Vauxhall 'Red Top' Appreciation Thread

[adamlstr]

I've got a lot of love and time for a red top. Thought it's worthy of a thread, for anything red-top, be it Vauxhall, Kit Car, shoved in a Lotus, whatever....

 

[AdDaMan]

Really? lol

 

[Paul172sport]

Good Times. Many fond memories of me n mates squeezing these into novas. I had couple cavalier sri130s do only 8v but yeah grey engine be it ns or throttle bodies or the LET turbo.

 

[imprezaworks]

Loved that era

 

[Nick_Leeds]

I really couldn’t think of a car company 2000 to now that are quite as s**t as Vauxhall.

But Lotus Carltons, GSIs, Cavalier 4x4 Turbo and Novas were all amongst my favourites growing up. Deffo have a 4x4 Cav from that era. It won’t happen as I guess they are all rotten or ruined. If i won the lottery i’d have a Lotus Carlton.

Also have a lot of love for the Omega too.

Wonder why they started getting it so wrong?

 

[Paul172sport]

Not red top but eco tec... I k ow this is where it started to go wrong.

But... 302bhp and 310lbft

Excuse the crap photo

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

I do love a Cavalier. Would have a turbo all day long. I knew someone that had a C20XE Nova years ago. He drove like an absolute nutter. It was pretty terrifying for what it was.

It was a great engine, but the chassis' in that era weren't usually up to much.

I really couldn’t think of a car company 2000 to now that are quite as s**t as Vauxhall.

But Lotus Carltons, GSIs, Cavalier 4x4 Turbo and Novas were all amongst my favourites growing up. Deffo have a 4x4 Cav from that era. It won’t happen as I guess they are all rotten or ruined. If i won the lottery i’d have a Lotus Carlton.

Also have a lot of love for the Omega too.

Wonder why they started getting it so wrong?

Given the popularity of VXRs, I'm not sure they did get it wrong 😂 the cooking models aren't nearly as bad as some make out. They're always discounted like mad so are cheap and usually have quite a lot of equipment. If you're just looking for a car to get about (i.e. most people), they're alright.

 

[Krarl]

Finally! Something that speaks to my chav nature!!

A friend of my dads Corsa B

 

[mossyv6]

Nova GSI or Astra GSI are cars i anchor over.

We travelled to Chester 2 months ago to view a “mint” GSI Nova in silk violet that had a mark on every panel, rusty turrets, rusty battery tray etc, etc - this is when I got a reality check and remember the joys of owning a Nova SR, Gte, Astra GTE and Calibra 16v, lol.

 

[Krarl]

Yup @mossyv6!😂

My dads MK3 Astra was 65% welding wire by the time be was done😂

 

[Not a Diesel!!!]

Back in period I ran a couple of opel manta s for 6 years. 1992 to 1998.

At samd time my bro had mk1 gte astra. He replaced with an 88 16v gte astra. that was the 156 bhp red top. He then moved on to mk3 Gsi red top then ecotec. He did not really understand cars and just kept going newer. I don't think he realised he went 156bhp to 150 to 136.

But that 16v gte was ballistic mid 90s. Had a scorpion exhaust and bbr starchip. Not much would touch it in a straight line. Low end torque and revved. Had a good 25 bhp more than any other period hot hatch. Most roast tests quoted 7.2 to 60 but I am sure I seen a 6.9 in one mag. And if was just under 20 secs to the ton.

Manta would eat up in the bends tho.

 

[Not a Diesel!!!]

Back in those days mods was about looking at small ads in the back of car magazines and phoning uk mail order. Borrowing parents credit card.

 

[Not a Diesel!!!]

My ideal dream was always a manta with a red top with may be 180 bhp.

 

[gez 172]

Not a Redtop - but one I regret not sticking a 2.0 in.

