VAUXHALL CAVALIER COUPE/HATCHBACK

2-door 4-seater coupé/hatchback coupé.

Though called a Vauxhall, this was no more than a badge-engineered Opel Manta, sharing all sheet metal and a choice of cam-in-head Opel engines. Some say prettier and all say roomier than the Ford Capri with which it competed. Notchback coupés were sold at first, but full 2-litre engines and a hatchback option arrived in 1978/9. Dropped in 1981 when rear-drive Cavaliers disappeared, but the Manta was still in production in the late eighties.