Vauxhall Calibra 8V - A Great First Car For Young Enthusiasts

Earlier this year, I agreed to help my friend in America buy a car here, drive it around for a few weeks and import back with them to the Boston area. The trick was finding them the most quintessentially European or British car possible in the budget. We shopped a few things around, I pushed hard for a Peugeot 406 diesel, they suggested an MGF, a selection of Alfa 916 Spyders were viewed and we even put a deposit down on a car, ready to purchase, however with less than a fortnight before they were due to arrive, we found the car was actually a write off, and the seller was trying to scam us. The feverent search restarted, this time at quite some pace as we really were up against the wall, and by sheer chance, a little blue sports coupe from the 90s came across my marketplace feed, and I pop the suggestion: 'What about a Calibra?' and within 24 hours, I found myself owning and driving the jewel of Vauxhall's mid 90's fleet, and here are my thoughts on it:

The car in question had the mighty 8 valve, 2.0 four pot, making 115 horsepower, so it will likely come as no surprise to you to tell you that despite the sleek, aerodynamic 90s sports coupe shell, this is not a remotely fast vehicle. You could probably give a mobility scooter a run for it's money, but you'll be about on par with the local McDonalds car scene. It's also not exactly what I'd call a dynamic driving experience either, the steering is compliant and has a decent amount of feel to it, but it definately feels more a slightly sporty repmobile than it does a sports car, with oodles of body roll and a tendency to understeer without having to push too hard, especially in the wet. I would describe the drive as compliant, nothing particularly exciting but not entirely dead, it can be quite fun, but the onus is on you to make it so. It feels very much a sheep in wolf's clothing. You may find yourself asking why I so far seem to have quite a negative view of the way the car drives and yet I've described it as a great first car for young enthusiasts in the title of this review, so let's explore the car's positive side.

For a start, it's a fantastic looking coupe, they really went for the gold when they drew this up. For something based on a Cavalier, it gives the image of something absolutely fabulous. It's practical with it's style too, because that huge, sloping rear windscreen is a hatchback, so the boot space is gargantuan. Of course, this huge bootlid and rear screen is heavy, and as a result it has killed the gas struts, so using this collosal boot is a two person operation, but that's ok as it draws attention everywhere it goes. I've owned and driven several rare, interesting, unique cars in my time, from bright orange sports cars to classic V12 Jaguars, and absolutely nothing has garnered more attention than the Calibra did in the week I used it. My work collueges would come out and pore over it at lunch, drivers would barrell up alongside me to get a better look, I even caused a man to fall into a bush trying to get a glimpse of it within 5 minutes of picking it up. I took it to a car show with my 156, parked the Calibra between the 156 and a Ferrari California, and people would have happily climbed over the Italians to get a look at the Calibra. I couldn't even film footage of it for various social medias because I couldn't go 5 minutes without someone coming over to talk about it. It seems to make people happy, everywhere. People don't see a dressed up Cavalier with an anaemic engine, they often see a blue collar sports car from their youth or a car they've inherited a love of from their parents, they see happy memories or a glimpse at a time they never knew, and it makes them smile.

The other advantage to it being a basic 90's GM car underneath is that despite the Calibra itself being quite rare now, any mechincal part is extremely easy to source, and even the Calibra specific parts aren't ovely difficult to find as it has a dedicated community who produce several replacement parts from scratch. Of course there are issues with it being a 90's GM car underneath too, the sound insulation in this particular example had started to deteriorate to the point that the car reeked of melted crayons and gave you a headache any time you drove with the sunroof closed, and the padding of the seats had vanished at some point near the global financial crash of 2008, so they were hard as a rock and actually caused me back pain on a 2 hour drive. These are solvable issues, and if you buy one of these cars I beg you to do so, it will greatly improve your experience of the car, especially the seats, as they really are least comfortable part of the car, it having quite a soft ride generally.

So why do I think these qualities make it a great first car for young enthusiasts? I found it's engine entirely gutless, but this conversely made it quite cheap to insure, meaning you can afford to insure a sporty looking coupe at an age when most of your peers can only afford to insure small hatchbacks, and due to its lack of power and its tendency to understeer, it's quite easy to drive it closer to its limit and not die horrensously when you do lose control. It is hugely practical and very easy to work on, whilst still holding some star power among the British public. It's a car that in many ways lets you have your cake and eat it too. It sparks me as a great choice for a young enthusiast as it lets you gain the sort of clout and attention the car enthusiast wont admit that they desire whilst also providing the perfect learning platform a first time car owner who wants to get into driving and then fixing it after they drive it wrong. It really is a great first car for young enthusiasts.