Opel Astra. Not a name usually associated with classic cars. However, in my present neck of the woods, it’s certainly not a common sight. And this is the Italian-made drop-top, too. Guess it’s time to give the Astra G its fifteen minutes of fame on CC.
Just like its predecessor, the Astra G was GM Europe’s C-segment workhorse. Most were saloons (both two- and four-doors, and in both hatchback and notchback variants) and wagons. Since its 1998 launch, it was built around the world, from Australia to Egypt, under a host of marques and names: Holden Astra in Australia, Vauxhall in the UK, Chevrolet Viva in Russia and so on. And just like the Astra F, the Astra G also went shopping for a tailor-made two-door body in Turin.
As the new millennium approached, The Bertone name still had some of the old magic, but the carrozzeria was not doing well. Nuccio Bertone died in 1997 and his widow Lilly took the reins of the business, but the glory days were long gone. There was discord within the family about the future of the firm as fewer and fewer automakers were still calling on Bertone’s services.
The last two major active contracts that Bertone had going by the year 2000 were with Fiat and GM Europe, and the latter was essential to the Turin factory’s continued operation. Opel had started using Bertone in 1986 with the Kadett cabriolet. Since that time, GM Europe had kept the relationship going, switching to the Astra F in 1993.
By the late ‘90s though, it seems GM were starting to have second thoughts about the viability of the Bertone deal. The Astra G Coupé was already in the works though, so production went ahead. It was premiered at the 1999 Frankfurt Motor Show and soon became available (as shown above) in Vauxhall guise as well. The drop-top followed a year later.
Bertone’s GM follies, from top left: 2001 Oldsmobile O4, 2002 Saab Novanta, 2005 Cadillac Villa, 2003 Opel Insignia
When looking at Bertone’s last specials and concept cars, those made after Nuccio’s demise, there seems to be a huge amount of GM. Sure, there were the odd BMW or Aston Martin designs, as well as the Italian marques of course, but it seems Bertone were trying very hard to curry favour with their last big customer, and perhaps angle for a new low-volume production deal.
Alas, GM did not bite. Although the Opel/Vauxhall Astra continued its relentless progression through the alphabet with the introduction of the H series in 2004, design and production of the “TwinTop” two-door, as it became known, was done in-house. The Bertone Opel line was closed in 2005; things then unraveled pretty quickly: Lilly Bertone sold her shares and the coachbuilder was declared insolvent in 2008; the next year, Fiat bought the Grugliasco factory. Now reduced to a styling bureau, Bertone lingered on until 2014, when the remaining branch filed for bankruptcy.
So this is more than just another Opel. It’s also the last throes of a grand old name whose influence on 20th Century car design was almost unparalleled. And it’s not a bad-looking car, either.
I loved the look of these G coupes and cabrios upon first sight. So clean and proper, and a smart evolution of the Calibra’s overall profile. Not anywhere an amateur line, unlike the 3 and especially 5 door models. I remember what seemed an eternity from first unveiling to road tests to get an idea of the feel the cars actually had. Car and Top Gear magazine loved them; The 1.6 coupe beat out an equal Civic coupe and Hyundai Coupe (Tiburon). Both preferred a 2.2 Astra to the non-VVT-LI 1.8 Celica. The 1.8 Cabrio was winner between 2.0 Golf and 1.6 Megane cabrios. Only a turbo Coupe fell to the Celica VVTL-LI (GT-S) in any comparison I saw of a two door model, and a 1.6 Cabrio was pretty slow with the heft. These seemed like perfect Saturns to me then, and one wonders if GM folded them with Opel products sooner things may have been different. I loved the apple green the Cabrio denuded with especially:
Sold as a Holden here a friend looked at buying a used diesel version recently but a dealer friend of her dads advised her they are unreliable european rubbish dont get one, I pointed out they use em as police patrol cars in some places the cant be too bad but she bought a Mazda anyway and I lent her the money to get the brakes fixed in that as they are a common problem so shes still mobile
We didnt get many ragtop Astras, not a big selling point where the sun will actually hurt you.
This car is a testament that Italy was no longer relevant to design by 2003. It’s sad that Bertone went away, but no sadder than Fiat doing retro because the alternative was doing anonymous. When did Italy produce its last attractive car? American(I’m embarrassed to concede) Chris Bangle designed the Fiat Coupe, a car which stood out against the stuff Fiat had been turning out since the mid ’80s to such a degree that he was granted free reign to give BMW the Emperor’s New Clothes treatment.
Bangles’ Fiat Coupe was like the curates’ egg – good in parts….
I agree. I liked the body-colored dashboard and the tail light treatment. The rest was equal parts awkwardness and gimcrackery. The problem is that it still managed to stand out against cars like the Tipo.
I didn’t know Bertone folded. Very sad. Many great designs.
My friend’s wife had a Holden Astra convertible. It was constantly in the workshop for repairs to the convertible mechanism, which I believe was notoriously unreliable
If one must have an Astra G, as one does – one me, that is – then the look of the foldable Italian job one is by far the best. Very decent-looking thing. The roof is unfortunately known for failing to be an open-and-shut case as age advances, though, and they’re priced accordingly. Which is very little.
My Holden hatch lacks the glamour – and leaks – of the Bertone. In fact, the five-door is a bit of an unfortunate looker, being too high in the nose and dumpy in the ass. Good car, mind, very solid, excellent ride/handling combo, quick enough if you really work at it, decently reliable, has a gearchange (it is an Opel, after all, so not a properly decent ‘box). For now, it’ll do. Not high praise, but it’s not a high-praise type of car: think of a Corolla that’s twice as nice for dynamics, and about the same amount the other way for total reliability.
Lily Bertone, huh? Sounds like a good name for an old-time lament-in-war song for some reason….
I wondered why GM didn’t just bring these cars to the US instead of creating Vega, Citation, Cavalier, Cobalt etc, it seems like other countries got better compact cars. I don’t understand why they wasted all that money creating duplicate size cars.
Had one of these – black on black and damn could it move. Pretty rigid for a hatch back missing its roof and damn good looking in person (hilariously, so many people thought I was driving a BMW – which perplexed me indefinitely) and it was completely faultless for the years I had it. Part of me does definitely regret parting with it – it was a excellent tourer…
A friend had two of these Astra convertibles until recently – she spends times in both NZ and Australia, and had one in each country. She bought the NZ one new in 2004, red with black interior. The Aussie one was bought about a few years ago, black with red interior. I drove the red one about a decade ago; it was nice enough, although the manual transmission wasn’t the nicest I’ve used. There was something about it though that just didn’t connect with me – it just felt characterless.
Very nice car. I have a Coupé myself.
Does anybody know how many coupés (Wikipedia says 90.000??) and cabrios were made?
Can’t seem to find any info on it.
Thanx!
Opel Astra G cabrio
Does anyone know how to top up the hydraulics for the roof. Mine is stuck partly open and the hydraulic reservoir is nearly empty. Alternatively is there a workshop manual that covers this openable roof.