Opel Corsa A GSI

tashiusclay

Hi all, I own a 1990 Corsa Gsi, its an irish car from new, and I'm trying to find out if any more of them survive, from my research so far I've failed to find another, I've seen/heard of a handful of 91-93 shape Opel Corsa Gsi's down through the years, but none of the earlier mk1 shape which I have, if anyone knows of another one I'd love to hear of it.

I've attached a pic of it.

I plan to restore it to original standard specification.

Thanks for looking

carchaeologist

tashiusclay wrote: »

Hi all, I own a 1990 Corsa Gsi, its an irish car from new.

I plan to restore it to original standard specification.

Thanks for looking

Nice car, and nice to see it being kept original and not modded to death. Is the sunroof aftermarket?

Bigus

carchaeologist wrote: »

kept original and not modded . Is the sunroof aftermarket?

Typical Irish compliment:eek:

carchaeologist

Bigus wrote: »

Typical Irish compliment:eek:

I guess when you look at it like that, your right! Its not what i meant though. oops!:o

tashiusclay

Yes it is, sadly, horrible looking item, that'll be one of the more pain in the arse aspects of the restoration, it'll be getting a new roof skin and headlining, not looking forward to that job. It'll be a bare shell rebuild as i want everything to be done to a high standard. I'm also a considerable way thorough a reshell/build of a 90 nova gte tarmac rallycar , it'll be an interesting comparison doing the corsa alongside it, as the nova is being built for motorsport and therefore extensively modified to suit with almost every component changed or upgraded for heavier/motorsport spec , and the corsa will be built to a completely standard spec

lepoatnam

Lovely looking car, I'm a huge Opel fan, haven't seen too many of those GSI Corsa's. If you are interested in Opel & Vauxhall it might be worth checking out the Opel Vauxhall Club Ireland. There is a facebook page and a forum for members. There is 2012 calendars also available. I do know a fella with a 1989 GTE Nova, could maybe put you in contact with him.

tashiusclay

Thanks for that, I'll check both of them out. What is he doing with the gte, is he restoring it?

lepoatnam

He's had it on the road for the last 3-4 years. Not sure what the plans are for it at the moment, I do know he won't be selling, do remember him saying it needed a little TLC.

MercMad

Nice car mate, a car close to my heart ! :cool:

I worked for Michael Grant Opelcentre for 9 years, 1987-1995, during which time we only sold one brand new Corsa A GSI, a white one. It could in fact be your car as I recall it went outside Dublin and never came back.

I bought a 6 month old Belgian Corsa 1.4GT from a customer of ours, and fitted the GSI sills and had the grille painted, fitted 14" wheels and it basically looked identical to your car above. I also fitted the GSI door trims, front fogs lights, Weber Carb, K&N Filter, Janspeed exhaust, Koni suspension and central locking alarm.

I loved that car and kept it until 2001. My mother had used it from 1994-2001 at which time she needed power steering so it was sold to a friend who was looked for a competition car. Apparantly it still exists, in a shed somewhere.

The dealership also took in a red Corsa A GSI as trade in when it was 2 years old. Its reg was 90C 7122. A friend of mine bought it but changed jobs about 2 months later and it came back to us. My then girlfriend (now my wife) bought it, and loved it to this day. We sold it in 1995, changed to a Clio 16V. I sold the GSI to a friend of mine. I had fitted a good alarm again, immobiliser and cut off switch and left the chain and gear lever/handbrake lock in it and told him always to use them. Opels were the first choice for rampant joyriders back then and we were always conscious of this and very careful with these cars. Of course the wally called to a friend and LEFT THE CAR RUNNING and it was taken and found burnt out 3 days later !! :mad:

Would love if you kept us posted on both cars. I hope to build one again !

tashiusclay

lepoatnam wrote: »

He's had it on the road for the last 3-4 years. Not sure what the plans are for it at the moment, I do know he won't be selling, do remember him saying it needed a little TLC.

Do you know has he any spare parts for sale? I'm looking for some bits and pieces for the corsa, e.g. inlet manifold and injectors, airbox with afm and a few bits of trim etc

tashiusclay

MercMad wrote: »

Nice car mate, a car close to my heart ! :cool:

I worked for Michael Grant Opelcentre for 9 years, 1987-1995, during which time we only sold one brand new Corsa A GSI, a white one. It could in fact be your car as I recall it went outside Dublin and never came back.

