1992 Vauxhall ASTRA GSI 16v

The V5 document shows that this GSi was first registered on the 28th of August 1992, and has had a total of four owners from new. There’s not much known about any of these, but from the car’s general condition it’s clearly been looked after by each of them. The odometer currently reads 123,306 miles, but the car’s condition definitely belies this… read on.

It comes with a current MOT certificate, which runs until the 22nd of May 2020. There are a few minor advisories to be aware of and these include: an oil leak (but not excessive), a slightly insecure offside front bumper mounting, a worn nearside lower front suspension arm pin (or bush) and slight jacking damage. None of these are in need of immediate attention, and rectification should be easy enough (both financially and in terms of necessary graft).

A quick check on howmanyleft.co.uk shows that just 90 of these 16-valve creatures are currently registered (with 533 SORN) on UK roads, which makes it a bit scarce in the wild.  

My, my, there’s a lot to like here. 27 years (say it ain’t so) may have passed since this car was new, but its rounded lines haven’t aged too badly at all.

Compare it to an MG Maestro Turbo or first generation Astra GTE, both of which look like they were penned by the same lad who designed Kryten’s head in Red Dwarf, and it could easily pass for a car a decade newer.

Square exhaust pipes (in vogue at Vauxhall during this era), body coloured bumpers and contrasting black window surrounds and details work well together, and particularly on this ‘look at me’ Flame Red example.

It may be a touch rash of us to state that it’s never had a jot of paint, but you know what that may just be the case. Either way, it still presents very strongly indeed.

Overall paint finish is very good, it’s not brand new by any means but neither is it faded; plastic and metal components meet smoothly with a good level of colour consistency between both.

There are a couple of minor blemishes, by way of some small bubbles at the top of the windscreen surround, and a touch of cracking paint on both the offside top of the front bumper and corresponding front wing swage line. Pretty minor list bearing in mind most of this car’s contemporaries were wrapped around trees and lampposts….

As picked up by our eagle-eyed MOT tester the bumper is also a little loose on the same corner, as is the front of the nearside sill skirt. But a bit of minor remedial work should have it looking immaculate once again. More important is that the panels line up well, do not look as though have been repaired or replaced and that the underside has not been welded out of existence.

The five-spoke alloy wheels are generally smart, although there’s a touch of kerbing on one or two, and the tyres have plenty of tread remaining.  

You can generally tell how a car’s been treated by its interior. Had you led us blindfolded to this example and hidden the odometer then we’d have guessed it’d covered a significantly (and we mean much) lower mileage.

The headlining is decent and those velour-fabric bucket seats (and those in the rear) – with their visually pleasing red and light blue stripes – remain in fabulous condition. Can you imagine those in a Renault from the same period, having covered the same mileage? It’s definitely best not to.

There is a minor crack on the driver’s side of the plastic centre column, but the rest of the plastics remain un-faded and in good nick. The hefty leather steering wheel is still supple, door cards are good and GSi floor mats protect decent carpets. At the rear you’ll still find the hatchback parcel shelf in place, but the correct boot carpet is missing.

Electrics all work with the exception of the sunroof and wing mirrors – that could be a fuse/or fuses, but more investigation is required. We are not sure the temp gauge is working either. There’s a spare wheel and jack in place in the boot, but lifting them out reveals a bit of surface crust – the next owner may consider it a good time to get hold of that.

The engine bay presents well, with the later addition of some blue Samco coolant hoses contrasting well against the engine’s Red Top. Generally, the black plastics are a touch dusty, but should clean up nicely.

It’s clear though that the front suspension turret mounting bushes look a little weathered. On the move that’s not overtly manifesting itself, but they will need replacing at some point.

Underneath it all looks reasonably sound. It’s had a helping of a protective wax coating, but with a touch of surface rust here and there it wouldn’t do any harm to have this topped up or re-done.

The engine fires first time, every time, but has a slightly erratic idle when cold. Once warm it’s fine though, so this could be down to a minor sensor issue or similar.

On the move it’s a strong performer – with an interesting bonnet view via those side exit ‘nostrils’ – and properly has some power. Gearshifts are good, the brakes pull nicely and the suspension elicits no worrying shonks or clonks. Best of all, it is all accompanied by quite a rorty exhaust note.

The early dot matrix trip computer highlights brake pad and coolant levels as an issue, but we’ve checked the latter and it was fine – we suspect the former is too, and that this may be a connection/sensor/or lack of use problem.

If we’re being honest this car’s history file is a little bit sparse; you get the V5 document, current MOT certificate and another from 2017, and a couple of recent invoices for a new battery and some bits and pieces. That’s it, that’s your lot.

Ask yourself though, what’s the benefit of oodles of history if a car’s a clonker? In this GSi’s case it is most definitely one that you’ll buy on condition rather than what’s in a manila file. The very good news is that, as you can see from the pictures in our photo gallery below, that condition is pretty blooming good.

This Vauxhall Astra GSi 16v is an apt hard-charging reminder of just how far the hot hatch had travelled in a short amount of time; 155bhp through the front wheels? Yes, please.

It’s perhaps in its best (if certainly, most striking) colour scheme and is a nice unmolested example. Forget the mileage for, as that excellent interior demonstrates, this is one to buy on condition.

It’s being auctioned as a No Reserve lot, so will sell from the very off. That said, we think it’ll likely go for somewhere between £3k and £6k. Even within that price band the next owner will be getting a lot of hot hatch kudos and fun for a relatively small outlay.

Do you remember coveting a GSi 16v when growing up? Perhaps it remained always just out of reach – be it because of astronomical insurance costs or just because of its £15,600 price ticket.

Well now’s your chance to right that particular wrong, and bring a little Red Top hot hatch action to your world.

Viewing is always encouraged, and this particular car is located at The Market’s headquarters in Abingdon; to arrange an appointment please use the ‘Contact Seller’ button at the top of the listing. Feel free to ask any questions or make observations in the comments section below, or try our ‘Frequently Asked Questions’.

If needed, please remember we have a network of trusted suppliers we work with regularly and can recommend: Classic & Sportscar Finance for purchase-financing, Thames Valley Car Storage for storing your car, AnyVan for transporting it, and Footman James for classic car insurance.

BORING, but IMPORTANT: Please note that whilst we at The Market always aim to offer the most descriptive and transparent auction listings available, we cannot claim they are perfect analyses of any of the vehicles for sale. We offer far greater opportunity for bidders to view, or arrange inspections for each vehicle thoroughly prior to bidding than traditional auctions, and we never stop encouraging bidders to take advantage of this. We do take a good look at the vehicles delivered to our premises for sale, but this only results in our unbiased personal observations, not those of a qualified inspector or other professional, or the result of a long test drive.

Additionally, please note that most of the videos on our site have been recorded using simple cameras which often result in 'average' sound quality; in particular, engines and exhausts notes can sound a little different to how they are in reality.