# Its Back! Calibre Lives Again....



## Adam RRS (May 25, 2006)

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoe ... again.html


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

Maybe it'll be good this time. The first one was completely shit.

Those photos, though, are a montage of styling cues from other marques.


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## Wondermikie (Apr 14, 2006)

Looks like the illegitimate love child of an Astra 3 door and a Corsa VXR. Looks awful IMHO :?


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

Wondermikie said:


> Looks like the illegitimate love child of an Astra 3 door and a Corsa VXR. Looks awful IMHO :?


And a Honda Civic. And the boot line of a Z4.


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

jampott said:


> The first one was completely shit.


Not sure you can call the Calibra 4x4 Turbo version 'shit'. It was a sleeper that all the mags raved about.

Nothing came close for the money.


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## Wondermikie (Apr 14, 2006)

There was a Mattig DTM-type bodykitted turbo near where I used to live that I used to lust after in my youth. They weren't that bad for the time, the Calibra is nearly 20 years old now and things have moved on significantly.


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## YELLOW_TT (Feb 25, 2004)

kmpowell said:


> jampott said:
> 
> 
> > The first one was completely shit.
> ...


Right up untill the point were it would blow the gear box out of the exhaust


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

...or it arrived at a corner.


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## W7 PMC (May 6, 2002)

But back in its day, the Calibra was a car that most youths lusted after.

I remember test driving a Calibra Turbo 4X4 at Silverstone many years ago & it's pace was out of this world. Nowadays they look awful but then i think they were cool & very desirable.

Saw the article on the new one in AE & TBH it does look good, although no power version as the base model will only have a 1.6 engine & the 2.8V6 will be the top of the range. Vauxhall want the Calibra to be very economical which i can't really understand for what is meant to be a sports coupe.


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

> But back in its day, the Calibra was a car that most of whatever was the equivalent of the 'chav' at the time, lusted after.





> Not sure you can call the Calibra 4x4 Turbo version 'shit'. It was a sleeper that all the mags raved about.
> 
> Nothing came close for the money.


Maybe my recollection is rather hazy, but the Calibra never did it for me. I'd have prefered either a Sierra or Escort Cossie to a Calibra 4x4 Turbo, although I'd agree they might have been in different price brackets. :roll:

It very quickly turned into the sort of car that encouraged people to bolt on ridiculous body kits, surfboard or meccano spoilers, and generally turn it into something which wasn't special to start with, into a steaming turd.


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## coupe-sport (May 7, 2002)

The Cavalier turbo was the sleeper. Quite a tasty looking machine with a subtle body kit. I remember a ride in a Superchipped Calibra turbo and that was v quick. As yellow says, they used to knacker their transfer boxes very quickly :?

James


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## garyc (May 7, 2002)

jampott said:


> > But back in its day, the Calibra was a car that most of whatever was the equivalent of the 'chav' at the time, lusted after.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


I don't think that the Calibra turbo was that cheap.

I was into Audis at that time (I think S2 was just about). I do recall thinking that the Calbra turbo was about as desirable as the Cavalier Turbo on which it was based ie not very. A mate had one for a month before it was knicked. He replaced it with an e30 325i Sport touring, which i though was cool.


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## nutts (May 8, 2002)

kmpowell said:


> Not sure you can call the Calibra 4x4 Turbo version 'shit'. It was a sleeper that all the mags raved about.


It was still shit. 

Ignoring the Lotus Carlton for a second, it was ONLY with the advent of the VXR range (and especially the VXR220) that Vauxhalls started to become cool... imho 



W7 PMC said:


> But back in its day, the Calibra was a car that most youths lusted after.


Not me or any of my mates either :? Agree with Tim though, the Cossies were the "lusted after" cars 8)


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## nutts (May 8, 2002)

And if this one turns out like this... I'll be physically sick if I ever see one on the roads. It looks fecking awful


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## W7 PMC (May 6, 2002)

jampott said:


> > But back in its day, the Calibra was a car that most of whatever was the equivalent of the 'chav' at the time, lusted after.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Agree & the Cossie was the better (although more expensive) car.

