Another nice find is up from the faithful dash-cam, this time it’s a well kept Mk1 Corsa.
This was a very popular car in its day. Israelis have always been known to fondle- sorry, to be fond of Sedans. This was the “big car shape”, and big is always better, no? Well, the public thought so.
The example you see here was driven by an old lady and looks to be very original and very preserved (not the lady- the car). Just look at the small diameter wheel covers still in their place, or the original Beige paint which was very popular back then:
Here is another Corsa ‘A’ Sedan I photographed at my town, this time sporting two doors and a roof rack:
Note the very same color and an original antenna! And if you’ll look closely, you’ll find another copycat Corsa in the photo.
The Corsa ‘A’ fit the local car driver like a glove. Yes it was small, but “German”, and those cars are the best! I mean, this is practically a small Merc or BMW… It mostly appealed to old people, which hung on to the Corsa for dear life and would not let go. Any time you see one, it’s still being driven by a man or women over 65- I grantee that.
And they’re right, you know. Compared to so many other cars of the era, the Corsa held up really well. It was sensible, well built and an all-together no nonsense car. And it’s still is. My recently sold 2014 Corsa D is still favorite among older people. Boring it is, but that’s not an issue, when you’re after a sturdy, reliable and sensible car.
Let me show you what I mean. I think a COAL is out of the question concerning a new, 2014 car that was with me only two years, but I’ll take this opportunity to examplify with photos how despite it’s small size, the Corsa D has a place for everything and everything’s in its place :
A simple-looking boot, but note the right and left covers:
The left one has a place to house an emergency-kit, while the right…
…Neatly stores the jack paraphernalia.
Within it you’ll find this. Do you know what’s it for?
So that when you’ll have a flat, it’ll be easier to get the wheel cover off the rim.
All this makes the boot extremely spacious for a car this size, but if it’s still not enough, you can set the back rest of the rear seats in a forward position, to add more room in the boot:
The arrow points to the normal position’s hole, while the seat is now set in forward position.
You also get this.
Which does this. Why dirty your fingers? The opposite end is the “key” to activate the rear door child safety locks.
Up front, note the not-so-small storage area under the arm-rest. I never even noticed it was there until my wife started placing her mobile phone in it.
I could go on, but you get the idea. Sensible, no-nonsense car, and in my case very reliable (1.4 liter atmospheric with a manual gearbox, what could go wrong?). Just the car the old folks love.
So, however dirty…
…Or clean, it served me well. Should the next owners maintain it as I did, I’m sure it’ll hold up just as its older brother, the A.
We got the Chevy Spectrum instead of the Corsa. It was a rebadged Isuzu Imark, that also attracted more than it’s share of old people. I think it’s style, though toned down a little from the Isuzu, was more an 80s version of futuristic. The 1.5 70hp engine was very fuel efficient, but to all those who thought the Chevette was so ancient, the Spectrum proved the future was not so bright as to require shades after all.
Count me as a fan, Yohai, or Opels and of your taste in cars in general. Visiting family in Iran, I became acquainted with mid ’70s Rekords. And in my travels between the US and Iran, I became acquainted with mid ’90s Opels in Europe. I really loved their Germanic design which was much more suave than that of conservative Ford and VW or the era, yet still subtle.
The latest crop of GM’s FWD cars have their bones designed in Russelheim, and are some of the best options in their respective classes, dynamically. And the next generation shows they’ve rediscovered the importance of weight reduction. I’d love a new Astra hatch with cloth seats, a sunroof, sports suspension, with the smallest available wheels and the base diesel engine option.
GM tested it in Brazil, however it didn’t pass beyond test due to economic instability… the project were delayed so much that could reach 1992, too close to the Corsa B, so GM decide to left it behind in favor of the new Corsa for 1993. The only resemblance of that Corsa A here was a new nose for Chevette in 1983.
Guy, the latest Corsa is just beautiful, I was excited when GM started to test a mule of it in Brazil, anyway what we got was something only based on this Corsa, unfortunately with another design not so good…
In third picture i also like the 206 behind it.
B-segment sedans: still alive and kicking in Southern Europe (and other parts of the world), dead and buried in Northern Europe.
B-segment hatchbacks are very popular. Among young and old, among singles, among couples without children or as a second car of the family. The choice seems endless. European, Japanese and Korean automakers offer them. From a low-power stripper to fully optioned and up to 200+ hp.
Note that most current B-segment models are as big as old model C-segment offerings; an example is today’s VW Polo, about the same size as a VW Golf Mk2.
Now about Opel, it’s good to see they got their Mojo back. The new Astra K is a winner, absolutely. I already see Yohai driving his own…soon…
The comparisons between the ’86 and the ’14 Corsa are illuminating, showing how much more sophisticated body design is today, even for a B-segment car. No more straight glass, flat panels, or exposed rain gutters.
… but hardly any rear visibility – in fact, it has become impossible to judge where the car’s extremities are, hence the need for sensors (more electronics to go wrong). An aspect of modern cars I detest, and one more we have to thank big government for.
I don’t think the lack of rain gutters is design sophistication……
Yeah we have them with Holden badges on em and the occasional refugee Vauxhall good little cars by most accounts not Peugeots or Citroens or Japanese build quality, but good attempts at a smallish car my 18 year old Xsara is loaded with clever little things like those and most Japanes cars have little cubby holes all over them and those are what sell the most here.
Spain is another country where sedans based in small hatchbacks were very popular in the ´80s. You know, we made a sedan four door variant of the Renaut 5 (the Renault Siete) and the Fiat 850…
I remember my father rented a four door Corsa TR (as it was called the Corsa sedan in Europe) in Avis and I liked it. Well, I was 10 years old…perhaps these cars could seem a bit ridiculous to american readers, but in a not very affluent country like Spain back in the 80´s, the TR could serve as a family car, thanks to a much bigger trunk than the Corsa hatchback.
Nowadays, in Spain, the B-segment and C-segment sedans popularity has diminished a lot. The modern successors of the Ford Orion, Renault 9, Fiat Regata et al are difficult to see in the streets.
Yohai, thank you for your dash-cam footage of interesting cars on the road. The roofline of the four-door sedan looks like a shrunken version of this, the ‘classic’ VL Commodore.
I’d like to invite the Commodore to one of my candlelight suppers….
Nice view of an Israeli road, including the scooters which infest everywhere.
Thanks for your comments.
Here’s what I was writing about- I’ve taken this photo early today, on my way to the bus. In this case it’s an Astra G and not a Corsa, but still see how people are trying to “preserve” old Opels:
My father owned one of those in puke green.
Those were built in Figueruelas, the Opel factory near Zaragoza in Spain. That factory was built in the early 80s and started building cars in 1983.
My dad’s car wasn’t a great one. Brakes were so-so, the interior plastics didn’t resist the Spanish heat and it had a bug in the carburator.
Almost none of those cars are still running in Spain – At least I haven’t seen one in ages!