Opel Senator

The Senator A and Monza were initially sold in the United Kingdom as the Vauxhall Royale (and Vauxhall Royale Coupé), because the Opel marque was not so well established, but following the merger of the UK Opel and Vauxhall dealer networks in 1982, the Opel marque was repositioned as a performance-luxury brand, and the Vauxhall Royale models were dropped in favour of the Opel Senator/Monza, coinciding with the "A2" mid-cycle facelift. This policy was reversed in late 1984, with the Senator reverting to Vauxhall branding for the 1985 model year, but the Monza remained on sale as an Opel until its discontinuation at the end of 1987.

The vehicle was also available in South Africa as the Chevrolet Senator until 1982, when it was rebadged as an Opel.[4] The Chevrolet Senator was fitted with a locally built version of Chevrolet's 250 inline-six (4,093 cc), with 132 PS (97 kW).[5] The post-1982 South African Opel Senator received Australian-built, six-cylinder engines. In Serbia, the locally assembled Senator received the 2.5-litre six and was badged the "Opel Kikinda".[3]

The Senator and Rekord E were used as the base vehicle from which the Holden Commodore was developed for the Australian and New Zealand markets. The later VK Commodore was a hybrid between the two Opel cars, featuring the Senator's six light glasshouse grafted onto the Rekord E derived shell.

• 
  Opel Senator A1 rear
  (1978–1982)

The engine range for the first phase of the model's life included the 2.8S and the newly developed 3.0E, which had 180 PS (132 kW; 178 hp) and 248 N⋅m (183 lb⋅ft) with fuel injection. The three-speed automatic transmission was Opel's own design introduced in 1969, and was manufactured in Opel's transmission plant in Strasbourg, it was modified to cope with the new and improved power outputs.

Opel's own four speed manual transmission was not up to the job and they turned to transmission producer Getrag, who installed their 264 four speed manual gearbox in the early four cylinder Monzas. This was replaced by the five speed 240 for the 2.5 and 2.8 engines, and the 265 gearbox for the 3.0E.

The straight-six engines were all of the Opel cam-in-head engine design, as used in the earlier Commodore models and originating from the 1.7 and 1.9 litre straight four engines first used in the 1966 Kadett and Rekord. Opel would stick with the CIH engine design up until the 2.4 Frontera in 1993.

With the 3.0 litre engine, the Monza was the fastest car Opel had built, capable of 215 km/h (134 mph), and 0–100 km/h (0–62 mph) in 8.5 seconds. In June 1981, the fuel injected 2.5E engine also used in the smaller Commodore was added to the Senator/Monza lineup.[6] With 136 PS (100 kW) it was very close to the now irrelevant 2.8 and its 140 PS (100 kW), and the 2.8S was discontinued in 1982.

The original Senator and Monza were facelifted in November 1982, although the Senator "A2" (as it is usually called) only went on sale in March 1983. In the United Kingdom, it was initially sold only as an Opel, before being rebadged as a Vauxhall in 1984. The A2 Monza was only sold as an Opel.

The facelifted car looked similar to its predecessor, with relatively minor changes: smoothed-off headlights increased in size, and chrome parts were changed to a matt black or colour coded finish. The car was much more slippery, with drag resistance down (from 0.45 to 0.36 ${\displaystyle \scriptstyle C_{\mathrm {x} }\,}$).[7] The top of the range 3.0E received upgraded Bosch LE-Jetronic fuel injection.

Interiors were improved with an altered dashboard and the new instrument pack with larger dials used in the Rekord E2, and engines changed. Now, the fuel-injected straight-four 110 PS (81 kW) two-liter cam-in-head unit from the Rekord E2 was available, although with little fanfare; this and the 2.5 essentially replaced the Commodore which was itself quietly retired in 1982. Power of the 2.0 was soon increased to 115 PS (85 kW). In March 1983 a 2.3-litre turbodiesel (shared with the Rekord) became available, and a few months later ABS-brakes (hitherto only available for the Senator CD) became an available option across the entire Senator/Monza range.[7] At the Paris Show in September 1984 the 2.5E was given a new LE-Jetronic Bosch fuel injection system; power inched up to 140 PS (100 kW). The 2.0E was replaced by the torquier 2.2E, still with the same max power. Only the 3.0E engine remained untouched, although its name was changed to 3.0i.[7] On the transmission side, the Strasbourg-built THM180 three-speed automatic was replaced by a four-speed unit. For the 1985 model year, the digital instrument display introduced in the Kadett E was available on the top models, although buyers could opt for the conventional analogue dials as a delete option. The trim surrounding the windows was more blacked out than before as well, although ample chrome remained.[8] the four-cylinder models were never sold in Vauxhall form in the United Kingdom.

• 
  Opel Senator A2 (1982–1986)
• 
  Opel Senator A2 (rear)
• 
  Vauxhall Senator (A2)

Shortly thereafter, in November 1984 a supercharged version (Comprex) was shown - at the time, the only production car in the world to use this technique. Going on sale in 1985, this very rare experimental version (1,000 units planned) were officially built by Irmscher rather than Opel.[9] The Comprex offered 95 PS (70 kW) and a 172 km/h (107 mph) top speed, and acceleration figures showed a twelve percent improvement over the turbodiesel.[10] Like the other Rekord and Senator diesels it had a pronounced bulge in the bonnet. The Comprex offered marginally higher power than the turbodiesel, but more importantly, 90 percent of the maximum torque was available from 1300 rpm.[10] From September 1985 until the end of production in the end of summer 1986, a catalyzed version of the 3.0E was available, with power down to 156 PS (115 kW).

A four-wheel drive conversion was also available, engineered by Ferguson, who had previously provided similar modifications for the Jensen FF. Rather expensive, this could also be retrofitted to an existing car.[11] The system uses a viscous coupling to distribute power with a 60/40 rearward bias, to improve traction whilst maintaining the Senator's handling characteristics.[12] These were used by British Forces Germany under the BRIXMIS (British Commanders' in Chief Mission to the Soviet Forces in Germany) operations for the collection of technical intelligence. The same kit was also used by Bitter Cars for a four-wheel-drive version of their SC coupé, beginning in the end of 1981.[11]

A limited edition convertible edition was also available in Germany, where the company "Keinath" reinforced the car heavily, and this added to the all round weight to the car.