I bought a 6 month old Belgian Corsa 1.4GT from a customer of ours, and fitted the GSI sills and had the grille painted, fitted 14" wheels and it basically looked identical to your car above. I also fitted the GSI door trims, front fogs lights, Weber Carb, K&N Filter, Janspeed exhaust, Koni suspension and central locking alarm.

I loved that car and kept it until 2001. My mother had used it from 1994-2001 at which time she needed power steering so it was sold to a friend who was looked for a competition car. Apparantly it still exists, in a shed somewhere.

The dealership also took in a red Corsa A GSI as trade in when it was 2 years old. Its reg was 90C 7122. A friend of mine bought it but changed jobs about 2 months later and it came back to us. My then girlfriend (now my wife) bought it, and loved it to this day. We sold it in 1995, changed to a Clio 16V. I sold the GSI to a friend of mine. I had fitted a good alarm again, immobiliser and cut off switch and left the chain and gear lever/handbrake lock in it and told him always to use them. Opels were the first choice for rampant joyriders back then and we were always conscious of this and very careful with these cars. Of course the wally called to a friend and LEFT THE CAR RUNNING and it was taken and found burnt out 3 days later !! :mad:

Would love if you kept us posted on both cars. I hope to build one again !

Hi there.

Thats interesting about that white gsi that was sold, it'd be a nice coincidence if it was my car. It was first registered on the 8th january 1990, does that date ring any bells? Unfortunately I haven't got the original owners details, I had it when I first aquired this car back in 2003, as I was given the original logbook then, but since buying it back last year, that logbook must have been lost and now it's a duplicate that I have with only the last two recent owners on it. I contacted opel ireland to see if any sales figures still existed to see how many corsa a gsi's were sold in the republic, but sadly those figures are long gone. I'd say very little were sold though.

Was your belgian corsa a lhd? It'd be nice to know what condition its in these days.

Thats a shame about the red corsa being burnt out, sad to see such a rare car go like that. When I first sold on the corsa back in 2003 (due to losing the use of the garage where the car was being stored) the next car I bought was also a clio 16v! I've had two of those, and a 19 16v chamade, very nice cars the renault 16v's.

Heres a link to the build of my gte http://totalopel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7973
The corsa may be some time waiting before I get around to it, as I'm about halfway through a sierra td rebuild, along with the nova, and I want those finished first. For now, I'm just concentrating on preserving its current condition by keeping it properly stored, and gathering the nessecary parts for the restoration.

manta mad

looks like it was well minded :cool:

not many left around now ,

allthough theirs a blue gsi around baltinglass ,will see if i can get you a pic

MercMad

tashiusclay wrote: »

Hi there.

Thats interesting about that white gsi that was sold, it'd be a nice coincidence if it was my car. It was first registered on the 8th january 1990, does that date ring any bells? Unfortunately I haven't got the original owners details, I had it when I first aquired this car back in 2003, as I was given the original logbook then, but since buying it back last year, that logbook must have been lost and now it's a duplicate that I have with only the last two recent owners on it. I contacted opel ireland to see if any sales figures still existed to see how many corsa a gsi's were sold in the republic, but sadly those figures are long gone. I'd say very little were sold though.

Was your belgian corsa a lhd? It'd be nice to know what condition its in these days.

Thats a shame about the red corsa being burnt out, sad to see such a rare car go like that. When I first sold on the corsa back in 2003 (due to losing the use of the garage where the car was being stored) the next car I bought was also a clio 16v! I've had two of those, and a 19 16v chamade, very nice cars the renault 16v's.

Heres a link to the build of my gte http://totalopel.com/forum/showthread.php?t=7973
The corsa may be some time waiting before I get around to it, as I'm about halfway through a sierra td rebuild, along with the nova, and I want those finished first. For now, I'm just concentrating on preserving its current condition by keeping it properly stored, and gathering the nessecary parts for the restoration.

..............Yes I loved the Renault 16V.........real screamer and the Clio was stuck to the road.

My GT was RHD and I dont know its condition now, though I will attempt to buy it back. It was 6 months old when I bought it. I know Crawfords sold another red one about 1990 also and DG Opel sold at least one.

It could actually be that car as he one we did was in stock over Christmas as I was in on holiday coverage !

