Faults:

Air conditioning not working when I purchased car.

Clutch thrust bearing started to make a whining noise.

Electric windows work slowly and at time require some playing with as wiring at hinge section of door is perishing.

LCD dash stopped illuminating unless side lights or headlights are switched on.

General Comments:

A very comfortable car that can rumble along steadily or jump into performance mode with a little right foot action. Even when using the cars higher end power, it never feels as though its strained. It just roars away.

Pleasantly surprised at its handling too. Cornering and driving along B roads is actually very good considering the cars weight and size.

Reliability has been excellent for me. No complaints at all, provided you keep them maintained like all cars.

Head room in cabin a little limited for those above 6ft2ish. Saying that though, the Recaro seats are wonderfully comfortable, and this car is nicely thought out. For example the air conditioning has an outlet in the glove compartment so that you can keep your cans of coke cold in the summer!

In terms of the cars shape I still can't quite figure it out. I can't say I loved the look of the car when I first saw it. My dad who was with me just said one thing..."Bullit" (referring to the Steve McQueen film), implying that this was a muscle car and that he could influence my emotions by this comment. He did. As soon as I heard the beefy roar of the engine, I almost let out a crazy chuckle and I began to grin madly. I love big engines and big cars, but the old seventies and eighties cars just hit that spot for me. We were at an auction at the time, and above the ruckus and noise of engines starting and being revved up, the Monza straight six power plant stood out a mile. People began moving towards the car and as usual, a small group of eager men were gathered around the engine talking over each other and not even listening to each other anyway. But, I was the one who ended up with it.

Each day I get into my Monza, she puts a smile on my face. Its one of those cars that once you have parked it and walk away to the office or what have you, you keep looking over your shoulder again and again to re-examine its shape, as you're not sure whether it is gorgeous, or just pretending to be!

These cars are cheap to pick up now, but you need to maintain them. The are beginning to get rare, and prices for good ones are picking up now. If you get one, check for rust around the front struts in the engine bay and down at the bottom of them too as this is a notorious place. Check for wear on the interior, and all the other usual things.

Faults:

Rear driveshafts regularly came undone.

Viscous fan seized up.

Fuel tank rusted out

Inner wings rusted out.

Electrics iffy.

Front discs cracked (twice).

Front spring broke.

General Comments:

These are fantastic cars, I owned two of them. The GSE has much better suspension and the four speed auto is a must.

Fuel consumption is surprisingly good and the straight six engine is a classsic.

The big problem is the lack of rust prevention. The fuel tanks rot out and are very expensive to replace. The inner wing areas do not have sufficient bracing and literaly crack after a bit of rust sets in - check for this very carefully if buying (do front wheels tilt inwards at the top).

The handbrake is only just good enough to scrape an MOT when in top condition. This means a brake rebuild at least once a year!

Front suspension suffers and is a garage job to service (very, very tight nuts - very big springs).

A rattling timing chain (common) is bad news, supposedly an engine out, head and sump off job to fix - some magicians claim they can do it without!

Apart from that a brilliant car, if I could find a nice one that had everything fixed, I would buy another.

Faults:

Water pump leaked and replaced at 70,000 miles. Camshaft at 80,000 miles. Heater matrix leaked & replaced at 90,000 miles. Steering wheel/column mounting replaced (under warranty!) at 120,000 miles. Fan viscous-coupling now stiff.

General Comments:

What's good? - Very quiet & comfortable, smooth six cyl engine, and very well-built. Rare manual box (Auto was a no-cost option chosen by most buyers) gives good performance, with relaxed cruising (2750 rpm at 70 mph) and reasonable economy (31 mpg motorway cruise, 26 average). Recaro seats wonderfully comfortable on long journeys, while very supportive when cornering hard. Digital speedo enables you to keep eyes on the road, as it remains clearly visible in your peripheral vision. Steering wheel/column mounting fault still supported by Opel after 10 years!

What's not so good? - Clueless Vauxhall dealers. Spare parts becoming rarer. Er, that's it!

Overall - An absolute gem. Over 150,000 miles and still going strong. Just as quick as ever, and feels like it will go on for another 100,000 before any more than routine attention required. Still on the original clutch! Stylish coupe lines still turns heads. Values now rising. A 70's/80's design classic. Keeping mine forever.