2026 Vauxhall Combo-E Reviews

If you are looking for a reasonably priced British classic cars, then don't overlook a Vauxhall, especially the Detroit inspired "PA" models from the late 50s and early 60s and the mid-sixties Mark II Ford Cortina. Compared to Holdens and Falcons of the same era, the Vauxhalls were way ahead on luxury, equipment and power. They were also way ahead on styling. Make no mistake, these cars stand out. With severely wrapped front and rear windows and tail fins rising from the rear mudguards, the PA Vauxhall was right in tune with contemporary American styling ideas. There were two models in the range, which were sold through Holden dealers: the basic Velox and the more upmarket Cresta. Whilst the Velox made do with vinyl seats and rubber floor mats, the Cresta gave buyers the option of real leather or nylon seats combined with carpeted floors and extra bright trim. The pre-1960 versions had three-section rear windows which also featured on the 1957 Oldsmobiles and Buicks. They come with 2.2 litre six cylinder engines and all-synchromesh three speed gearbox. Post 1960 cars have a 2.6-litre engine. The three-speed manual transmission was standard. What made them attractive on the local market were the options of the Hydramatic transmission and power-assisted front disc brakes. In short, the Velox and Cresta filled the marketing space above the Holden Special until the Premier was released in 1962. Spare parts for these cars are simple to obtain, mainly from the UK and New Zealand, where there are websites and parts sellers devoted to the PA models. Prices vary given the condition of the cars, but no one ought to pay over $10,000 for one, and reasonable examples can be had for around $5,000. The lower the price, however, the more likely there is rust. PA Vauxhalls have many nooks and crevices into which water and dirt finds its way. Meanwhile, if it is a classic Ford you desire, and do not wish to spend big money, then think about the Mark II Cortina. The second incarnation of the popular Cortina was launched in Australia in 1967 and was produced until 1972. These sprightly, four cylinder cars are gaining in popularity because they are well built, parts are plentiful and the cost of buying and owning one is within reach of those wanting to get into the classic car scene without spending much money. About $3,000 should see you into a high calibre Cortina 440 (that's the four door). The two door 240 goes for the same money. Cars requiring a little bit of rust repair and a paint job can be found for about $1,500. The Hunter British Ford Group is one of a number of growing groups dedicated to Cortinas, and other Fords of UK origin. Retroautos.com.au  

In a heads-up to what we might see here from Opel (Holden) comes news that GM's UK brand Vauxhall has just introduced its most powerful diesel passenger car engine in the Insignia range. It's good for 144kW/400Nm of torque, but with CO2 emissions as low as 129g/km.  Known as the Insignia BiTurbo, it's available with a choice of five-door hatch and wagon bodies in SRi, SRi Vx-line and Elite trims. The potent, twin-sequential turbocharged diesel is based on the existing 2.0-litre unit which powers models in the Insignia, Astra and new Zafira wagon range. However, in BiTurbo form the engine produces up to 20kW more power and a significant 50Nm of extra torque, reducing the 0-60mph time by nearly one second to 8.2 seconds.  But thanks to a package of eco features including standard start/stop across the range the FWD Hatch achieves a combined 4.8 litres/100km.  What makes the Insignia BiTurbo unique in this class is its use of sequential turbocharging, with the smaller turbo accelerating quickly at lower engine speeds to eliminate `lag', providing 350Nm of torque from just 1500rpm. In the mid-range, both turbochargers work together, with a bypass valve allowing gases to flow from the small to large unit; during this phase, maximum torque of 400Nm is produced between 1750-2500rpm. From 3000rpm, all gases flow directly to the larger turbo, ensuring performance is maintained at higher engine speeds.  Complementing this power gain, Vauxhall's clever FlexRide adaptive damping is standard on all Insignia BiTurbos. The system reacts within milliseconds to driver inputs and can `learn' how the car is being driven and adapt damper settings accordingly. Drivers can also select Tour and Sport buttons, and configure the throttle, steering and damper settings in Sport mode separately.  On four-wheel drive models, FlexRide is integrated with the car's Torque Transfer Device (TTD) and the rear axle's electronically controlled. Limited Slip Differential. These features allow torque to be automatically transferred between front and rear wheels, and between left and right wheels on the rear axle, offering exceptional levels of traction, grip and control.  In common with other models in the Insignia range, the BiTurbo has the option of Vauxhall's new Front Camera System, with traffic sign recognition and lane departure warning, and Adaptive Cruise Control, which allows the driver to maintain a set distance from the car in front.

