1991 Vauxhall Belmont Merit review from UK and Ireland

Frayed hand brake cable.

Sticking front brake calipers.

Fuel gauge reads zero when there's 3 gallons in the tank.

This is the 5th Belmont that I have owned and I just love the things. I have previously owned a 1.6 GL, a 1.8 CDI, a 1.8 GLSI and a self built (and heavily modified!) 1.8 SRI. The pick of the bunch being the CDI as it was 100% immaculate.

My current incarnation is a white 1.4 merit that I bought cheaply at £150 with a long MOT. It is a fantastic drive, though a little heavy due to a lack of powered steering. It has relatively little rust for it's age and the engine is still very good.

Unfortunately the interior is rather poor as the car was used as a smoking room in the previous owners garage for three years prior to my owning it. As with all of these models it has a gargantuan boot (which is now half capacity due to my bass box getting pride of place.)

The thing I love about this model is how easy they are to modify. There is a vast array of parts available for not a lot of outlay and obviously the parts gold mine that is the Astra to be found in almost any scrap yard.