 

[Martin_172]

First fast car I was ever in was my mates big brothers Calibra 4x4 I was about 10yr old and hooked instantly 😂

 

[Donny_Dog]

I'd say 'those were the days' but to be honest, I look back now and think they were sh*t.
Handled like boats, barring the Cav GSI with independent rear suspension and 150 bhp was as heady as you dare go. Boasting Dads in the pub beer garden about DOHC when they had no idea what it meant. But it didn't matter. You pretended you were John Cleland at the lights and Stones bitter was cheap. If you had the Astra GTE you were 'current' as you had the digital dash - which told you next to fck all about anything accurately. The Nova crew hung to a badge like it was the first bird they fingered - WHAT was an SR? The SRI just meant multipoint injection. But if you had a Merit, you'd grow up living with your mum until your 40's.

So many social media posts of registration numbers "wish I'd never sold it - hoping anyone knows where it is now" but even if it was found, driving it would be an ultimate let down. Great to look back, but jesus they were all s**t.



And I have a 106 and Saxo in my late 30's. What a tosser I turned out to be.

 

[AdDaMan]

This.

 

[Marc.]

I'd say 'those were the days' but to be honest, I look back now and think they were sh*t.
Handled like boats, barring the Cav GSI with independent rear suspension and 150 bhp was as heady as you dare go. Boasting Dads in the pub beer garden about DOHC when they had no idea what it meant. But it didn't matter. You pretended you were John Cleland at the lights and Stones bitter was cheap. If you had the Astra GTE you were 'current' as you had the digital dash - which told you next to fck all about anything accurately. The Nova crew hung to a badge like it was the first bird they fingered - WHAT was an SR? The SRI just meant multipoint injection. But if you had a Merit, you'd grow up living with your mum until your 40's.

So many social media posts of registration numbers "wish I'd never sold it - hoping anyone knows where it is now" but even if it was found, driving it would be an ultimate let down. Great to look back, but jesus they were all s**t.



And I have a 106 and Saxo in my late 30's. What a tosser I turned out to be.

Also, those Dads are now driving around in Zafiras, or Xsara Picasso’s - usually in that pale green colour, with the fuel cap cover missing...

 

[NorthloopCup]

Here’s my old ‘lightly’ modified gsi. Exterior was kept looking as stock as possible. Under the bonnet was a LET in external appearance, but it had custom rods, pistons, cams, head work, inlet manifold, tubular exhaust manifold, proper turbo, injectors and a pectel t2 ecu with wrc spec loom. Oh and a Quaife diff in a f20 box with Quaife straight cut gears and custom 5th gear ratio. Also had a custom fuel tank in the spare wheel well feeding a very hungry Bosch 044 Lol!
Made 440/460 and pulled the limiter in 5th gear - so 174mph 😂

Eventually retired to the first cup that I had and went to the scrap yard in the sky. All the torque had pulled the front chassis legs apart and the bulkhead was split. Tbf, it was perfectly salvageable and sometimes i wish I still had it. The bodywork had already been done some years before, so the rusty arches had already been sorted etc.

 

[adamlstr]

I was brought up on these things, Mum had two (I think) MK2 GTEs, Dad had a few MK1 GTEs, then a GSI3000 Carlton all before I'd turned 5.

One of the MK2's was a very very late 16V, but I can't find any details on it. It had a slightly updated interior, and a softer looking front end. Going back 30 years though!

Given how widespread the use of the C20XE is, there's got to be a lot of crossover!

This was on PH the other day, Swindon used to turn them 180 degrees so the intake was on the cold-side:

 

[NorthloopCup]

Peak boost was 2.3bar holding consistent at 2.1 ish.
And a bit of weirdness for you - whenever I did a oil change on it, it would drink the first ltr of oil, then nothing. Oil level remained at the top of the dipstick! Lol!

Custom fuel tank held 50ltrs and would manage around 200 miles driving at 70mph on the way to the Nurburgring. On track using all the boost it would manage around 60 miles to a tank of fuel! So after 4 laps of the Nordschleife, I was very much ready for more super 😂

Straight lines were it’s only real party piece, but f**k me it was comical. I had a blast with a lotus Carlton on the way home from VBOA Billing, and blitzed him. He then proceeded to blow a turbo trying to keep up! Lol

Biggest arse kicking was given to me by a Mazda rx7. My Astra was very fast, but the rx7 out dragged me substantially - to the point I thought I wasn’t making any boost! But alas, I was making my 2.3bar. He was like the millennium falcon going into hyperdrive 🤣

 

[Cookson]

Loved my old C20XE van

 

[adamlstr]

Custom fuel tank held 50ltrs and would manage around 200 miles driving at 70mph on the way to the Nurburgring. On track using all the boost it would manage around 60 miles to a tank of fuel! So after 4 laps of the Nordschleife, I was very much ready for more super 😂

Those are Evo numbers!