The new Vauxhall Astra VXR, which goes on sale next year in the UK, is set to become one of the most powerful cars in its class and the fastest production Astra ever. It's powered by a 2.0-litre, turbocharged, direct injection engine good for 210kW and a mighty 400Nm of torque. The 0-100kmh sprint rates in the low 5.0 second bracket. The VXR benefits from a raft of custom made chassis modifications, transforming it into a focused, high-performance coupe. Setting it apart from all other current Astras is a specially developed mechanical limited slip differential, which works on the front wheels. The diff' provides VXR with exceptional lateral grip and traction through bends. Further changes to the chassis include brakes developed by competition supplier, Brembo, and a fully adaptive FlexRide system. In VXR, FlexRide features not only a Sport button, but a VXR button, offering drivers the choice of two, more focused stages of damper, throttle and steering control. Much of the chassis sign-off was done at the Northern Loop (Nordschleife) of the Nurburgring, and was overseen by Le Mans 24-hour race winner, "Smokin' Jo" Winkelhock. The car scores a set of specially sculpted front and rear bumpers, side skirts, an aerodynamic roof spoiler and two exhaust tail pipes in a trapeze shape. Inside, the VXR's cabin gets custom made performance seats with embossed logos in the backs, a flat-bottomed VXR steering wheel and upgraded instruments. Here's hoping.

Following Vauxhall's recent announcement of its stunning GTC Paris concept at this year's Paris Motor Show, the company has now revealed first pictures of the car's interior.Design head Mark Adams describes the concept as, 'bold, pure and iconic' with sweeping lines and shaped contours to complement the car's sporting intent.The images show a 'positive/negative' trim application across the front of the cabin, bespoke front seats with titanium inserts and high quality cabin materials. The small black leather racing steering wheel has metal inserts and door grabs and gearshift mould feature polished chrome.The GTC Paris gives a strong hint at what buyers might expect from the next Astra 3-door when it's unveiled at the show this week.

Unlikely, but it shows the youthful fun factor on tap for a car which will eventually be sold alongside the Barina at GM Holden outlets.  The Woody wagon look was added to the Spark in Europe as a summer teaser and a way to lure Gen-Y buyers to the car, which carries a Chevrolet badge on the other side of the world. It will have a similar starter spot when it reaches Australia, as Holden goes for a double-edged effort with the Barina and Barina Spark sometime in 2011.  There is no news yet on the likely pricetag or arrival of the new models, but the new Barina - called the Chevrolet Aveo - is already testing and Holden is believed to be waiting for the newcomer before going two-up in the baby car class. Meanwhile, there is no chance of a lifetime warranty on new Holdens even though the Red Lion brand's sister company has just done the deal in Britain.  Vauxhall is now providing lifetime warranty on all new cars from the day of registration, with a package that covers all major components. There is a hitch - because the lifetime coverage is tied to the first owner - but Vauxhall says it will still have a 160,000-kilometre protection package regardless of the owner.  And owners must still visit a Vauxhall dealer each year for a free vehicle inspection. Vauxhall is also working on a lifetime program purchase for second owners, but the British move has not triggered any thinking in Australia.  "Holden doesn't have any plans to introduce this sort of warranty," Holden spokesperson, Emily Perry, says.

The butterfly wings of its new Meriva MPV open to reveal a clever cabin highlighted by space and light.  Though the Meriva, built on the European Astra platform and so cursed as unlikely to come to Australia, seats only five, it has a versatile interior that includes a forward-placed instrument panel, side and forward sliding rear seats and a central, movable centre console known as FlexRail. This system sits between the front seats on rails, taking up space where the gearshift - now higher on the dashboard - and park brake - now an electric button - once claimed space.  Vauxhall said it provides convenient and adaptable storage for everyday items, from handbags and colouring books to iPods and sunglasses. Flexible seating gives the baby wagon a range of cabin configurations without having to remove any seats, changing from two to five. Both its outer rear seats can be moved fore and aft individually, and also slide inwards to provide more shoulder width and leg room. Additionally, rear seat backs can be fully lowered without having to remove their head restraints. The butterfly (or suicide doors) are opposite hinged to improve entry and egress to the ear, though the central B-pillar remains. The only similar system on mass-produced cars is the Mazda RX-8.  The Meriva debuts at the Geneva motor show in March.

