Opel Ascona (B) / Vauxhall Cavalier (Mark I) 1975-1981

Opel Ascona B

The second generation Opel Ascona B was presented in the 1975 Frankfurt Motor Show. It replaced the [URL="http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/showthread.php?p=986963#1"]Ascona A[/URL] and was available as a two or four-door sedan. There were related two and three-door coupé models in the Opel Manta range. There was no estate body.

The Ascona B retained the same engine range as its predecessor, although the 1.9 L was increased to 2.0 L in 1978, and versions with higher compression ratio and needing 98 octane petrol, dubbed S, were available alongside the 90 octane models. The 2.0 E model had a Bosch L-Jetronic electronic fuel injection, and a 2.1 L diesel motor was added to the Ascona B range in 1978.

In the United Kingdom, the Vauxhall Cavalier badge was used on both saloon and coupé models, which came out of the same factory in Belgium—the first Vauxhall to be built abroad. The front ends were different, featuring Vauxhall's trademark "droop snoot", as designed by Wayne Cherry.

A version of the Mark 1 Vauxhall Cavalier was sold in South Africa as the Chevrolet Chevair. This was in addition to a Chevrolet Ascona, identical in most respects to the Opel.

Over 1.2 million Ascona B units were produced worldwide until 1981.

Engines
[LIST][*]1.2 N – 1,196 cc, 55 PS (40 kW)[*]1.2 S – 1,196 cc, 60 PS (44 kW)[*]1.3 N – 1,297 cc, 60 PS (44 kW)[*]1.3 S – 1,297 cc, 75 PS (55 kW)[*]1.6 N – 1,584 cc, 60 PS (44 kW)[*]1.6 S – 1,584 cc, 75 PS (55 kW)[*]1.9 N – 1,897 cc, 75 PS (55 kW)[*]1.9 S – 1,897 cc, 90 PS (66 kW)[*]1.9 E – 1,897 cc, 105 PS (77 kW)[*]2.0 N – 1,979 cc, 90 PS (66 kW)[*]2.0 S – 1,979 cc, 100 PS (74 kW)[*]2.0 E – 1,979 cc, 110 PS (81 kW)[*]2.1 D – 2,068 cc, 58 PS (43 kW)[*]2.4 E – 2,420 cc, 144 PS (106 kW)[/LiST]

Vauxhall Cavalier #1

Launched with a 1,584 cc engine as a 1976 model in November 1975, the Cavalier was a restyled version of the [URL="http://www.ultimatecarpage.com/forum/showthread.php?t=44982"]German Opel Ascona[/URL], produced initially at the Opel plant in Antwerp, Belgium. The Ascona/Cavalier were built on what GM called the U-car platform, and the Cavalier was originally intended to have its own bodywork and Van, Pick-up and Estate versions were also on the drawing board. In the end to keep costs down different nose, designed by Wayne Cherry, was the only thing which set the Vauxhall apart. The first Vauxhall Cavalier to be assembled at Vauxhall's Luton plant was driven off the production line by Eric Fountain, Vauxhall's manufacturing director, on 26 August 1977, after which the 1,256 cc version, assembled at Luton and using engine and transmission already familiar to Viva 1300 owners, broadened the range. At that stage the 1,584 cc Cavalier and the 1,897 cc which had joined it were still being imported from Belgium, but in due course these, too, started to emerge from the Luton production plant.

In Vauxhall's line-up the Cavalier initially complemented and then replaced the slightly larger Victor, which by this time was falling a long way behind the Ford Cortina in the British car sales charts, and was being overtaken by the Morris Marina and Austin Maxi.

[B][I]Opel Ascona[/I][/B]

Ascona B400

Bump.

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