It has 2,908 miles (4,680 kilometers) on the clock, 17-inch alloy wheels, as well as front Corbeau Sprint Racing seats with 5 point safety belt harness and a roll cage. Yes, ladies and gents, it’s the Vauxhall Astra that replaced the Kia Cee’d as the reasonably priced car on Top Gear. And good golly, now it can be yours.
Introduced by Jeremy Clarkson in the first episode of Series 20, the Astra was driven on the Top Gear test track by countless celebrities, including Brian Johnson of AC/DC, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugh Jackman, Steven Tyler, James Blunt, Tom Hiddleston, Ed Sheeran, Kiefer Sutherland, Olly Murs, and Will Smith.
Captain Power once said that the 1.6-liter engine in the Astra comes with a “lifetime warranty,” but I’m hard pressed to believe the old orangutan. Still, it’s a fair car, a hatchback with room for five and a weekend’s trip worth of luggage. I have this feeling Chris Evans won’t fancy bidding on it, but would you? The first time it was offered at auction, which was last year, the sale fell through. This time around, who knows? The highest bid stands at £8,000 at the time of writing and heaven knows if somebody is eager to pay more on a thoroughly abused car. If you’re feeling brave, follow this link.
But first, you need to know what you’re buying. Here goes: Power Red paint, some “minor marks from use,” 115 horsepower, Tech Line trim level, satellite navigation, USB connection and iPod control, Bluetooth for your mobile phone, digital radio, and that’s about it. Oh, nearly forgot to mention this teeny-weeny detail about the car at hand, but the airbags have all been disabled to make room for the roll cage.
Then again, this Vauxhall Astra was the last car to be used in the show’s previous format, the one with Jeremy Clarkson at the helm, not Chris Evans. If you’re mad enough to bid on this thing, you’ll be happy to know that all proceeds from the sale will go to BEN, a non-profit organization dedicated to those who work or have worked in the automotive industry. It's for a noble cause, alright?
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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