Opel Corsa
The Opel Corsa is a supermini car manufactured and marketed by Opel since 1982. The car is known as the Vauxhall Corsa in the United Kingdom. Before General Motors sold Opel and Vauxhall to PSA Group in 2017, the Corsa was also rebadged under the Chevrolet, Holden and Buick brands.
The Corsa was once the best-selling car in the world in 1998, recording 910,839 sales. At that time, the Corsa assembled on four continents, marketed under five different marques and offered in five body styles. By 2007, over 18 million Corsas had been sold globally.
Corsa A (S83; 1982)
The front-wheel drive Opel Corsa was first launched in September 1982. A two-seat, roadster "concept car" had been shown as a teaser six months earlier at Geneva. It went on sale first in France, Italy, and Spain — markets where small cars represented from 34 to 43 percent of overall automobile sales. Sales across the remainder of Europe were to have begun by March 1983. General Motors' internal code for the Corsa/Nova was the S-car. The S-car designation had originally been applied to an abandoned supermini proposal from the early 1970s, which evolved into the 3-door hatchback version of the Opel Kadett C/Vauxhall Chevette, for which the Corsa/Nova acted as a de facto replacement. The Corsa was GM Europe's entry into the burgeoning supermini market — a market in which Opel/Vauxhall were not yet represented, as the Kadett C/Chevette was not a true supermini in the sense that it was rear wheel drive, while its successor — the Kadett D/Astra — competed in the larger C-segment, thus leaving a gap at the bottom of the range. The new car would therefore follow in the template already set by established superminis such as the Fiat 127, VW Polo and Ford Fiesta in using a transverse-engined, front wheel drive layout.Built in Zaragoza, Spain, the first Corsas were three-door hatchback and two-door saloon models, with four-door and five-door versions added in 1984. In certain markets, commercial "van" models were also sold, with or without rear windows depending on local requirements. In mainland Europe, the saloon versions were known as the "Corsa TR" until May 1985 and had subtly altered styling — the distinctive wheelarch blisters of the hatchbacks were deleted and the saloons used a traditional "eggcrate" grille instead of the hatchback's integrated bumper/four-bar grille. The saloons were intended to appeal to customers of the Opel Kadett C and Vauxhall Chevette who still desired a traditional three-box saloon shape — while it did not sell particularly well in most of Europe, the TR was popular in Spain and Portugal among other markets. While only taking ten percent of French Corsa sales during the car's first half-year, the TR represented half of all Corsas sold in Spain.
The basic trim level was called just the Corsa, which was followed by the Corsa Luxus, Corsa Berlina, and the sporty Corsa SR. The SR receives a spoiler which surrounds the rear window, alloy wheels, checkered sport seats, and a somewhat more powerful engine. Six years later, the Corsa received a facelift, which included a new front fascia and some other minor changes. The models were called LS, GL, GLS, and GT.
The Corsa A was known in the United Kingdom market as the Vauxhall Nova
—Nova being a legacy nameplate which had been used elsewhere in the GM empire with Corsa being rejected as it sounded too much like coarser. It launched in April 1983, following a seven-month-long union dispute due to British workers' anger over the car being built in Spain, in contrast to the rival Ford Fiesta and Austin Metro. In addition, there was a disparity concerning import tariffs, as while cars exported from Spain to the European Community were subject to tariffs of only 4.4%, those exported in the other direction were subject to tariffs of 36.7%.
Power first came from 1.0 L 45 PS, 1.2 L 55 PS, and 1.3 L 70 PS petrol engines. Initially, all engines were equipped with carburetors; fuel injection came later, but never for the 1.0. The engines used the GM Family I design, except for the 1.0 L and early 1.2 L engines, which were based on the venerable Opel OHV engine which had been used in the Opel Kadett in all of its four generations since 1962.
At the Frankfurt Motor Show in May 1987 two new engines were added to the lineup: an Isuzu-built, 1.5 L turbo diesel engine which was also used in the Isuzu Gemini, along with the sporty GSi model. The engines and most of the mechanical componentry were derived from those used in the Astra/Kadett.
Facelift
In September 1987 the Corsa received a light facelift, with a new grille that was now the same on hatchbacks and saloons, an updated interior, and other slight changes. For the 1989 model year, the 1.3 was bored out to 1.4-litres. Power remained the same, although torque increased.A rare "Sport" model was produced in 1985 to homologate for the sub 1,300 cc class of Group A for the British Rally Championship. These Sport models were white and came with unique vinyl decals, a 13SB engine with twin Weber 40 DCOE carburettors, an optional bespoke camshaft, a replacement rear silencer, and few luxuries. This gave 93 hp and a top speed of with a time of 8.9 seconds. These are by far the rarest models.
A 1.6 L multi point fuel-injected engine with at 5600 rpm and capable of was added to the Corsa/Nova at the 1987 Frankfurt Motor Show, giving decent performance and being badged as a GSi.
The GSi's engine mapping had been carried out by Opel tuning specialists Irmscher. A model with the 1.4 L multi-point fuel-injected engine, which was otherwise mechanically identical to the GSi, also became available as the Nova SRi in the United Kingdom. In January 1988, a turbocharged version of the Isuzu diesel engine was introduced, with power increased to.
