The Opel Monza is an executive fastback coupe produced by the German automaker Opel from 1977 to 1986. It was marketed in the United Kingdom as the Vauxhall Royale Coupé by Vauxhall .
53-632: The Monza was planned as a successor for the Commodore Coupé . In the late 1970s the Commodore C model was made as a two-door version (as was the Rekord E1), but still as a sedan type car. The first model of the Commodore the "A" series had a regular coupé in the production line and Opel desired to make a newer version of their large luxury coupé. Work began in 1976 and in 1978 the first Monzas were available to buy. The cars to compete with would be
106-501: A 45% limited slip differential Four well-sized adults had plenty of space. Even the boot was large, and the rear seats flipped down to make even more space. The A1 was not a great hit at the customers even though it was relatively cheap. With the 3.0-litre engine, the Monza was at that time the fastest car Opel had ever built. Being capable of speeds as high as 215 km/h, and the 0–100 km/h mark went in just 8.2 seconds. In 1982,
159-466: A Bosch D-Jetronic, Bosch's first commercially produced electronic fuel injection system. Bosch D-Jetronic was a very early version of multi-point EFI, the “D” stood for “drucksensorgesteuert” (pressure sensor regulated). Unlike later Bosch fuel injection system, the injection was direct to the cylinder instead of via the Plenum inlets, which meant the a specific cylinder head was manufactured specifically for
212-695: A motorway in Germany and the other is in a museum, but the right hand drive one is in Somerset , UK. In Australia , local racing legend Peter Brock had plans to import, modify and market the Opel Monza Coupé as the Holden Monza with the Holden 5 Litre V8 fitted, through his own HDT ( Holden Dealer Team ) business, but the plans eventually fell through. This was due to the expense of adapting
265-529: A single carburettor. The 2239 cc engine with which the Commodore was launched shared its 82.5 x 69.8 mm cylinder dimensions with the four-cylinder 1492 cc Rekord engine on which it was based. The unit was first seen in the short-lived six-cylinder version of the Opel Rekord towards the end of 1966, but ceased to be offered in the Rekord after July 1967 when it became the entry level power unit for
318-787: A slightly more luxurious version of the Carlton . There was an estate version (dubbed the "Voyage" in Germany) offered in the Opel range from April 1981 until the end of production in 1982, which became a mainstay in the Holden range in Australia and was also available in the Chevrolet range in South Africa. It was never offered by Vauxhall in the UK as a Viceroy, although a one-off estate car
371-475: A standard or a GL (with the 4.1 only available as a sedan with automatic transmission), the South African version replaced the earlier Chevrolet 3800 and 4100 , also based on the Commodore. However, in South Africa, General Motors South Africa (later Delta ) offered a revised version of the Commodore until 1986, again combining the bodyshell of the Rekord with the front end of the revised Senator. It
424-713: Is an executive car ( E-segment ) produced by Opel from 1967 to 1982. It is the six-cylinder variant of the Rekord with styling differences. The Commodore nameplate was used by Opel from 1967 to 1982. However, its nameplate /lineage continued until 2020 with the Australian Holden Commodore . The last generation was sold in the United Kingdom primarily as the Vauxhall Viceroy although Opel models were also sold. The Opel Commodore A
477-444: Is nothing less than our vision of the automotive future". According to Opel, this concept is the role-model for the next generation of Opel cars, and because of its modular chassis design, future cars based on it would be able to accommodate gasoline, diesel or electric power. Chief designer Ed Welburn of General Motors said "The gullwing doors will go into production and concept". Opel Commodore The Opel Commodore
530-468: The Cooper-Alta . Former Autocar writers include Russell Bulgin , Chris Harris , and former Top Gear presenter James May . In 1992, May was fired from Autocar after he added an acrostic into the 1992 "Road Test Yearbook". May had to write every review in the issue. Each spread featured four reviews and each review started with a big red capital letter known as a rubricated initial . May
583-700: The Mercedes-Benz C123 and later the Mercedes-Benz C124 and the BMW 6 Series (E24) models (coupe models), and any other large luxury coupe. There was plenty of space inside for the class, and the seats were upmarket. The internals consisted of parts mainly borrowed from the Rekord E1 and later the E2, which meant cloth seats, and much plastic on the dashboard and inner doors. Even the rev counter and
