Information
Mentioning the name Cavalier Turbo to most people will conjure up visions of old battered Mk3 Cavaliers, faded paint, old men going to the tip and the thunder of an old diesel engine, hell there are even people that work in the parts department at Vauxhall main dealers that’ll have the same vision, to some of us however that vision is of something a little bit more special.
The Turbo we think of was produced between 1992 and 1995 and was in many respects Vauxhall's answer to the Sierra Cosworth of the time, with around 2240 being built, a little over 1000 of these cars came to the United Kingdom and were known as the Vauxhall Cavalier Turbo 4x4, the rest of Europe knew it as the Opel Vectra A Turbo.
Fitted with a turbo version of the well-known C20XE engine (C20LET), 6 speed Getrag F28 gear box, heated leather seats, Alloy wheels and airbags as standard at the time it was launched the Cavalier Turbo was a pretty well specced machine. The only real problem that arose was down to the 4wd system which in turn was down to people not reading the manual and not servicing the system correctly (or not at all), handbrake turns, lowered suspension and uneven tyre wear would all kill a box in short order. There are still cars out there however that are still running the original 4wd system that works as it was designed too.
Over its short run the spec of the turbo changed slightly, some came with just a driver side airbag, later ones also included one for the passengers, and the leather interior became optional, headlight washers, heated washer jets, and different plug covers