It's a dictum that 76-year-old Max Monk lives and drives by. It could just as easily have come from Burt Munro who persisted for years with his old Indian motorcycle, turning it into the world's fastest Indian and a brilliant Hollywood movie. Monk never raced against Munro, but he did compete on the same beaches in New Zealand and witnessed the fame and glory of the dogged backyard mechanic at close quarters. "Burt raced in the clubman events so I didn't race against him. He was 60 then and I was just 20," says Monk. "Even at 70 he was still surrounded by 19-year-old girls." If Munro the man impressed the young 20-something apprentice mechanic from Canterbury, his ancient Indian motorcycle left even more of an impression. "I've never seen anything like it," he says. "It wouldn't wheelstand, it wouldn't wheelspin, it would just disappear over the horizon." So Monk became like his fellow South Islander and persisted with old machinery. Today he lives in Brisbane and drives a 1989 Saab 900i that belonged to one of his two daughters. "I bought it for $4500 six years ago and it had 350,000km on it," he says. "It's still going well and I wouldn't part with it." He also owns a 1984 Yamaha RZ500 V4 two-stroke motorcycle he bought 12 years ago for $3500. "They are worth about $10,000 now for a good one," he says although it's obvious he wouldn't part with it. Monk smokes as much as his beloved two-stroke Yamaha, but the wiry septuagenarian is still fit and continues to ride. "I got keen on bikes before I left school so I became a mechanic, but making your hobby your job is hard," he says. "I started racing when I was 20. My mother didn't want me doing it, but she said I could ride on the beach because that looked soft." Little did his mother know that riders like Munro and Monk were doing more than the old ton on those beaches. Monk raced a Triumph Speed Twin, a GP Triumph and then a 350 AJS 7R for about 10 years until one "bad day." "The bike wouldn't start and the field was long gone so I rode like a lunatic to catch up," he says. "Then the gear shift broke. The same thing happened in the second race and then I ran out of fuel in the last lap." "When I got back to the pits my mum and wife looked 30 years older because an ambulance had gone out and they thought it was for me. I had two little girls at that stage so I quit and just tuned bikes after that. I didn't ride again for about 20 years." In that time he worked as a car and bike mechanic, wrecker, welder, farmer, tractor mechanic, gun seller and real estate agent. "You name it, I've done it," he says. Monk moved to Australia six years ago to manage a residential development. "The number of cars and bikes I have owned is longer than your arm," he says. "The first car I owned was a 1937 Chevrolet I found on a farm and restored," he says. "It cost 10. I had it a year and a half and most of the time it was in bits and pieces." He then owned a series of old Chevs, Dodges and Vauxhalls. "The last one (before the Saab) was a 1984 Toyota Corolla hatchback. It was the last of the rear-wheel-drive models." You probably guessed it: "It had about a half a million kilometres on it."

Opel's stunt prior to the 2008 British motor show injected excitement into the launch of their mid-size car. The launch of the latest Insignia (Vauxhall Vectra in the UK) started with an orb plunging to the ground. It was hoisted atop the Tower Bridge where it stayed until its mid-week opening revealing the car, which was lowered earthwards … plunging 45m in six seconds. The Insignia debuts GM's Epsilon2 platform that will underpin future models, including Saab's next-generation 9-3, with front-wheel and all-wheel-drive. It will be powered by four cylinder and V6 petrol engines and turbo diesels. Holden wouldn't comment but may be forced to consider the mid-sizer, given that sales of the Daewoo-built Epica match its underwhelming performance.  

IF NOT for a nun in an old station wagon, John Howard could still be wandering the Outback looking for Mount Isa.  This is one of many motoring stories for one of Australia's most prolific and beloved actors, who plays Dr Frank Campion on Seven's drama All Saints and also fronts the stories on Real Seachange series.Howard is a 55-year-old actor who graduated from NIDA in 1978 and went on to star in top-rating televisions series Seachange -- a role which won him the 2001 Silver Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actor -- Changi, Always Greener and numerous feature films including Jindabyne, A Man's Gotta Do, Japanese Story, The Man Who Sued God, Dating The Enemy and The Club.He rates the Amalfi Coast in Italy as his favourite drive and has a Citroen in the garage. But Howard reckons if he won Lotto, he would buy a Mack truck.  So you have been warned.What was your first car?Vauxhall Victor.What do you drive now?Citroen C4 HDi turbodiesel.Do you have a favourite drive and who would you take?The Amalfi Coast with my beautiful wife Kim Lewis.How far would you drive in an average year?20,000km.Do you have a favourite motoring memory?Returning from Chatsworth cattle station, in far-west Queensland, we broke down miles from nowhere. We were rescued by a nun in a Holden station wagon who took us into Mount Isa.What would you buy if money was no object?A great big Mack Truck.What music is playing in your car?Mariza!How much is too much for a new car?A car's worth is in one's enjoyment of it. It's hard to enjoy a mountain of debt on wheels.What should be done to make driving safer?Annual psychiatric tests for the nuts behind the wheel!Are you sponsored by a car company?Je le souhaite! Which is French for I wish -- are you listening Citroen?