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#1732780975107636-601: The Opel Monza , the coupé version of the Opel Senator , but a two-door notchback saloon was available until June 1981. The single engine used by the Commodore in Europe was the well-known straight-six 2.5-litre unit with 115 PS (85 kW; 113 hp) or 130 PS (96 kW; 128 hp) when fitted with fuel injection. The Commodore C was never a success, occupying an uncomfortably narrow niche between
689-528: The Porsche 911 GT1 . It was also the first magazine to produce independently recorded performance figures for the Bugatti Veyron , which were published in the 31 May 2006 issue. In 2023, Autocar digitised its entire archive dating back to 1895. The Autocar Archive is available to subscribers online. In the 1950s, the magazine's sport editor, John Cooper , used Cooper T11 parts to create
742-679: The United States . Since 2019, Chinese buyers have been offered another Chevrolet Monza , this time a four-door sedan. The Opel Monza Concept is a three-door 2+2 fastback coupé plug-in hybrid concept car with 2 gullwing doors for easy access to the rear seats unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2013. The concept was also shown under the British Vauxhall marque. The concept shares
795-824: The VN Commodore , a model based on the then-current Senator and Omega models. It was the Opel Commodore and Vauxhall Viceroy that formed the basis for the first Holden Commodore in Australia, and was sold in South Africa as the Chevrolet Commodore until 1982, when it was rebadged as an Opel. The South African Commodore was introduced in July 1978, at the same time as the Rekord E went on sale there. These originally had Chevrolet engines , pushrod inline-sixes of 3.8 or 4.1 liters. Sold as
848-531: The "E" meaning Einspritzung or fuel injection in English. Opels didn't have the reputation for performance cars in the period and they had seen the positive impact on sales for other race winning manufacturers on having performance models in their range of cars. Opel wanted to be in this area of the market and the results of this desire was the Commodore GS/E. The carburettors were ditched in favour of
901-621: The 2.8 L models were detuned to 129 / 140 / 155 PS (95 / 103 / 114 kW). Commodore B production ended in 1977. The Commodore B series was like the A series briefly used in motorsports, and the extreme "Jumbo" Commodore raced in the 1974 "interserie". It used a 6.0-litre V8 engine and had large wings which almost made it unrecognizable as an Opel. It never enjoyed much success despite its massive powerplant and impressive output. Opel Commodores were also built in Iran between 1974 and 1976 under
954-524: The A2 in the UK saw the demise of the Vauxhall Royale Coupe, which had been sold alongside the Monza, resulting in only the Opel model being available on the market. The Royale was disparagingly described by Autocar as "an effeminate, frilly, titivated version of the [Monza] with fussy wheels and an unpleasant (often pastel-shaded) velour-smothered interior". The last incarnation of the Monza
1007-735: The GS, the Commodore GS/E , debuted in March 1970. It had a 2.5 L engine equipped with Bosch D-jetronic fuel injection system developing 150 PS (110 kW), which gave the car a top speed of 197 km/h (122 mph). The Commodore GS/E also had a career in motorsports , with a car prepared by Steinmetz . In April 1970 a Commodore with a detuned and carburetted 2.8 L-six giving 145 PS (107 kW) followed (GS 2800). 156,330 Commodore As were built, including 2,574 GS and GS/E variants. The Rekord C/Commodore A "V body" platform
1060-509: The GS/E has 160 PS (118 kW). The Rekord and Commodore were also assembled as CKD kits in Belgium and Switzerland in the 1970s. These cars carried the name Ranger and differed from the originals in having different grilles and trim. These cars were exported to various countries. In 1974, due to new regulations regarding pollutant emissions, the 2.5-litre models were dropped and
1113-503: The Monza A1 had overheating problems when standing still, this could easily be fixed by fitting an oil-cooler. Opel introduced the "C" package. The "C" cars were fitted with extra instruments (oil pressure, voltmeter etc.) and the interior was either red, dark blue, green, or brown. The A1 also came with a sports package or "S" package. The cars all were marked as "S" models on the front wings, and came with 15-inch Ronal alloy wheels and
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#17327809751071166-574: The Monza weighs almost 1400 kg, given the 115 PS of the two engines, the cars were underpowered and thus unpopular. The 2.5E was given a new Bosch injection system so between 136 and 140 PS was available. The 2.8S was taken out of production. The 3.0E engine stayed the top of the range. The 3.0E was given an upgraded Bosch fuel injection and fuel consumption improved somewhat. The cars now came with more luxurious interior, electrically controlled side mirrors and even an on-board computer, recording fuel consumption, speed and range. The launch of
