults and a huge boot, the miles flew by.” His Senator 3.0i CD more than fulfilled Vauxhall’s claims of “last-word luxury with an engaging kind of practicality”.
In addition, the Senator’s name seemed more dignified than that of the Royale, which seemed reminiscent of a failing cinema on the outskirts of Basingstoke.
[Source: Daily Telegraph]
