25 years of Opel Astra G: the latest sales hit

The Opel Astra G came on the market 25 years ago, in 1998. There he met, among other things, the Volkswagen Golf IV, which was still quite fresh at the time, and the first Ford Focus appeared in the same year. You can still see copies of both the Volkswagen and the Ford on a regular basis today, because – in retrospect – they turned out to be strong offers. The Astra G was just that, so it also found many buyers and is still part of the street scene.

The G continued where the Astra F left off, while the F had already proved to be a worthy successor to the Kadett. Quite an achievement. Although; the Astra was an almost worthy Kadett successor. The Dutch success of the Kadett was and is unmatchable. Opel sold 331,891 units in eight years of the last generation alone, the Kadett E. From 1985 to 1987, the brand even sold more than 50,000 a year!

Especially like the red-pink copy, you still see the Astra G driving very regularly.

The last Opel that managed to reach masses of people

Still: the Astra F also managed to fill big shoes and was good for more than 25,000 sales per year in each of its active years, with a peak of just over 40,000. The G surpassed that peak (!), but reached fewer buyers in total. Just over 150,000 copies found an owner in the Netherlands and there has been no model generation of Opel that has come close to such numbers since then, so that the Opel G was indeed the last real all-purpose Opel, if you look purely at the numbers. Its successor, the Astra H, was conceptually hardly different and was – also in terms of design – not a flop, but the competition remained strong and the high marks were really a thing of the past with the H.

Sales figures Astra F, G and later Astras.

You could get the Opel Astra G in many flavors. The Germans pulled out quite a can of diesel and petrol engines and spooned them – whether or not accompanied by a turbo – into seven different body styles. The coupé and convertible Astras were even designed with the help of Italian design house Bertone, which helped ensure that these variants still look fresh today.

Other variants included the three- and five-door hatchback, the three- and five-door station wagon and the four-door sedan. A three-door station wagon, yes. Opel also built a variant for commercial use of the Astra G, just like the F and the later H. It was by no means the most popular, but perhaps one of the nicer – given the extinction of such bodies – by now.

The automotive equivalent of white goods. Is not it nice?

Astra DTM

Due to its strong ancestors, the Astra needed little PR to arouse the interest of the potential buyer, but Opel still chose to put the second Astra in the spotlight in the motorsport world. From 2000 to 2003, the brand entered a racing car with an Astra G-based design to compete in the DTM. The Dutchman Jeroen Bleekemolen was among the drivers. That Astra was succeeded by a copy based on the Vectra, which – just like the Astra – did not conquer any titles. An Astra DTM did win the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring in 2003.

But the Opel Astra G was not a racer, even if it was also the first Opel to wear the OPC badge. The Astra was Opel’s multi-purpose tool for the masses and managed to really reach it as a G for the last time. Today, the model is still available to many, because there are still about 20,000 on Dutch license plates, the first copies of which celebrate their silver jubilee this year. But whether it is already moving heritage?

What do you think? And which variant of the Astra G is your favourite? The station with its excellent proportions, the convertible or coupé with some Italian flair, or the iconic hatchback? Share your memories in the comments!

The first OPCs.