IIRC, only the Sierra Cosworth was available at the same time as the Calibra Turbo, the Escort Cosworth arrived after the Calibra Turbo as the Cal Turbo was only produced for a very short while.

As for youths, the reason why it was the more popular where i lived & a tad more desirable than the Sierra Cossie, was the fact it was a proper coupe & was a good deal cheaper to insure, so was a car people could actually afford to buy & run.

I had a white Sapphire Cosworth 4X4 back in the day & loved it, although a drive lasting longer than an hour played havoc with my organs & bones.


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

As ever I disgree with most of you. How can you talk about ridiculous kits on Calibras and then say that the Cossie was cool - with its even more ridiculous Whale Tail.

I do understand that dynamically the Calibra was poor (as was the Cavalier it was based on) but visually, it was (and still is in pure form) one of the best looking Coupes around.

Vauxhall never bettered the looks for me with any subsequent Coupe - and this one if fecking awful. As others have said, too many cues from other marques. 350Z rear roofline in the top pic, 6 series around the rear quarterlight.


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## W7 PMC (May 6, 2002)

Kell said:


> As ever I disgree with most of you. How can you talk about ridiculous kits on Calibras and then say that the Cossie was cool - with its even more ridiculous Whale Tail.
> 
> I do understand that dynamically the Calibra was poor (as was the Cavalier it was based on) but visually, it was (and still is in pure form) one of the best looking Coupes around.
> 
> Vauxhall never bettered the looks for me with any subsequent Coupe - and this one if fecking awful. As others have said, too many cues from other marques. 350Z rear roofline in the top pic, 6 series around the rear quarterlight.


I'm with you buddy, however i had the Sapphire Cossie, so no whale tail on my car. That said the epitomy of Sierra Cosworths was the RS500 & that did have the whale tail & an ickle 2nd spoiler underneath it


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## Teehee (May 22, 2005)

I know its pretty much confined to the skip now but personally I favourite Vauxhall was the GTE convertable. Now that was 8) and what I grew up dreaming of owning.


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## bigrich (Feb 20, 2004)

W7 PMC said:


> I had a white Sapphire Cosworth 4X4 back in the day & loved it, although a drive lasting longer than an hour played havoc with my organs & bones.


Paul,

Not taking the p*ss at all as you must be very good at what you do and earn a handsome reward for it but are there any cars left out there that you haven't owned?

It's brilliant, forums like this allow you to watch how the other 1/2 live!


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## shao_khan (May 7, 2002)

I grew up with Vauxhalls, had shed loads of them before movign onto different brands.

I think the Calibra if taken in context at the time was certainly pretty ground breaking, the cars were robust (asside from the transfer box) and the engines were exceptionally good if cared for properly, also very good to modify - 300bhp was a posibility and a lot of power at the time.

I thinkits cool that Vauxhall are keeping up the good work - lets hope we see a hot version.


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## The Silver Surfer (May 14, 2002)

'Calibre'?

Is that not some sort of lager?  (Or, was that Kaliber?)

I'm too young to have driven the original Calibra, :wink: so not sure how good a drive it was?

However, it was, IMO, a very good looking car.

Paul (W7 PMC),

Have you EVER owned a 'slow' car? :lol:


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## W7 PMC (May 6, 2002)

bigrich said:


> W7 PMC said:
> 
> 
> > I had a white Sapphire Cosworth 4X4 back in the day & loved it, although a drive lasting longer than an hour played havoc with my organs & bones.
> ...


Rich, that's funny & thanks 

Many cars i've never owned & plenty i could never really afford without a lottery win. TBH back when i had the Cossie, i really could not afford it & was living with the then girlfriend paying little towards the housekeeping :evil: , so basically all my money went on buying & owning the Cossie.

Not long after the Cossie, i decided to concentrate on my career & from then for about the next 10yrs i ran company cars so had no better marque cars, excluding the odd 3 Series.