 

[NorthloopCup]

Those are Evo numbers!

Indeed they are! The next step of progression was to be a gt3076 and another shell. I’d got another mk3 shell that was going to be stripped and caged. I’d not decided if it was going to remain fwd, or be converted to rwd/4wd. Either way it was getting the independent rear suspension from the chavalier turbo as I’d already got the entire floor pan. It was a nice and simple operation of drilling spot welds and releasing the floor pan to do the swap too!
The colour was set out to be my Vauxhall equivalent of a gt3rs - complete with viper green, so this was where the inspiration to build my cup came from.

 

[Philip.]

Ahhh the days of PVS and red top Corsas!

A mate used to have a Nova that was f**king terrifying.

 

[Krarl]

Just seen a Red LHD MK3 GSi in Shelf

In 30 years time there will be people reminiscing about the days when they had MK2 Clio's and Meglios😂

 

[Waitey]

This is the best use for red tops. They were well a head if their time.

Sadly overtaken by K20's and Duratecs now.

 

[massiveCoRbyn]

Here’s my old ‘lightly’ modified gsi. Exterior was kept looking as stock as possible. Under the bonnet was a LET in external appearance, but it had custom rods, pistons, cams, head work, inlet manifold, tubular exhaust manifold, proper turbo, injectors and a pectel t2 ecu with wrc spec loom. Oh and a Quaife diff in a f20 box with Quaife straight cut gears and custom 5th gear ratio. Also had a custom fuel tank in the spare wheel well feeding a very hungry Bosch 044 Lol!
Made 440/460 and pulled the limiter in 5th gear - so 174mph 😂

View attachment 1470053View attachment 1470054

Eventually retired to the first cup that I had and went to the scrap yard in the sky. All the torque had pulled the front chassis legs apart and the bulkhead was split. Tbf, it was perfectly salvageable and sometimes i wish I still had it. The bodywork had already been done some years before, so the rusty arches had already been sorted etc.

The GSI was such a good looking car!

 

[NorthloopCup]

The GSI was such a good looking car!

Except for the horrific fan style of alloys they chose for the first gsi’s!

 

[Jekyll]

What a good looking era now. These cars look retro cool.

 

[CrippsCorner]

Don't know if they were redtop's but used to love the old GTE & GSI's.

My brother had a Cavalier SRI...

 

[_Tom]

Mother had a red GTE 16v back in the day. I used to think it was the fastest thing ever. 😂

My mate had a Corsa 1.2 converted to a red top still with the 1.2 brakes. It was lethal as you can imagine. 😂

The red top is a fantastic engine.

I used to hate Novas but actually love them now.

 

[adamlstr]

Don't know if they were redtop's but used to love the old GTE & GSI's.

My brother had a Cavalier SRI...

View attachment 1470195

That might've had the 2.0 8v SOHC engine, can't remember for sure!

 

[davo172]

Mother had a red GTE 16v back in the day. I used to think it was the fastest thing ever. 😂

My mate had a Corsa 1.2 converted to a red top still with the 1.2 brakes. It was lethal as you can imagine. 😂

The red top is a fantastic engine.

I used to hate Novas but actually love them now.

They were pretty rapid back in the day!
Pics read?

 

[mossyv6]

In my eBay watch list:

 

[AdDaMan]

How on earth have we not seen a single TSW Venom yet?!

 

[adamlstr]

How on earth have we not seen a single TSW Venom yet?!

I had 16 inch Evo R's on my flame red Corsa B, bruv.

Thankfully, that predates camera phones, just.

 

[Daz...]

My Nova GSi had the 5 spoke Tigra alloys followed by Cavalier GSi ones.

Loved that little rot box.

 

[Cookson]

You're all peasant above. Speedline alessio's or MIM raffinos for a nova

 

[Jekyll]

Not sure if this will work? Or even if its valid in this thread?