1219-581: The Monza, Rekord and Senator all got a face-lift and were named the A2 (E2 for the Rekord). The A2 looked similar to the A1 overall but with some small changes to the front end. The headlights noticeably increased in size, and the front was more streamlined than the A1. The car was much more slippery, with drag resistance down by around ten percent (from 0.40 to 0.35 C x {\displaystyle \scriptstyle C_{\mathrm {x} }\,} ). Also
1272-495: The Rekord D, and launched in 1972. As in the previous generation, four models were offered: 2500 S, 2500 GS, 2800 GS, and 2800 GS/E, as a four-door saloon and two-door hardtop coupé (although the fastback design was replaced by a more conventional three-box design ). Power of the 2.5-litre engine was 115 or 130 PS (85 or 96 kW) depending on the specifications (25S/25H), while carburetted 2.8-liters had 130 or 142 PS (96 or 104 kW). The fuel injected 2.8 used in
1325-457: The Rekord and Senator. Another concern was the fuel mileage, with a fuel injected Commodore taking considerably more fuel than the larger three-liter Senator. The outdated engine also had little torque available at lower engine speeds, and was noisy. The new model featured a similar front end to the larger Senator. It was sold in the UK under the name Vauxhall Viceroy , with the Viceroy being
1378-399: The base 2.5 L-engine was pumped up to 120 PS (88 kW); at the same time, both remaining engines received hydraulic lifters for smoother running, a new exhaust system and six camshaft bearings. The handbrake lever was moved from its position under the dash to a location between the front seats and the fuel tank was enlarged from 55 to 70 litres. An even more sporty model than
1431-403: The base model Porsche 911T in 1970 had 25 PS (18 kW; 25 hp) less, but was more expensive . The GS/E could accelerate from 0–100 km/h (62 mph) in 9.5 seconds, a similar value to the same period Porsche 911. It could also reach a top speed of 192 km/h (119 mph). The GS/E Coupe model is known affectionately as the "German Charger". The Commodore B was based on
1484-934: The bloody thing up; it's a real pain in the arse." Current Autocar writers include Richard Bremner, used car expert James Ruppert, Editor at Large Matt Prior and Editor in Chief Steve Cropley. The current editor is Mark Tisshaw, a former deputy editor, news editor and reporter for the magazine. 1895–1901 Henry Sturmey 1901–?[after 1914] Herbert Walter Staner ?–? Hugo Massac Thomas Buist 1930–1938 Harold Carlisle Lafone 1955–1968 Maurice Armstrong Smith 1968–1975 Peter Garnier 1975–1985 Ray Hutton ?1985–?1991 Bob Murray 1991–1997 Michael Harvey 1997–2001 Patrick Fuller 2001–2006 Rob Aherne 2006–2011 Chas Hallett (editor of What Car? 2011–2014) 2011–2013 Jim Holder (editor of What Car? 2014–2016) 2014–2017 Chas Hallett 2017–present Mark Tisshaw Autocar has been licensed to publishers around
1537-672: The car to Australian Design Rules . One model was built with modifications, including a 5.0-litre Holden V8 engine . In South Africa , a saloon version of the smaller Opel Kadett E was also sold as the Opel Monza. In Brazil and Venezuela , a version of the Opel Ascona C was sold as the Chevrolet Monza, which featured a three-door fastback body unique to Latin America . There was also an unrelated Chevrolet Monza in
1590-429: The case: The first-generation Holden Commodore actually is equivalent to the third -generation Opel Commodore. GS/E History All engines for the Commodore were 12 valve, CIH straight-six engines ranging from 2.2 to 2.8 litres. All but one engine option had single-barrel (2.2) or double-barrel (2.5; 2.8) downdraught carburetor. in 1970 the GS/E model was introduced which as its badge implies did not utilise carburetors,
1643-468: The chrome parts like bumpers etc. were changed to a matt black finish, or with plastic parts. The bumpers were now made of plastic and gave the Monza the look of a sports car in appearance, and actually did look similar to the Opel Manta, despite the ample size difference. The rear lights were the same and the orange front indicators were now clear glass, giving a much more modern look to the car. Overall
Opel Monza - Misplaced Pages Continue
1696-641: The engine, making this model unique and expensive to produce and purchase. Different from older mechanical injection systems, it incorporated taking input from the pressure inside the intake manifold. This is known as the Air Mass Sensor or in modern terms this would be known as the MAP-sensor (manifold absolute pressure), a part that's commonly found in more modern vehicles. Bosch sold the patent to Japanese companies that continue to produce injection systems based on D-Jetronic. D-Jetronic fuel injection