Had to walk away from some nicer cars, such as binning my R8 order last year (more due to being non practical than money, but still glad i'm not spending close on Â£90K) & cancelling my 997 Turbo order a few months back (all down to money), as the time is just not right for such an outlay. Both the wife & I have decided to buy stuff that will appreciate so we're closing on a Townhouse in the Algarve for our holidays & to rent out to cover it's mortgage & the wife wants to buy a small Semi not far from where we live, purely for permanant rental & an investment for the longer term.


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## W7 PMC (May 6, 2002)

The Silver Surfer said:


> 'Calibre'?
> 
> Is that not some sort of lager?  (Or, was that Kaliber?)
> 
> ...


As private cars, most have had some performance, as around the time of the Cossie, i'd also had a Nissan 200SX (the older shape) which i bought as a repo, a Rover 827 Vitesse with my 1st ever Modification, that being a JanSpeed exhaust & after that i bought a Rover 800 Vitesse (the 2.0 Turbo 180BHP version).

Then followed a variety of company cars including yet another Rover, but this time the Vitesse Sport with the same 2.0 Turbo, but uprated to 200BHP & i modified this car with a SuperChip, sports exhaust & uprated cams so she was pushing out well over 270BHP (very stealth), also had a Vauxhall Frontera 2.2i, Bimmer 318is, 323SE & my last company car was one of the 1st Lexus IS200's. After that my sig list takes over with my 1st TT Coupe.

Slowest car owned was a Morris Marina that blew up in spectacular fashion on the A30 near Blackbushe  , an Austin Wolesley 1300 & a Mini 1000 with a rotting floor & no footbrake :lol: . Those were the days 8)


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## bigrich (Feb 20, 2004)

W7 PMC said:


> The Silver Surfer said:
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> 
> > 'Calibre'?
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1st Lexus IS200's - Alan Partridge anyone?


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## bigrich (Feb 20, 2004)

W7 PMC said:


> bigrich said:
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> > W7 PMC said:
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When you break it down it's all about money isn't it?

I've decided now - you are my role model!

Live with the missus and spend all my money on a car......


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## raks (Sep 7, 2003)

Thats quarter rear window looks very BMW style.


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## W7 PMC (May 6, 2002)

bigrich said:


> W7 PMC said:
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> > The Silver Surfer said:
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That's the one, i had one of the 1st Lexi


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

The Calibra was 'slippery' shaped (lowest co-ef or something?) but I don't think it was 'pretty' even for its time.

The Peugeot Coupe was far nicer.

Granted, some of the Cossie models had a fat-arse whale tail, but it was in keeping with the car, in a way...

I'd take an Opel Manta GTE vs a Vauxhall Calibra any day of the week. Prefer the retro late 70's, to mid 80's car myself... :wink:


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## W7 PMC (May 6, 2002)

jampott said:


> The Calibra was 'slippery' shaped (lowest co-ef or something?) but I don't think it was 'pretty' even for its time.
> 
> The Peugeot Coupe was far nicer.
> 
> ...


Tim, i think the Pug Coupe, assuming you mean the 405, came a good few years after the Calibra Turbo, as back in that day the 405 coupe incarnation had not even been penned (IIRC).


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## bigrich (Feb 20, 2004)

jampott said:


> I'd take an Opel Manta GTE vs a Vauxhall Calibra any day of the week. Prefer the retro late 70's, to mid 80's car myself... :wink:


Opel Manta in Andrews Heat for Higher colours! :lol:


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

W7 PMC said:


> jampott said:
> 
> 
> > The Calibra was 'slippery' shaped (lowest co-ef or something?) but I don't think it was 'pretty' even for its time.
> ...


Doubtful.

Calibra was made (I think) between 1990 and 1997. 406 Coupe was made 1997 to 2003.

Slight overlap in production, so it was definitely penned whilst the Calibra was still current.

The world's fastest accelerating car is a Calibra, though...