Like the rally car build, I'll probably end up doing the same !

tashiusclay

manta mad wrote: »

looks like it was well minded :cool:

not many left around now ,

allthough theirs a blue gsi around baltinglass ,will see if i can get you a pic

Yeah if you could get a pic I'd love to see it

tashiusclay

MercMad wrote: »

..............Yes I loved the Renault 16V.........real screamer and the Clio was stuck to the road.

My GT was RHD and I dont know its condition now, though I will attempt to buy it back. It was 6 months old when I bought it. I know Crawfords sold another red one about 1990 also and DG Opel sold at least one.

It could actually be that car as he one we did was in stock over Christmas as I was in on holiday coverage !

Like the rally car build, I'll probably end up doing the same !

Cool, nice coincidence that! Another long shot question, can you remember what wheels it had when new, the ones in the above photo or the black/grey steel wheels with the silver lip?

MercMad

tashiusclay wrote: »

Cool, nice coincidence that! Another long shot question, can you remember what wheels it had when new, the ones in the above photo or the black/grey steel wheels with the silver lip?

............I'm 99% certain it had the 14" steel grey sports wheels, same as my own which were 13".

tonytoc11

Is this still ongoing? I have a mk1 corsa too that I'm using to build tarmac car with a 1.6 16v corsa sport engine and I'm currently on the look out for a clean mk2 corsa gsi.

tashiusclay

Haven't started it yet, its in dry storage and don't plan to start it for a couple or years minimum yet as I've other projects on the go, just gathering parts for it as yet. Any project thread anywhere for your mk1 build?

Tiger72

Maybe a bit of the point but I was telling a friend of mine about this thread and he owned a GSI , but also he said he owned a car called an Opel Kadett Céad ?? does anyone remember them ? there was only 100 of them made ...

Do-more

Tiger72 wrote: »

he said he owned a car called an Opel Kadett Céad ?? does anyone remember them ? there was only 100 of them made ...

There was a guy on here who restored a kadett cead a while back.

I used to have a Nova 1.3SR back in the day 86D115 I put a GSi close ratio gearbox in it and Koni's which improved the handling considerable but did nothing for the ride quality.

Tiger72

Do-more wrote: »

There was a guy on here who restored a kadett cead a while back.

I used to have a Nova 1.3SR back in the day 86D115 I put a GSi close ratio gearbox in it and Koni's which improved the handling considerable but did nothing for the ride quality.

Jasus thanks for that ... my friend actually owned the Kadett Cead JZB 100

tonytoc11

No project thread as it's kind of been ongoing with years. Just bought a nice original flame red corsa b gsi yesterday actually so the nova will probably get put on the long finger again. Kind of half thinking of sticking the 1ltr pushrod back into the nova and going into aotograss with it because I won't have the funds for any tarmac car realistically and I've the corsa now too.

Smithzer

Do-more wrote: »

I used to have a Nova 1.3SR back in the day 86D115 I put a GSi close ratio gearbox in it and Koni's which improved the handling considerable but did nothing for the ride quality.

Love these, my first car 88MH ??? white and luminous green striping, grille and Ashley exhaust.

Was considering endurance rallying with an old Nova just to rekindle my youth again

Speaking of SR's look at this peach
http://www.hollybrooksportscars.com/showroom/performance-and-prestige/vauxhall-nova-sr/

tashiusclay

Do-more wrote: »

There was a guy on here who restored a kadett cead a while back.

I used to have a Nova 1.3SR back in the day 86D115 I put a GSi close ratio gearbox in it and Koni's which improved the handling considerable but did nothing for the ride quality.

Nice thread that, cheers, love anything older Irish reg/market, especially if its rare, those Ceád's certainly seem well rare

tashiusclay

tonytoc11 wrote: »

No project thread as it's kind of been ongoing with years. Just bought a nice original flame red corsa b gsi yesterday actually so the nova will probably get put on the long finger again. Kind of half thinking of sticking the 1ltr pushrod back into the nova and going into aotograss with it because I won't have the funds for any tarmac car realistically and I've the corsa now too.

You sound like myself, if I didn't have so many projects I might have a chance of actually finishing something. What sort of spec are you currently doing the mk1 build to, with mine I'm trying to go vaguely towards works spec, as in some works spec mechanicals and shell fabrication and a standard looking white exterior with all the correct gte decals and trim etc in place

tashiusclay

Smithzer wrote: »

Love these, my first car 88MH ??? white and luminous green striping, grille and Ashley exhaust.

