1997 Vauxhall Calibra V6 review: Retro Road Test

Take a best-selling family saloon, re-skin it with a curvaceous body that could have straight from an Italian styling house and you have the Vauxhall Calibra. It was based on the Vauxhall Cavalier and designed in-house, not by Italians, but by Wayne Cherry, the American-born design boss at General Motors.

This is not an uncommon approach to building coupes: start with an unexciting saloon or hatchback and jazz it up. Volkswagen did it with the Scirocco and Audi TT, both to great effect. The key is to start off with well-engineered building blocks, something both VW and Vauxhall/Opel had to their advantage.

What we have here, then, is a three-door, four-seat coupe, its wide-opening tailgate neatly disguised within the flowing lines down to the rear bumper. Launched in 1989, the Calibra was sold in the UK for the best part of 10 years, although it’s rare to see one now. Especially anything as nice as this extremely low-mileage example from Vauxhall’s heritage fleet.

Let’s talk about six

Power came originally from a couple of 2.0-litre petrol engines: either eight valves and 115hp or 16 valves and 150hp. In 1992, a four-wheel-drive 2.0 turbocharged Calibra was launched. Its power output of 200hp was punchy for the time, but the Turbo didn’t sell well and now has the shadow of expensive gearbox problems hanging over it.

The car we have here is the last proper iteration of the Calibra, the 2.5-litre V6. With 168hp, it wasn’t as swift as the Turbo, but the silky six-cylinder engine brought a whole new level of sophistication, arguably making the Vauxhall more of a grand tourer than it had any right to be.

So, how does the Calibra V6 stand up today? We drove it to Normandy for a four-day classic car event – enough miles to stretch its legs properly.

Calibra to the continent

We took the ferry from Newhaven to Dieppe and then headed down to Forges-les-Eaux, along winding D-roads through quiet villages and dense forests, scenes to be repeated over the following three days. What you notice immediately about the Vauxhall is how civilised it is. That V6 engine is a gem, not powerful by today’s standards, but decently quick and genuinely refined.

The leather interior provides a low, sporty seating position and some real comfort, while there’s room for a couple of adults in the rear as long as they’re not too tall.

Luggage space is impressive, and there’s masses of volume available with the rear seat folded. I know this from experience, by the way; nearly 30 years ago when the Calibra was still new, I carried four garden chairs all the way back from Switzerland.

Easy does it

There’s no escaping the Calibra’s origins, although most today will have forgotten what a Cavalier dashboard looked like. Today, with its sporty white dials, the Calibra V6 simply feels classic rather than outdated.

Its ride and handling are far from sporty, however, which means you’d be better off enjoying the easy power steering and decent air-con than chasing old Golf GTIs across the countryside.

Take that on board, and you’ll revel in a long journey in a Calibra V6. It may be 25 years old, but this classic Vauxhall gets more desirable all the time.

ALSO READ:

1990 Renault 5 GT Turbo review: Retro Road Test

1995 Ford Mondeo Mk1 review: Retro Road Test

Great Motoring Disasters: Sinclair C5