VAUXHALL VXR220
•Price new £22,000
•Price now £20,000-£30,000
• Engine 2-litre, 4-cylinder turbo
•Rivals Lotus Elise (shock!), Caterham Seven, Porsche Boxster
• Verdict A distinct change from the norm, and only badge snobbery really stopped it from being a success.
AN INTERESTING MODEL THIS. ON the one hand, a Vauxhall shouldn’t really hold much space on these pages. Yet on the other, this isn’t totally a Vauxhall, it’s more than a bit Lotus. And we like Lotus, so let’s go with it.
In truth, the VX220 (or Opel Speedster, if you were in Europe) was something of a disaster in its day. Vauxhall only built around 7200 during a five-year production run, making them a rare sight, and sales figures were never sensational – after all, if you were after…