Was considering endurance rallying with an old Nova just to rekindle my youth again

Speaking of SR's look at this peach
http://www.hollybrooksportscars.com/showroom/performance-and-prestige/vauxhall-nova-sr/

Saw that on pistonheads a while ago, stunning car, I wonder what sort of a price is on it?

looking_around

I want to bump this, restoring an old Nova GSI. Wondering, in the image, would those be the original wheels rims?

Or could someone maybe post me an image of what they came with, when bought new?

Would be much appreciated

belcampprisoner

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_Corsa

looking_around

read that, doesn't say anything about the rims that came with the facelifted gsi

Smithzer

These are the original SR/GTE (I think GTE had them) rims, not sure about the later GSI

Smithzer

Speedline Alessios were the thing to have on your Nova back in the day

Do-more

looking_around wrote: »

I want to bump this, restoring an old Nova GSI. Wondering, in the image, would those be the original wheels rims?

Or could someone maybe post me an image of what they came with, when bought new?

Would be much appreciated

If you are interested in getting everything correct, you can buy original Vauxhall Nova GSI sales brochures on eBay.

tonytoc11

tashiusclay wrote: »

You sound like myself, if I didn't have so many projects I might have a chance of actually finishing something. What sort of spec are you currently doing the mk1 build to, with mine I'm trying to go vaguely towards works spec, as in some works spec mechanicals and shell fabrication and a standard looking white exterior with all the correct gte decals and trim etc in place

Ya there's bits lying everywhere to be fair. There's a go kart project around somewhere too with a nsr 125 engine for it. I've got a bit of incentive to keep the nova again...was just having second thoughts after buying the corsa gsi. I'll get it done this summer.

Ah it's extremely basic and on a budget at the moment. I've the engine bay stitch welded and a harry hockley plate kit added and an OMP cage. I've an X16XE corsa sport engine with a mantzel replica inlet with an exhaust system from the manifold back. I've most of the chassis bolybushed and a set of koni adjustable shocks. That will be it for the moment until I get it ready to race and then I'll concentrate on upgrades and improvements.

tonytoc11

Smithzer wrote: »

Speedline Alessios were the thing to have on your Nova back in the day

They probably still are and even more so on corsas. Fairly sought after alloys. Cousin of mine has 2 sets under the bed.

Smithzer

tashiusclay wrote: »

Saw that on pistonheads a while ago, stunning car, I wonder what sort of a price is on it?

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: Wants £8250 for it...........Best of luck with that mate.

kitnan

I love these cars!

ytareh

Corsa ?Pah!Opel Kadett GSi 16V (NOT Vauxhall!!!!) hard core under 1000kg ,157bhp ,had NONE of the following -sunroof , power steering , fog lights , ABS , traction control and -wait for it- ALLOY WHEELS!!!!This car had a factory brochure 0-100 kmh time of 6.9 seconds ...Not too many cars would do 150mph(ok so digital speedo may have been over reading but nevertheless...) AND 40mpg...I owned two of the eight of these imported into Ireland -one black , one white ...Happy days...(the fact that both cars were crashed and written off within months of selling should indicate the potency/handling !!!)

Danny Mulcahy

Stunning car.
An Irish MK1 GSI is a rare beast indeed.
If you have not found it yet there is another Irish forum that has a large opel/vauxhall following.
b litzandgriffin.com

tashiusclay

ytareh wrote: »

Corsa ?Pah!Opel Kadett GSi 16V (NOT Vauxhall!!!!) hard core under 1000kg ,157bhp ,had NONE of the following -sunroof , power steering , fog lights , ABS , traction control and -wait for it- ALLOY WHEELS!!!!This car had a factory brochure 0-100 kmh time of 6.9 seconds ...Not too many cars would do 150mph(ok so digital speedo may have been over reading but nevertheless...) AND 40mpg...I owned two of the eight of these imported into Ireland -one black , one white ...Happy days...(the fact that both cars were crashed and written off within months of selling should indicate the potency/handling !!!)

