Vauxhall Astra SR

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The first front-wheel drive car made by GM Europe, the Opel Kadett D/Vauxhall Astra was launched in 1980 as a replacement for the aged Viva.

It was also given a new over-head camshaft engine which was uncommonly refined, powerful and economic compared to that of its contemporaries. Capacity ranged from 1,200 to 1,600cc, with a fuel-injected 1,800 available in the hot-hatch GTE version from 1983 which went head-to-head with the Escort XR3i and the Golf GTi.

Production was initially in West Germany but UK manufacture began in 1981 at Ellesmere Port. The success of the Astra MkI marked the first stage of a massive sales push by Vauxhall which soon put the rival Austin Allegro in its place and would ultimately see it becoming the UK’s number two seller behind the all-conquering Ford Escort by the mid-1980s.

The three-door SR arrived in 1981 with a 90bhp 1.6-litre engine sourced from the Cavalier. With sharp two-tone styling, keen handling and a good power-to-weight ratio, it was knocking on the door of hat-hatchdom a couple of years before the GTE came on stream.

First registered in November 1983, this Astra SR has had just two owners from new, the first until 2006 when it was acquired for the Stondon Museum Collection. It has covered less than 58,900 miles and still retains its original purchase invoice from 1983.

Finished in a period red over black with grey Recaro seats and an unusual red steering wheel, it is in good running order with an MOT until November 2016. With only 20 Astra SR models still UK registered according to DVLA figures, you could wait a long time before you see another one for sale, especially one as good as this.