Badge-engineering is the art of marketing the same car under a different brand name and convincing potential buyers that it is a different machine. The Mini was sold as both an Austin and a Morris during its first 10 years, while in 1984 the former Opel Senator from Germany became a “British” Vauxhall. The affluent motorist could now enjoy a fine saloon without qualms about their patriotism.
The original A1-series Opel Senator debuted in 1977, followed in 1978 by its Vauxhall Royale stablemate. In November 1982, Opel facelifted the Senator as the A2, with a more streamlined body and a choice of 2.5 and 3.0-litre engines, both with improved fuel-injection. When UK sales began in 1983, there was to be no “Vauxhall Royale A2”, as the parent company General Motors wanted to enhance its Opel marque’s image in this country.
Five years earlier, buyers could choose an Opel equivalent for almost every Vauxhall – a Kadett instead of a Chevette, an Ascona instead of a Cavalier or a Rekord instead of a Carlton. By 1983, the only Opels sold in the UK were the Senator, its three-door fastback Monza stablemate and the Manta coupé. Opel was now a brand for sporting and luxury vehicles, aiming its products at the keen social climber.
Motor found the flagship Senator 3.0 CD “a more complete and accomplished package” than the Audi 200E, even if they described its interior as having “shades of Cavalier”. The magazine also preferred the Opel to the Volvo 760 GLE and the Renault 25 V6.
On October 17 1984, The Telegraph reported that: “The splendid Opel Senator saloons are now being badged as Vauxhalls, in deference to the susceptibilities of fleet operators with a notional ‘Buy British’ policy.” As with all A2 and A1-series models, the new Vauxhall was built in Germany. However, the Luton-based firm’s Griffin badge meant the Senator now appealed to police forces and business owners who shunned a “foreign marque”.
And a 3.0i CD, such as John Hoare’s 1984 example, had much to offer a buyer who could afford the necessary £13,994, from its 180bhp engine to a 127mph top speed. Vauxhall boasted that the Senator’s price compared favourably “with more mundane executive saloons” – in other words, the CD was slightly cheaper than the Ford Granada Mk2 2.8i Ghia X at £14,154.