I'd really like one of these at some stage, a Vauxhall version would also keep me happy, drove one years ago and by god they are potent! But I already have a c20let astra gsi, and I haven't anymore space/time/money for more cars, the astra gsi would have to go to make way for a gte, and I'm too attached to the gsi atm to part with it

tashiusclay

Danny Mulcahy wrote: »

Stunning car.
An Irish MK1 GSI is a rare beast indeed.
If you have not found it yet there is another Irish forum that has a large opel/vauxhall following.
b litzandgriffin.com

Cheers, I've just joined b&g now

ytareh

tashiusclay wrote: »

I'd really like one of these at some stage, a Vauxhall version would also keep me happy, drove one years ago and by god they are potent! But I already have a c20let astra gsi, and I haven't anymore space/time/money for more cars, the astra gsi would have to go to make way for a gte, and I'm too attached to the gsi atm to part with it

You wont get an Opel !There MAY be a grey one round Carlow somewhere .

How about this MINT LHD one in Newcastle, UK?(About 4k euro 'landed'?)

http://www.migweb.co.uk/forums/cars-sale/517616-1990-opel-kadett-gsi-16v-champion-mk2-astra-gte-16v-champion.html

By the way the Opel was noticeably faster than either a Vauxhall GTE16v (more heavy extras) or an Astra GSi 16V (heavier car less power ) .Brakes and high speed handling were pretty impressive too but 'tight'/slow speed handling and (notchy) gearchange sucked .Reliabilty not great (starter motor / ignition kinda stuff...) Fuel economy REALLY good!

tashiusclay

I spotted that one a couple of months ago, serious car, I don't think you'll find better than it, shame about the lhd though, its not a big deal as such, it just wouldn't entice me to pay as much for it, unless I really wanted one of them. As I said, a Vauxhall gte would also keep me happy, I wouldn't be too fussy either way.

Danny Mulcahy

ytareh wrote: »

You wont get an Opel !There MAY be a grey one round Carlow somewhere .

How about this MINT LHD one in Newcastle, UK?(About 4k euro 'landed'?)

http://www.migweb.co.uk/forums/cars-sale/517616-1990-opel-kadett-gsi-16v-champion-mk2-astra-gte-16v-champion.html

By the way the Opel was noticeably faster than either a Vauxhall GTE16v (more heavy extras) or an Astra GSi 16V (heavier car less power ) .Brakes and high speed handling were pretty impressive too but 'tight'/slow speed handling and (notchy) gearchange sucked .Reliabilty not great (starter motor / ignition kinda stuff...) Fuel economy REALLY good!

WOW that is a nice one.the LHD wouldnt put me off at all if I had the money for one.

MercMad

We had a Kadett GSI 16V as a demo from new too, wine red metallic one. Rocket of a car due to its light weight. The Astra F that replaced it couldn't hold a candle to it for acceleration but it did go round corners !!

Tiger72

This might be a bit of topic - but its still kind of related to fast Opel's - Vauxhall's etc and the small amount of them left , Anyway i remember been at the Donegal Rally sometime around 1998 maybe 2000 and there was guy driving an Irish reg Lotus Omega or Lotus Carlton .... does anybody remember it ? Or was i dreaming at the time

Do-more

Tiger72 wrote: »

This might be a bit of topic - but its still kind of related to fast Opel's - Vauxhall's etc and the small amount of them left , Anyway i remember been at the Donegal Rally sometime around 1998 maybe 2000 and there was guy driving an Irish reg Lotus Omega or Lotus Carlton .... does anybody remember it ? Or was i dreaming at the time

This one?

Tiger72

Well Fe*k me !!! .... I cant belive that ... do you own it ?

Do-more

Tiger72 wrote: »

Well Fe*k me !!! .... I cant belive that ... do you own it ?

Afraid not! It was at a garage for service when I was picking up a car. I don't know anything about it other than mechanically it is the real deal not just a bodykit although checking the reg online shows some inaccuracies on the log book. :rolleyes:

hi5

Was that an import?
Were any new Lotus Carlton/Omegas sold in Ireland and would they have been sold as Carlton or Omega.
A RHD Lotus Omega would be a rare car.

Do-more

hi5 wrote: »

Was that an import?
Were any new Lotus Carlton/Omegas sold in Ireland and would they have been sold as Carlton or Omega.
A RHD Lotus Omega would be a rare car.

That car is a Vauxhall personal import, I can't recall if any were sold new in Ireland they would have been badged as an Opel as Vauhalls were no longer being sold here by that time. The Vauxhall was £48,000 new in the UK so they would have been serious money here with vrt on top.

It's a good question, are there any RHD Lotus Omegas? A rare beast if any at all. Maybe a question for someone in Opel Ireland.

Tiger72

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Carlton


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