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Man Maths: Vauxhall VX220

3 weeks ago

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Writer:

Andrew Frankel | Ti co-founder

Date:

26 October 2024

I’ll level with you. I’m a bit nervous about this one. The whole point of Man Maths is that there should be something inherently unwise about the cars we choose: a fatal flaw that needs to be ignored, a fundamental failing one organ of your body is convinced should be interpreted as charm while another, at a rather greater altitude, views as grounds all by itself to get you running in the other direction as fast as your legs can carry you.

But there’s nothing inherently dumb about a Vauxhall VX220. You don’t hear horror stories, they tend not to self-immolate on the A14, they are absolutely not rubbish to drive. And yet… well, we’ll get to that in a minute.

Let’s for now just remember what this car is, because it’s easy to forget and plenty have and do. And the best way to do that is to remind ourselves of what it is not, namely a reclothed, rebadged Lotus Elise. By component count, the parts commonality between the two is less than 10 per cent. Let’s also remember why it exists. It was in essence a quid pro quo: Lotus needed money from its then General Motors owner to re-engineer the Elise to pass forthcoming crash legislation, GM said no worries so long as you build us a little sportster of our own while you’re about it, which we can sell both in the UK (as the Vauxhall VX220) and Europe (as the Opel Speedster).

The VX220 had the looks... but not the badge

But GM didn’t want to scare off its less-than-Lotus-hardcore clientele, so ordered a car with a longer wheelbase, lower sills, a more spacious and comfortable interior, an easier to handle roof and such niceties as an airbag and ABS brakes. Obviously GM engines would be used, a 2.2-litre naturally aspirated four with 145bhp at launch in 2001 which was joined in 2003 (and eventually replaced) by a 197bhp 2-litre turbo motor. I think we complained about the additional mass of the turbo car at the time, which sounds odd today as no VX220 ever built weighed close to a tonne. Indeed despite the additional feature content, it wasn’t much heavier than an Elise.

And to drive I’d say a good VX220 is a fine match for an early S2 Elise. The Vauxhall’s additional power even without the turbo motor more than offset the small weight increase while the chassis set up, featuring front tyres just 175mm across the tread, ensured fabulous steering feel and accuracy too. To live with, they were precisely as planned: just a damn sight easier day-to-day.

It was a truly fine car. Indeed with those looks, that performance, Lotus-like handling with added practicality, one may wonder what there was not to like about the VX220. Until, of course, you remember the badge.

Snobbery in this regard is not a modern construct, and the simple crime of being a Vauxhall was enough to ensure it never sold in quantities close to what had been hoped for. Today there are between 500 and 600 licenced for use on our roads, compared to at least eight times as many Lotus Elises. Which means they’re rare too.

So a car this good and that scarce should be expensive, right? Well no, because a couple of decades later that badge is still holding it back. Right now on PistonHeads there’s a single owner 2005 Turbo with just 18,000 miles on the clock advertised for £15,995. The closest Elise I could find on the same site is a far less powerful 111S from the same year which has racked up 17,000 miles under four owners. Asking price? £29,995. You do the (man) maths.

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