The design was freshened in September 1990, with new bumpers, headlights, grille, and interior, but it was clearly recognisable as a gentle makeover of an early 1980s design when it had to compete with the latest two all-new superminis in Europe – the Peugeot 106 and the Renault Clio. The 1992 model year saw the 1.0-litre models dropped from the line up, as the Opel OHV engine could not comply with the upcoming Euro 1 emission standard.
Vauxhall Nova
The Corsa A was rebadged as the Vauxhall Nova between April 1983 and March 1993 for the United Kingdom only, as it had been decided to phase out the Vauxhall brand entirely in favor of Opel in the Republic of Ireland.. It effectively replaced the aging Chevette, which finished production in January 1984. Nearly 500,000 Novas were sold in Britain over the next ten years, but by February 2016, only 1,757 were still on the road. In its best year, 1989, it was Britain's seventh best selling car with more than 70,000 sales. All Nova models were manufactured in Spain, with the first customers in the United Kingdom taking delivery of their cars in April 1983. It gave Vauxhall a much needed modern competitor in the supermini market in the United Kingdom, as the Chevette was older than the majority of its main competitors which consisted of the Ford Fiesta and the Austin Metro. With the late 1990 facelift a small van version arrived, called the Vauxhall Nova Van. In the 2000s, it was publicised that Novas could be stolen easily by removing the hazard lights switch and putting it back into the dashboard upside-down and this would start the ignition.
Sales in the United Kingdom were strong right up to the end, but by the time the last Nova was built in the beginning of 1993, it was looking very dated in comparison to more modern rivals like the Peugeot 106 and the Renault Clio. Vauxhall dropped the Nova name in 1993 when their version of the Opel Corsa B made its debut, and later models were sold as the Vauxhall Corsa instead. This was the second Vauxhall to adopt the same model name as the Opel version, the first being the Senator.
A television advert in 1987 featured the Ritchie Valens hit "La Bamba" playing in the background, and used CGI to allow a Nova to drive over vehicles in a busy city. Another advert from 1990 featured a Nova as a pet, CGI allowing it to jump through a traffic jam and briefly play a hotrod whilst stopped at traffic lights. The end featured a homage to Wacky Races, with the Nova laughing like Muttley. This advert featured Angus Deayton.
Motorsport
From 1990 to 1993, the Vauxhall Nova Challenge ran as part of the British Rallycross Championship.In 1992, John Leslie took part in the series for a feature on Blue Peter.
Corsa B (S93; 1993)
In April 1993, the Corsa B was unveiled and in the United Kingdom, Vauxhall dropped the Nova name, with the car from now being known as the Corsa. In May 1994, it was launched by Holden in Australia, as the Barina, replacing a version of the Suzuki Swift sold under that name. This proved a success, and was the first Spanish built car to be sold in significant volumes in the Australian market.Unlike the previous model, there was no saloon version for the European market, but one was designed in Brazil for the Latin American market, as saloons were much preferred to hatchbacks there. This was also introduced in South Africa and India. An estate car, panel van and pickup truck were also introduced, and a convertible version was produced for the Australian market, called the Holden Barina Cabrio. Vauxhall also marketed a limited edition of the cabriolet in the UK from 1998 to 1999, as the Vauxhall Corsa Cabriolet. Chevrolet Corsa Saloon, Chevrolet Corsa Pick Up and Chevrolet Corsa Wagon were Designed by Wagner Montes Cla Dias in the GM Brasil Studios in São Caetano do Sul.
Italy was the only European country where the Argentinian-built estate version was offered, which meant that the Italian importer had to shoulder the entire cost of homologation. In Italy, the estate was offered with a 1.4-litre 16-valve petrol engine or the 1.7-litre naturally aspirated diesel. The Corsa also spawned a small coupé, named the Opel Tigra.
Four-cylinder power came from 1.2, 1.4, and 1.6 litre Family 1 petrol engines, as well as an economical 1.5 L turbodiesel engine. Most cars received a five-speed manual transmission, although a four-speed automatic was also available with certain engines. In the first few years, a four-speed manual was also available, only coupled to the smallest 1.2-litre engine.
1.0 L three cylinder and 1.2 L four-cylinder Family 0 economy version was launched in 1997, and a Lotus-tuned suspension was added as well as an exterior refresh.
The saloon and estate car versions were produced in China by Shanghai GM as Buick Sail and Buick Sail S-RV, respectively from June 2001 to February 2005. That year, they received a facelift and became known as the Chevrolet Sail and SRV. In September 2006, Chile became the first country outside China to receive the Chinese assembled Sail; it is called the Chevrolet Corsa Plus there, available as a four-door saloon with a 1.6 L engine. The Corsa Plus includes dual front airbags, anti-lock brakes, air conditioning, electric windows and central locking as standard equipment.
In India, the hatchback, saloon and estate car versions were sold as the Corsa Sail, Corsa and Corsa Swing respectively until the end of 2005. The hatchback model was still being produced, and extensively marketed in South Africa as the Corsa Lite under the Opel branding until 2009; at which point it was discontinued.
In Thailand, the Corsa was available as an Opel with a fuel-injected 8V 1.4-litre engine and "Joy" and "Swing" variants, both available with three or five-door and either a manual or an automatic gearbox.