1749-485: The job and, instead of putting in a more modern five-speed manual gearbox, Opel turned to gearbox and transmission producer Getrag , and installed the Getrag 264 four-speed manual gearbox in the early Monzas. But when people bought a big, luxurious coupé they wanted modern products as well, and Opel obliged, as soon the Getrag 240 (for the 2.5 engines) and the Getrag 265 (for the 3.0E), both 5-speed manual gearboxes, replaced
1802-483: The magazine in its early days. Henry Sturmey stood down as editor of The Autocar magazine and left the company in 1901. Autocar claims to have invented the road test in 1928 when it analysed the Austin 7 Gordon England Sunshine Saloon. Autocar has been published weekly throughout its life with only strikes in the 1970s interrupting its frequency. The magazine's name was changed from The Autocar to Autocar at
1855-510: The name Chevrolet Iran 2800, 2500, Royal and Custom with both 2.5 L and 2.8 L engines by Pars Khodro (General Motors Iran). The first Royale, also the first Chevrolet car built in Iran, left the production line on 15 January 1974. The Royale sold well initially, but the car had not been re-engineered for Iranian conditions and the low ground clearance coupled with carburettor troubles led to its reputation quickly being tarnished. The car
1908-485: The newly introduced Opel Commodore. Body styles comprised a two-door or four-door notchback saloon and a two-door hardtop / fastback coupé . In September 1967 the sporty Commodore GS offering 130 PS (96 kW) from a dual-carburettor 2.5-litre six was introduced. For the 1969 model year, the carryover 2.2-litre six was dropped and the optional 2-speed Powerglide automatic was abandoned in favor of Opel's new 3-speed automatic transmission. From September 1969,
1961-492: The old 4-speed gearbox. The Monza, however, sharing the same layout as the Senator A1, had very good driving abilities. It handled well, thanks to the newly developed MacPherson strut system for the front of the car, as used on the Rekord E1 and E2, and the new independent rear suspension gave the car soft, yet firm, driving characteristics and excellent stability for such a big car. The engine range, however non-economical,
2014-555: The same basic plug-in hybrid setup as the Chevrolet Volt and Opel Ampera called "VOLTEC", but using a turbocharged 1-liter 3-cylinder natural gas -powered engine as its range extender instead of General Motors’ current 1.4-liter gasoline Voltec engine. The Monza Concept is the first car to feature cutting-edge LED projection infotainment. Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann , the CEO of Opel has been quoted as saying "The Monza Concept
2067-525: The same time as the Rekord E. It only entered series production in October the following year, however. The South African version of this car, the Chevrolet Commodore , was actually ahead of the European original model to enter production, in September 1978. The Commodore continued to be a larger and more luxurious version of the Rekord. There was no coupé version of the Commodore C, as it was replaced by
2120-495: The start of 1962. In 1988 Autocar absorbed the rival magazine Motor , with which it had done battle on the newsstands since 1903. From the 7 September 1988 issue the magazine became Autocar & Motor . It reverted to Autocar for the 21 September 1994 issue. The magazine has scored many firsts in its history, including the first full road tests and independent performance tests of the Jaguar XJ220 , McLaren F1 , and
2173-485: The tachometer was taken directly from the Rekord E models. The model experienced some gearbox problems. The engine range for the Monza A1 was the 3.0S, the 2.8S, the newly developed 3.0E and later the 2.5E (the 3.0 had 180 bhp and 248 Nm with fuel injection), gave a wide range. The three-speed Borg Warner automatic transmission from the Commodore range needed to be modified to cope with the new and improved power outputs. Opel's own four-speed manual gearboxes were not up to
Opel Monza - Misplaced Pages Continue
2226-540: The time the Senator was updated to the new Senator B and the Monza cancelled, 43,812 Monzas had been built. There was no direct Monza replacement, although the idea of a large Opel / Vauxhall sporting car was carried on in the Lotus Carlton /Lotus Omega saloon. Bitter Cars put a 4.0 engine under the hood as a prototype. Three were built; two left hand drive and one right hand drive, one left hand drive burned out on