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## Leg (Jan 11, 2006)

My Dad had an Opel Manta GTE, I loved that Manta when I was a kid, in retrospect, it was shit.


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

Pininfarina Studi e Ricerche started the styling phase in June 1992, with a number of renderings of cars that differed in their general set-up and the shape of their sides. The first two full sized models were produced very rapidly (September 1992) for an initial verification: one already hinted at the final result, the other proposed tauter lines. Two painted, more envolved plastic models followed, and one of these was extremely close to the final result. It already gave a glimpse of what the sides, the volumes and the recessed rear window would look like. A final mock-up appeared in April 1993, which was almost identical to the final reference model of January 1995.

Sorry Paul. The Calibra was barely 2 years into its production run when design of the 406 was started by Pininfarina.


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## W7 PMC (May 6, 2002)

jampott said:


> W7 PMC said:
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> 
> > jampott said:
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Hardly much of an overlap when the Calibra had been produced for 7 years before the Pug Coupe appeared. Happy that they could have overlapped at the end of the Calibras life, as IIRC did Vauxhall not do a slight refresh on the Calibra towards the end of it's life??

I don't recall seeing any 406's around at the time of the Calibra, as the 405 was still very current. Perhaps as my alcohol intake was much higher then, i've missed or forgotten a couple of years :lol:


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## W7 PMC (May 6, 2002)

jampott said:


> Pininfarina Studi e Ricerche started the styling phase in June 1992, with a number of renderings of cars that differed in their general set-up and the shape of their sides. The first two full sized models were produced very rapidly (September 1992) for an initial verification: one already hinted at the final result, the other proposed tauter lines. Two painted, more envolved plastic models followed, and one of these was extremely close to the final result. It already gave a glimpse of what the sides, the volumes and the recessed rear window would look like. A final mock-up appeared in April 1993, which was almost identical to the final reference model of January 1995.
> 
> Sorry Paul. The Calibra was barely 2 years into its production run when design of the 406 was started by Pininfarina.


You've gotta love Google :wink:


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## jampott (Sep 6, 2003)

I've just come back from a quick trip to the shops. I saw 2 Calibras (!) and an R reg Pug 406. I kid you not. It was red, and that makes it a 1997 if I'm not mistaken. It was parked up in the car park.

That's a strange coincidence, seeing as Tesco is only about 2 miles away!


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## kmpowell (May 6, 2002)

1989 Launch Advert

Pop in a V6

Tuned!


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## jdn (Aug 26, 2002)

The Calibra looked shite and still does. It does take a transplant fairly easily though - hence all the big turbo or big lump versions out there.

They do not good _cars_ make however - unless thrunging down a drag strip in a straight line is your thing. If you wanted to think you looked good and enjoy the traffic light Grand Prix then a Calibra is fine. If you want a good drive then you would be sorely dissapointed.

I drove one once and it was awful - but then it is just a Vectra in drag.

A superficial success in the most literal terms.


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## Kell (May 28, 2002)

jdn said:


> The Calibra looked shite and still does. It does take a transplant fairly easily though - hence all the big turbo or big lump versions out there.
> 
> They do not good _cars_ make however - unless thrunging down a drag strip in a straight line is your thing. If you wanted to think you looked good and enjoy the traffic light Grand Prix then a Calibra is fine. If you want a good drive then you would be sorely dissapointed.
> 
> ...


Cavalier actually given that they've been around since at least 1990. But I'll conced that the handling was poor. Getting it to go around a corner was like trying to steer a pig by twisting its tail.


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## Rebel (Feb 12, 2005)

Leg said:


> My Dad had an Opel Manta GTE, I loved that Manta when I was a kid.


Now we all know where it went wrong.....


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## Toshiba (Jul 8, 2004)

I liked the first one, looked good for the time. The car gad the lowest drag co of any production car at the time and changed the shape of many future cars.

The photoshop looks good i have to say, but its hard to get excited about it before its real. Vauxhall do seem to be having a run on good designs in the last few years.


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