I’ve always had a soft spot for big coupés – or at least, big by European standards – indeed, I’m currently on my third, my Mercedes 280CE following a silver E9 back in the ‘90’s and a metallic burgundy Audi GT in the mid-1980’s. For the most part, these two-door but four-seater cars tend to be based on saloons, sharing many components. However, they generally – certainly to my eyes – look more stylish, and yes, sporty, even if they’re actually not, and simply more desirable. It’s not that I think the saloon versions are unattractive, but take a look at these comparisons…
Opel Senator/Vauxhall Royale vs. Opel Monza/Royale Coupé, Audi 80 vs Audi GT, Mercedes W123 vs C123, Jaguar XJ6 vs XJC, Fiat 130 vs FIAT Coupé, BMW E3 vs E9, Lancia Gamma Saloon vs Gamma Coupé…I could go on. This was a very competitive sector of the market, and remains so for the classic car enthusiast.
Some big saloons and their coupé versions…
The coupés were and are only marginally less practical than their saloon counterparts, usually able to accommodate four adults in reasonable comfort and take a decent amount of luggage. But it’s amazing how a subtle slope from the C-pillar combined with, in some cases, pillarless profiles can entirely change the way a car looks. Indeed, some of the aforementioned can be counted among the best-looking cars ever made – I’m thinking of the FIAT 130 Coupé and BMW’s E9 in particular. In the case of the two Italian cars, though, it has to be said that these were completely different from their base models, both designed by Pininfarina, of course, and while the E9 was related to the E3, it wasn’t based on it.
…and some more
Interestingly, despite the contemporary desirability of these Grand Tourers, which is what they are, in the classic world, good examples of all bar one of them can frequently be found for less than our theoretical £20k budget, though prices are creeping up in some cases. The exception is of course the E9, which hasn’t been available for less than £20,000 for quite some time.
Quite why this is, I’m not sure – perhaps it’s because of their saloon underpinnings, not that there’s anything wrong with them, but it does make them less exotic. Having said that, those same underpinnings are also what helps make these cars more practical – all three of mine have been my daily drivers.
Moving on to our Prime Find this week…we’ve taken a look at the Opel Monza before, when our International Editor was looking for a daily to replace his Reliant GTE. In the end, the Monza escaped his clutches. In that instance, the car in question was a first generation Monza; this time around, it’s a later A2 GSE.
Introduced by Opel in 1978 as a replacement for the Commodore – itself an elegant coupé and a car I’ve always fancied – the Monza was based on the Opel Senator, an executive saloon, although the car’s interior mostly used Rekord internals, which detracted somewhat from the image the Monza was supposed to project.
Model designations were 2.5E, 2.8S and 3.0S, the numbers denoting engine capacity. All three were inline sixes, and the 3.0 in particular was a strong performer, pushing out 180bhp, enough to propel this big car to a top speed of 130mph/215kmh, making it Opel’s fastest ever car to that point.
At the same time, Vauxhall launched their version, giving it the Royale name for both saloon and coupé. While Royale works pretty well for the saloon, it’s just not as cool as Monza for a Grand Tourer, is it? “What do you drive?” “Ah, a Vauxhall Royale” “Oh, right – my car’s a Monza”. There’s only one winner in that conversation.
These large cars were fast, comfortable and spacious, and unlike its rival coupés, the Monza even had a hatchback, making it even more practical. The engines were fundamentally the same as those that had been used for years in the Diplomat, Admiral and Commodore (Opel had great names for their cars back in the day) so reliability was generally good, and pricing was very competitive. Press response was broadly positive in terms of driveability, but their cheap interiors let them down and negatively affected sales.
In 1982 Opel addressed this by introducing the Monza A2, and at the same time, Vauxhall quietly dropped the Royale, which had always drawn negative comments in the press when compared to its General Motors stablemate.
Although largely unaltered in overall terms, the changes that were made had a considerable impact on the car’s appearance as well as aerodynamic efficiency, with the drag co-efficient improving from 0.40 to 0.35 – significant at a time of increasing fuel prices, as these were not particularly economical cars. Larger headlamps and a more streamlined nose, with matt black replacing much of the A1’s chrome finishing. Not everyone approved of these changes, but I have to say that I do.
A less successful change was the addition of a 2.0-litre, 115bhp engine intended to offer buyers a more economical version of the Monza, but this was so flaccid it was not popular. Meanwhile the 2.8S was dropped, leaving the 2.5E and 3.0E, both given improved Bosch fuel injection. However, perhaps the more significant improvements were those made to the interior, which was made much more luxurious, with added electronic gadgetry such as an on-board computer.
The final version of the Monza came in mid-1983 in the form of the GSE – basically the A2 but with Recaro’s, an all-black interior, limited-slip diff, rear spoiler, a digital dash with LCD instrument display, and a 5-speed ‘box as standard.
Opel ceased production of the Monza in 1986, having built 43,812 over an eight-year span, and it wasn’t replaced.
Our Prime Find is one of the late-ish example, having been built in 1984 and is a GSE, the ultimate incarnation of the model. For a car with such a relatively low market value, this example has had an astonishing amount of money lavished on it. Like an E9 sold at the previous Historics auction, this Monza has had £100,000 spent on it and comes with the invoices to prove it. That E9 sold for just over half that amount, and I will be very surprised if the Monza gets even a quarter of it back – it’s being sold at no reserve, hence my inclusion of it in our Prime Find category. Looking for other examples for sale, the most expensive one I can find has an asking price of €16,850 in Germany.
Not that there are many available – only 43 remain in the UK, though I’m sure there are more in Germany. Interestingly, the Senator is down to a mere handful of examples left, and the number of Vauxhall badged survivors totals just 19 of both saloon and coupé.
From the photos that we’ve borrowed from the auctioneer’s website, it does look fabulous, in a deep metallic blue set off against black alloys and with the all-black velour interior, though I accept that he LCD dash won’t be to everyone’s taste – I would prefer analogue dials myself. Clearly no expense has been spared on this car, but the mystery remains – to what end? Surely not as any kind of investment.
Anyway, it goes under the hammer on Saturday July 17th and you can see the full lot entry here – I have a feeling that someone is going to bag a bargain; I’ll watch with interest.
With our Saturday instalment of Prime Find of the Week, we’re offering our services to the classic car community, by passing on our favourite classic car for sale from the week that passed. This top-tip might help a first-time-buyer to own his first classic, or it could even be the perfect motivation for a multiple-classic-car-owner to expand his garage with something different. We’ll let us inspire by anything from a cheap project to a stunning concours exotic, and hope that you will do the same.
Just remember – Any Classic is Better than No Classic! We obviously invite our readers to help prospective buyers with your views and maybe even experiences of any given model we feature. Further to that, if you stumble across a classic which you feel we ought to feature as Prime Find of the Week, then please send us a link to primefindoftheweek@viaretro.co.uk