Opel/Vauxhall Vectra Owner's Manual

About The Vectra

The Vectra is a mid-sized family car designed and built by the German car manufacturer Opel. The Vectra was available as a saloon, hatchback or estate all of which carried the ‘Vectra’ badge within the UK.

Launched in 1988, the first line of these vehicles was called Vectra A’s and with their 4 doors, they directly replaced the aging Opel Ascona. There were multiple trim levels available, designed to appeal to most people, Base, LS, GL, GLS, CD and GT. There were 2 four-wheel drive variants available to couple with these trims, and a vast number of different engine configurations.

Then the Vectra B (built on the GM 2900 platform shared with the Saab 9-3 and 9-5) started sales in 1995 and kept the estate version in the lineup. It was the very last model to be manufactured at the Luton plant in the UK. Again, a number of engines were available which made the Vectra B extremely popular for car racing, specifically touring.

The Vectra C was built from the GM Epsilon Platform and took the form of either a 4-door notchback saloon, a 5-door hatchback or a 5-door estate. A year later, the wheelbase was extended for the estate version.

Engines were modified for the latter models, to compensate for the increased curb weight. In the UK, the Vectra C was not nearly as popular as its predecessors. It saw a huge fall from grace, where formally it had held the title of the 4th best selling car in Great Britain for most of its life, with the new update, it didn’t even rank.

The Vectra C stayed off the charts in the UK for quite some time until 2007, when it finally featured in the top 10 having outsold the Ford Mondeo for the very first time since 1999. What Car magazine named the estate version of the Vectra, the estate car of the year.