MEET THE OWNER – KEITH JONES AND HIS VAUXHALL CAVALIER GLS COUPE

‘I receive a lot of attention, and I must have spoken to thousands of people at the NEC. The main start to the conversation “was usually my dad had one of those.” But this is only to be expected when you own one of the few Vauxhall Cavalier Coupes still on the road. Keith explains: ‘I was on a Facebook group looking for my dad’s old Cavalier, only to find that it was scrapped in 1992. But an hour later, a guy messaged if I was interested in one, so I bought the Coupe blind from Leeds just as the lockdown started.’

And what Keith had acquired was a very exclusive machine. When Vauxhall launched the Cavalier on the 20th of October 1975, the GL Coupe was a replacement for the equivalent Magnum and an alternative to the Ford Capri Mk. II. The combination of the body from the Opel Manta B and Wayne Cherry’s design for the Cavalier’s nose was very appealing.

The original Coupe shared much with its Opel Manta 1.9 Berlinetta stablemate, but the former was cheaper at £2,843.10, and the latter was better-appointed. In 1976 Motor described the Vauxhall as an ‘excellent car’ that was ‘exceptionally trimmed’ and ‘beautifully comfortable.’ Such a review must have been music to dealers’ ears as they tempted the Capri owners to change marque allegiance.

Vauxhall upgraded the Coupe to GLS trim for the 1977 model year, with a modified dashboard, ‘continental armrests’ and a ‘4-spoke’ steering wheel. Meanwhile, your neighbours would surely be impressed by the front spoiler and the interior roll bar. The price was now £3,852, or nearly £100 more than the Capri 2000S but a Motor test praised the excellence of the Cavalier’s handling and road holding. The Vauxhall also had a slightly more sophisticated image compared with the Ford – Stephen Grief as opposed to Dennis Waterman.

The arrival of the Cavalier Sportshatch in late 1978 resulted in the Coupe’s demise at the end of the 1979 model year. However, they were already an unusual sight by the 1990s, and Keith had devoted many hours to the restoration of his Vauxhall: ‘I did everything except the chroming and anodising, and having the wheels balanced and welded.’

Today, Keith reports that his Coupe drives brilliantly and it more than lives up to Vauxhall’s claim that ‘scores of eyes will follow your progress along the high street.’ As Autocar once wrote, It is indeed ‘a tremendously good-looking car’ - down to those ‘continental armrests’.

With Thanks To:

Keith Jones