Holy smokes – there’s a Vauxhall Calibra for sale

The great thing about fashion and trends is that they’re cyclical; wait long enough and what had seemed naff and dated becomes the height of desirability all over again. Seldom are new things actually new. The hot hatch was huge, then faded away with insurance premiums, then had its glorious 21st-century resurgence, and now seems on uncertain ground again. The SUV existed for a long time as Range Rovers and Jeeps, then exploded, and shows no signs of abating. 

Then there’s the coupe – having been a fixture of so many lineups for such a long time, the humble two-door effectively disappeared. And it hasn’t really returned. But there is some small hope of a revival, with the Honda Prelude back for the 2020s, rumours continuing to circle about another Toyota Celica, and Mazda will always (it seems) tease with talk of rotary powertrains and gorgeous concepts. If the timeline is still accurate, Opel’s new Manta should be here in the next year or so. And if manufacturers can justify a million SUV spin-offs, there’s surely got to be room (and a bit of demand) for regular two-doors. 

Which is a very long build-up to announce that there’s a Vauxhall Calibra for sale. A really smart one, too, with just 40,000 miles over nearly 35 years of driving and a little bit of recommissioning work in 2021. You’ll probably all know the Calibra story, but just quickly for those that don’t, the more modern and front-wheel drive replacement for the Manta launched in 1989 with Cavalier underpinnings. Opel/Vauxhall didn’t want to miss the opportunity to create a rival for the upstart Japanese coupes like – you’ve guessed it – the Prelude. The Calibra’s USP was its aerodynamic slipperiness, a drag co-efficient of 0.26 making it the most aerodynamic production car in the world in 1989. Great for making the most of its four- and six-cylinder engines, both in terms of fuel efficiency and performance. The Calibra also spawned stunning ITC/DTM touring cars. 

It was quite the halo product, really, even with a dowdy interior and handling that didn’t compare favourably with a Corrado. The Calibra looked great, which is half the battle won for a sports coupe, and went well enough with turbo or V6 power. That was enough to prove very popular indeed: despite being produced for just eight years, almost a quarter of a million Calibras were made. Not bad at all given how many alternatives were out there at the time. 

35 years on from launch, Calibras are very seldom seen. This one’s an early eight-valve, so just the 115hp, but now more than ever this is a car for cruising around, reminiscing about the old days rather than driving flat out. It’s had just three owners since 1990 and looks very well preserved; it comes with a good amount of history and some fantastic Vauxhall paraphernalia like the Performance Car Club pen and duster. Even the floor mats still look decent. It doesn’t look far off show standard, in fact. 

The asking price is £8,695, because we’re very much at ‘find another’ territory now. Calibras just don’t come up for sale very often at all, and almost never with so few miles. It’s hardly exceptional in the current climate when there are, for example, comparable Celicas at £12k. As a relatively simple old thing, a Calibra shouldn’t be too troublesome to run, and you can guarantee favourable attention wherever it goes. So perhaps it could end up being money very well spent…