THE VAUXHALL CAVALIER MK2 IS 40 YEARS YOUNG

40 years ago, on the 23rd September 1981, Vauxhall launched one of the most important cars in the company’s history – the Vauxhall Cavalier Mk2. To celebrate this anniversary, the Vauxhall Cavalier and Chevette Club had three Vauxhall Cavalier Mk2s on display in The Mall Shopping Centre in Luton, 40 years to the day after the car was launched.

Club Chairman Kevin Bricknall said: 'The Cavalier Mk2 was a major success for Vauxhall, taking the fight to Ford who launched the new Sierra in 1982. It was based on the GM J-Type platform, so there were other versions around the world including the Opel Ascona C, Holden Camira, Chevrolet Monza, Isuzu Aska, Chevrolet Cavalier, Pontiac Sunbird, Buick Skyhawk, Oldsmobile Firenza and Cadillac Cimarron. When production stopped in 1988, the car reappeared on the UK market in 1995 as the Daewoo Espero and lasted to 1997. Sadly the Cavalier Mk2 was named the country’s 6th most scrapped car of the last 30 years with fewer than 1% left on the road. However, that makes a car which was once common on every street corner more exclusive than a Ferrari or Lamborghini!'