The large and glamorous classic will make a cameo appearance in Baz Luhrmann's latest film, Australia. When a friend in the movie industry heard the filmmakers were after an old, special car, the old Vauxhall came to mind. Before he knew it, Sheldon was in a chauffeur's suit and on the set of the film. “All the stars were there. Hugh Jackman, he opened the door up and sat in and got behind the steering wheel for a look,” he says. “Nicole Kidman, Bryan Brown, Baz Luhrmann the director; they were all there.” Sheldon struck up a conversation with another guy on set, later to be told it was Keith Urban. “It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and I couldn't thank my friend enough for getting me involved,” he says. The special nature of the car doesn't stop with the cameras. The stunning sedan is one of only two registered on the road in Australia. Sheldon says while there are 22 known survivors of this model, many are wrecks and no longer in working condition. It was that 'working-condition' tag that was holding back Sheldon's model when he first bought it two years ago. The previous owner had bought the car for spare parts for another model he had, but didn't have the heart to destroy it so he restored it instead. Getting the Vauxhall's 26.3hp (19.3kW), six-cylinder heart pumping was the only job left. “It was in perfect condition as far as body work, paint and chrome was concerned, but mechanically, it wasn't going,” Sheldon says. “It was very dilapidated and had to have a full mechanical rebuild,” he says. Sheldon didn't go looking for his ultimate car, rather, it found him. At a club dinner, he mentioned he was considering buying another Vauxhall and before long, he was being introduced to a car enthusiast wanting to sell one. “I really wasn't looking for one. I was thinking about it, but there it was and I went to have a look and fell in love with it,” he recalls. After paying the $12,000 asking price, Sheldon recruited friends to inject life back into the car. “A good friend of mine he did all the work, him and his dad,” he says. “Their forte is Austin 7s. They've done a fantastic job ... it drives like a new car. It's taken about two years. They just got it going about two months ago.” With a 74-year-history, Sheldon says parts for the vehicle are hard to find. The friends who were reconditioning the engine eventually turned to hand-making some of the parts themselves. Sheldon and his wife enjoy buckling their two- and three-year-old daughters into child seats and hitting the road now the car is in working order. “It's a lot of fun but it can be quite heavy; heavy on steering, heavy on the brakes and you sit up high in it, like a four-wheel-drive,” he says. “There's plenty of good vision, but it's not like driving a modern car, that's for sure, 'cause everything is heavy and it's quite slow.” The Sheldon family will put it to the test when heading to the Snowy Mountains in January for the Vauxhall National Rally. “I have always wanted an Al Capone gangster car. I just like the style of it,” Sheldon says. However, the enthusiasm isn't only heard from the driver's seat. “The little kids, they absolutely love it. They go mad. We put the baby seats in the back and they sit up there, kick their legs and enjoy it,” he says. About 3500 of these Vauxhalls were sold worldwide and Sheldon says that they are a lot more Australian than most people might think. “This particular car is unique to Australia because it's actually a Holden body,” he explains. “A lot of cars in the 1930s and 1940s were made by Holden; they were making cars as early as World War I. “This car was made in South Australia.” Sheldon says that in their day, in Australia most of the cars were owned by big land owners who wanted them for the rough outback roads as the heavy cars tended to soak up all the pot holes. “For an English car it was very American, a lot bigger than the English cars were of the era.” The Vauxhall name isn't new to Sheldon. His father bought a Vauxhall Victor station wagon brand new in 1971. The car followed them when his family emigrated to Australia from England when Sheldon was 10 years old. “It came by mistake. (The removalists) sent the car instead of the furniture,” he says. “It's the first car I can remember us having and it followed us over to Australia.” Once Sheldon passed his driving test and received his licence, father handed the keys over to him. And Sheldon says a lot of people involved with the car club also have an interest in the brand, which has been passed on from their fathers or grandfathers before them.   Snapshot 1934 Vauxhall BX big six Value when new: about pound stg. 3000 Value now: unknown Verdict: The big and glamorous car from the 1930s may not be easy to drive today, but it's still a stunner seven decades later, even impressing the movie world.