hi all, some of you might know me from other vx forums, but i thought i'd say hello here as i have no doubt i'll be popping by frequently after acquiring a motor fitted with a z22se this weekend. :wave:

My 3.0 V6 Omega Elite failed its MOT last week (check the car out here: http://www.migweb.co.uk/forums/projects-restorations/385764-mothership.html). I’m not sure what will become of her just yet, after all, mechanically she is sound and the body isn’t in bad condition, but she is getting a little rough around the edges and the cost of continuing to run her 450 miles a week combined with the parts I need to fork out for to get her through an MOT mean she is taking an early retirement. Have no fear, she isn’t being scrapped, and may end up back on the road again, but for not for the time being. Going to SORN her for a while. Worst case scenario is that she becomes a donor car for my Cavalier project (check it here: http://tinyurl.com/muevgb), but that is jumping ahead a bit.

Mrs ilovemyelite and I took a trip far and wide at the weekend to pick up the Omega’s replacement. Just like Morten Harket, we were ‘hunting high and low’ for something pokey, reliable and cost effective with fairly low mileage. I was interested in getting a Calibra and my good lady wanted a Mk5 Astra, so we decided to meet somewhere in the middle and look for a Mk4 Astra Coupe. After a scan of the usual motor e-rags we stumbled across a super low mileage Linea Rossa edition which we promptly arranged to go and see. We hopped in the Cavalier and off we went to check her out. After we arrived, we took the Astra out for an hour or so, violated it sufficiently to satisfy our curioisities and made an offer. A little while later we were driving home in the new addition to our Vauxhall family!

It’s an ‘03 plate 2.2 litre 16v Linea Rossa edition Astra coupe; Bertone styling and a stunning interior to match. They only made 200 of these so there aren't that many about (and most are cabriolets). The most impressive thing was a genuine 22k miles covered by one owner from new backed up with a full VX service history. Aside from a couple of scrapes on an alloy or two, and being in need of a deep polish to bring back the Flame Red finish, she’s immaculate. With such super low miles the interior looks barely sat in and there is no wear on the car to speak of. It seems almost a shame to start piling on the miles really, but hey ho it was bought to be an every day driver so that’s what it will end up being. For now at least though she has to be the lowest mileage Linea Rossa out there? Maybe...

We popped down to Woking on the way home to pick up some Cavalier parts and I took a few snaps while we were there. She might not be as ‘rear wheel drive’ as the Omega but she’s still a stunner.

I need to give the car a good service and will be making some modifications in the coming weeks to improve the car slightly. I’m tempted by a new GSi front bumper but one thing at a time hehe! This website is going to be a really useful source of information! 😃

So now I have a Z22SE Mk4 Astra Coupe Linea Rossa, a C25XE Mk3 Cavalier CDX, and a X30XE Omega Elite. Does that qualify as a ‘fleet’?!

[sup](I still want a Nova and a Calibra but apparently we have quite enough Griffin's for now... haha! 😃 )[/sup]