Meet The Owner– Siôn Hudson and his Vauxhall Astra 1200S Four-Door

“I was passed by a modern Discovery a couple of days ago, and you could see the driver pointing and lecturing his family as to exactly what it was!” And no wonder that Land-Rover driver was amazed, as Siôn Hudson owns one of the very few Vauxhall Astra 1200S on the road. We recently featured Michael Carpenter’s two-door example but a four-door is equally rare, if not more so.

General Motors launched the Opel Kadett D in 1979, with the Vauxhall-badged version following in November. Luton claimed “It’s What The Roads Have Been Waiting For” but this seldom included the two and four door models.

The Astra sans hatchback was the result of GM cancelling a three-box saloon version on cost grounds. Modifying the standard bodyshell was a cheaper option and so Vauxhall introduced the two and four-door versions in late 1980, available in ‘E’ or ‘L’ trims. The former was ideal for anyone who regarded halogen headlamps, rear ashtrays, and a glove box lid as surplus to requirements. As for hazard warning lights, and front head restraint, such fittings were clear evidence of decadence.

The four-door 1200S cost just £3,554 but the low-specification non-tailgate Astras did not prove a success. When Siôn first saw PGW 317 W he instantly recognised it as a very exclusive car. In his words:

I was browsing Facebook one evening when I saw a post in a local retro cars group. The seller of the car put up a few photos asking if there was any interest in the car before it went on eBay. The timing of the post was 7 hours ago, and it had about twenty comments already, so I was a little worried that someone else may have already snapped it up! After studying the photos for a few minutes and deciding this was an opportunity I did not want to miss, I sent him a private message asking to come and view the car in the next few days. Thankfully, he replied and we agreed on a time to view the car.

Siôn was “very careful to reassure him that I was a serious base-model collector, and that I knew exactly the rarity of the saloon Astra”. Naturally, the Jamaica Yellow Vauxhall joined the Hudson fleet and its proud owner was surprised by its road manners:

The 1200 unit was the entry-level engine, one that had been in production by Opel since the early 60s. But it is actually really gutsy and acceleration is perfectly decent. The gearbox is quite low-geared, so it pulls really well even when accelerating from 30mph in fourth with no flat spots. The steering is also extremely light and precise; you would swear it had power steering if it were not for the fact that it has a lot of feel and very little play.

Of course, Siôn had to acclimatise himself to Astra motoring; he initially found “the steering wheel very vertical and quite close to me, but the pedals being quite far away”. The “very German” suspension is also very different from his softly-sprung 1981 Volvo 345 and there is:

a slight issue with the gear change which makes it a little trickier to drive than it should: selecting first gear is often very stiff, but as there is no crunching, I am fairly sure this can be diagnosed as some play in the linkage which I need to investigate. The seats are quite thin and unsupportive on longer journeys, but visibility is excellent, even if you do feel like you are sitting quite low down in the car because of the very high dashboard.

You can see more of the adventures of the remarkable ultra-yellow Astra on Siôn Hudson’s YouTube channel . As he says, “My social media posts on it have generated a huge amount of interaction, with people sharing their memories of Mk. I Astras they had in the 80s and 90s. A lot of people did not know there was a saloon version of the Mk. I either” .

And which such a splendid Vauxhall, who needs rear ashtrays?

With Thanks To - Siôn Hudson