2279-482: The update was regarded as successful although retrospectively some of the purity of the lines of the early car were lost. At a time of rising fuel prices, the need for fuel efficiency was becoming paramount, and Opel decided to change the engine specifications of the Monza. This meant introducing both the inline four-cylinder CIH 2.0E engine from the Rekord E2 (replaced by the torquier 2.2 in October 1984). However, as
2332-597: Was also sold there with the same 3-litre inline-six, producing 180 PS (132 kW). Autocar (magazine) Autocar (stylized in all caps ) is a weekly British automobile magazine published by Haymarket Media Group . It was first published in 1895 and refers to itself as "the world's oldest car magazine". Mark Tisshaw is editor and other team members include Steve Cropley, Rachel Burgess, James Attwood, Matt Prior, Matt Saunders and Felix Page. Autocar has several international editions, including China, India, New Zealand, and South Africa. The publication
2385-434: Was also very good, and few problems with the extremely reliable engines. The six-cylinder engines were all overhead camshaft. Many parts on the engine, such as the water pump and drive train were the same parts as used on the four-cylinder version. This meant that this was an engine not only tested for many years in the Commodore, Admiral and Diplomat range, but also very reliable. Although the first generation of 3.0E engines in
2438-547: Was bored and to alleviate the boredom, he wrote the reviews so the first four spreads would spell the words "ROAD", "TEST", "YEAR" and "BOOK". The other pages had another acrostic but that was not immediately recognizable as it was spread over the rest of the magazine, spelling seemingly random letters starting with "SOYO" and "UTHI". After it was published, readers discovered it. This was the one that got James May fired because it used profanity. The message, when punctuated was: "So you think it's really good, yeah? You should try making
2491-402: Was built in 1981 for Queen Elizabeth II , for her to carry her Corgi dogs. The car still survives today, one of only 15 Vauxhall Viceroys left registered in the UK, as of 2006. The Commodore was dropped by Opel in Europe in 1982. It was this model which the early Holden Commodore models were based on, introduced in late 1978, and eventually replaced (after several facelifts) in 1988, with
2544-401: Was installed onto the 2.5 litre engine with the modified cylinder head, increasing power by 20 bhp (15 kW), making it more powerful than the larger 2.8 litre engine. The fuel injected engine, named 2500 E, now produced 150 hp (112 kW; 152 PS) at 5,800 rpm and 196 N⋅m (145 lbf⋅ft) of torque at 4,500 rpm with an unchanged compression ratio of 9.5:1. For comparison,
2597-470: Was launched as The Autocar by Iliffe and Son Ltd. "in the interests of the mechanically propelled road carriage" on 2 November 1895 when, it is believed, there were only six or seven cars in the United Kingdom. L. J. K. Setright suggests that the magazine was set up by Henry Sturmey as an organ of propaganda for Harry J. Lawson , founder of the Daimler Company and a journalist on
2650-557: Was manufactured from 1967 to 1971, based on the Rekord C. After having offered a Rekord-6 powered by a 2.6 L 6-cylinder engine (which originated in the Opel Kapitän and Admiral ) since March 1964, Opel in February 1967 launched the Commodore as a faster up-market version of the Rekord . The Commodore was initially available with the known the 2.2-litre six and a larger 2.5 L engine developing 115 PS (85 kW) with
2703-470: Was the GSE edition in mid-1983; basically the A2 car, but a high-specification model which had Recaro sports seats, digital LCD instruments, firmer suspension, the Getrag five-speed manual transmission, an enhanced all-black interior, and a small boot spoiler. Also GSE models are equipped with a 40% limited slip differential, an addition that had to be ordered separately on earlier 3.0E cars when purchasing. By
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#17327809751072756-596: Was used by GM to produce other models in many markets, these include the Ranger sold in mainland Europe and also in South Africa , as well as the GM Opala which was built and sold in South America from 1968 through to 1992. Ranger and Opala production commenced two years after the Commodore A's debut in 1966. Today the name Commodore is a name synonymous with GM Holden of Australia. However, that wasn't always
2809-538: Was withdrawn by early 1977, replaced by the locally-built versions of the Buick Skylark , Chevrolet Nova , and Cadillac Seville (American origins). It was also assembled in South Africa, where it was called the Chevrolet 2500, 3800, and 4100 , and was a top seller in that market. These received inline-four or -six engines of Chevrolet origins, built locally. The Commodore C was first shown in late 1977, at
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