David Wilkins

Another 1980s Vauxhall from last year’s Festival of the Unexceptional - the top of the range Senator, a rebadged version of the second-generation Opel Senator. Vauxhall had also previously sold the first generation Senator, but under the model name Royale. The Senator was well regarded but was not replaced.

#davidsdailycar #Opel #Vauxhall #FOTU #WeirdCarMastodon

Feb 27 at 12:46pmWeb
Show threadDorkomaticFeb 27
@davidwilkins Impressive things. And that chip-cutter grille was always so distinctive!
Show threadDentaku (Thomas Renger)Feb 27
@davidwilkins Did Vauxhall also sell a version of the Opel Monza or did you miss out on that?
Show threadDavid WilkinsFeb 27
@dentaku Yes, good point - they did, but it was renamed the Royale coupe.
Show threadDentaku (Thomas Renger)Feb 27
@davidwilkins (insert Pulp Fiction reference)
Show threadVicenteFeb 27
@davidwilkins Quite impressive how well and with how little GM engineers were able to hide that the Senator is essentially just a longer version of the Omega.
Show threadBen 🏳️‍⚧️🍉Feb 27
@davidwilkins used to be fairly popular with the police IIRC
Show threadHeather KavanaghFeb 27

@davidwilkins

I owned Carlton estates for many years (still really miss the last one, a CDX that succumbed to tin worm). I always thought it a shame there wasn’t an estate Senator. That would have been something.

Show threadDavid WilkinsFeb 27
@snaptophobic As chance would have it, I'll have a big Vauxhall estate for you in tomorrow's post...
Show threadPhil Thane ✅Feb 27
@davidwilkins
1980 I bought a used Chevette. It was cheap to run and nippy around town. Not bad on longer runs either, though the seats were a bit lacking. When the sills rusted a friend made new ones out of an old fridge carcase!
@snaptophobic
Show threadHeather KavanaghFeb 27

@pthane @davidwilkins

My first car was a Chevette saloon. I don’t think my sill was anywhere near as fancy as old fridge!

Show threadPhil Thane ✅Feb 27
@snaptophobic
About the same time I built a ferro-cement canal boat and modified a Vauxhall petrol engine (actually from a Bedford Beagle van but the same as a Chevette or Viva) so it ran on paraffin. Nice, easy engine to work on and never gave any trouble.
@davidwilkins
Show threadStoneface VimesFeb 27
@pthane @davidwilkins @snaptophobic hey. So did I. Ran it for a few years and went miles in it.
Also drove a number of cavalier hatches as a taxi driver and afterwards. Really liked vauxhall during that period about 1985 through to 2006. We found them to be great workhorses as a family.
Show threadCDR_KEENFeb 27
@davidwilkins
One of the nicer Opels.
Show threadSteve CookFeb 27
@davidwilkins I mainly remember these as police cars.
Show threadGreg Harvey 🌍Feb 27
@davidwilkins Loved those! Highway patrol used the 3.0L Senator everywhere, and especially as unmarked cars. I remember as a teenager in my silly Ford Sierra watching out for missing rear headrests, urban legend (?) had it that it was a sure sign it was an unmarked cop car. 😂
Show threadGreg Harvey 🌍Feb 27
@davidwilkins Oh, and if I remember rightly, when they were no longer highway patrol cars Humberside Police did something rather clever to combat joy-riders. They were obsolete as chase vehicles (they'd bought an Escort RS Cossy and a Subaru Impreza for that, only way to keep up with a nicked Renault 5 Turbo) ... but the Senator had a second life with the dog teams. Two officers + two German Shepherds per car. Quick enough to only be 30 seconds or so behind, then RELEASE THE HOUNDS. 😂
Show threadGreg Harvey 🌍Feb 27
@davidwilkins Apparently it was a top deterrent. You quickly went off nicking people's hot hatches if it ended with an Alsatian chewing on your limbs!