Opel Vectra scores high – From the Old Box

The curtain will soon fall for the Opel Insignia, which was of course the successor of the Opel Vectra. The Insignia was not such a success as the Vectra. With 21,140 units sold in peak year 1991, the Vectra A was the most successful of all Vectras, a stark contrast to the 5,165 Insignias sold in peak year 2009. It just didn’t kill you with those Vectras in the 90s. Not surprising when we look at how the first Vectra came out in 1992.

Twice winner

To start with, we read in AutoWeek 29 from 1992 that the Vectra A was named ‘business car of the year’ that year. In fact, he was even unanimously elected by the jury. The Audi 80, Volkswagen Passat, BMW 3-series and Mercedes 200/300 series, among others, lost out to the Vectra. Was it really such a good car? In short, yes, but he wasn’t head and shoulders above the rest.

That was clear from a multi-test that we meet a little later in AutoWeek 29 from 1992. The last part of a two-part test, in which we chose the winner from 13 middle class. It became the Opel Vectra. He narrowly trumped the BMW 3-series, which finished in second place. The Vectra scored 155 points, the 3-series 154, the Audi 80 came in third with 150 points. Closer was the Hyundai Lantra, which scored 137 points.

‘Symbolic for mediocrity’

The fact that the Vectra won had nothing to do with how much he excelled at anything. He was simply among the best cars on many fronts, almost inconspicuously. “It’s all the more surprising because it only gets the highest score in the bodywork assessment. He pleases everyone at least partly,” we concluded. “Somewhere, the Opel does not really deserve its title. It has good, but not above-average properties in all respects. Nevertheless, the winner is cut from that wood. He never stands out negatively, he does everything that may be expected properly. He is symbolic for the mediocre.”

The strongest points of the Vectra we found the (luggage) space, the consumption (GLS 1.8i), the straight-ahead stability and the brakes. Performance, gearbox and base price were points where the Vectra scored the least, but still neat sevens.

Although the Opel Vectra won, the differences with the other cars tested were not very big. “Even further down the list, the differences remain very small. Every car has a test item on which it scores well.” Incidentally, we are still missing some popular mid-range cars in the comparative test, such as the Ford Sierra and the Peugeot 405. Cars that have also proven to attract quite a few customers to the showrooms in the 80s and (early) 90s. It is unclear why they were not there.