Overall rating:

This isn't any old VXR220 - this is car number 00, the 'development' machine that trawled between Luton and Hethel to create the very first Griffin to wear the VXR performance badge. Ten years on, can it still impress as a driving tool?

Key Facts

Model tested: Vauxhall VXR220 number 00
Pricing: VX220s and VX220Ts from about £10,000; VXR from £17,500
Engine: 2.0-litre turbocharged four-cylinder petrol
Transmission: rear-wheel drive, five-speed manual
Body style: two-door roadster
Rivals: Caterham Seven, Honda S2000, Lotus Elise
Combined economy: about 28mpg
Top speed: 153mph
0-60mph: 4.2 seconds
Power: 220hp at 6,300rpm
Torque: 285Nm at 4,800rpm

In the Metal:

If ever you wanted an example of how brand snobbery can so ruin a perfectly good enterprise, the Vauxhall VX220 is it. This was a sister car to the Lotus Elise, but there's a common school of thought that says the Vauxhall was arguably the better machine in many respects. And yet which one did people lust after more - the one from Luton, or the one from Hethel? Precisely.

Which is a pity, because the VX220 really was a great creation. It still looks fresh today, with its angular creases a different take on the platform compared to the Elise's curvaceous shape. The neat touches like 16-inch wheels front and 17s rear (on the VXR, at least; the VX220 Turbo made do with 17s all round), here in contrasting black against the red paint that was to become a VXR signature, the twin-stacked exhausts, a front splitter and rear boot lip spoiler that were both signifiers of forced-induction cars, the big intakes in its flanks to keep the 1,998cc turbo motor cool - yep, the VXR220 is a real head-turner, even more so now for its rarity.

The interior is as intimate as an Elise's too, with ingress and egress indelicate even with the car's tiny fabric roof removed. But once you're in, you're in. The car cocoons around you, with the excellent VXR-branded bucket seats, small steering wheel and exposed chassis heightening the 'race-car-for-road' feel. To call the interior bare is to perhaps understate things, as there are minimal controls for you to be distracted by. Furthermore, the engine starter has no markings to indicate it as such - for information, it's that round silver button above the heater controls.

Driving it:

The standard VX220 had a 2.2-litre normally aspirated four-cylinder motor with 150hp. The VX220 Turbo, often styled VXT, had a 2.0-litre blown four with 200hp. The VXR, though, matched the car's number to horsepower, remaining the most rapid iteration throughout the five-year lifespan of what was elsewhere known as the Opel Speedster. It got its 220hp power - and torque gains (up to 285Nm from 249Nm) - over the VXT thanks to a hybrid turbo, ECU revisions and a freer-flowing air filter, plus revisions to cooling, the exhaust, turbo heat shield and under tray. Suspension was lowered by 10mm compared to the VXT, with Bilstein dampers that were six and 14 per cent stiffer front and rear respectively. The alloys were wrapped in track day-spec Yokohama A048s, and owners who planned on circuit work could upgrade to tougher, adjustable Öhlins dampers for £1,000. As standard, the VXR commanded a £3,500 premium over the VXT at £29,995 a decade ago.

Along with the Monaro, which arrived from Holden in 2004, the 220 was the first car to wear the VXR badge. And what an introduction to Vauxhall's performance brand. Being harsh, it's probably fair to say that the Luton firm has never quite hit these exalted standards in terms of driving involvement and outright enjoyment since. The mid-mounted engine isn't stunning on start-up and at idle, but it has a baritone, muscular soundtrack under hard acceleration that is pleasing, especially as you can hear the VXR's exhaust clearly in open-top mode and there's a hint of induction roar too. The throttle response is marvellous, with minimal turbo lag, and the five-speed gearbox has ratios that are ideally matched to the engine's lovely, torque-rich nature.

So it remains rabidly quick. A sub-one tonne weight and 220hp makes for blistering acceleration, not just from standstill but on the move in any gear up to and including fourth. It's mated to a supple chassis that blends grip with wheel compliance, backed up by the VXR220's diminutive footprint, which makes demolishing pretty much any road a given, thanks also in part to mammoth brakes with spot-on pedal feel and bite. You can't wildly provoke a mid-engined car with a short wheelbase like this, but get it set up correctly pre-apex, be measured and smooth with your inputs and it will blast through curves with a wealth of mechanical grip at supercar speeds. It's a sensation.

The final cherry on the dynamic cake is the steering, which is alive with both feedback and beautifully judged heft that modern cars can only dream of. It gives you so much information about the road surface that it can sometimes be hard to take it all in. A prime example was one stretch of new-ish tarmac that only hours earlier had seemed snooker table-smooth in a 200hp Astra GTC. In the VXR220, steering wheel writhing away, the relief map of minor imperfections, undulations and compressions revealed in the surface was astounding. Every steering rack should be as wondrous as this.

What you get for your Money:

The VXR220 has one of the finest sports car chassis you will ever encounter at any price range and it's a vehicle that is sure to appreciate in value - given that the brand manager for Vauxhall admitted that of the 65 VXR220s built, almost a third of them have been written off in the intervening years by egos writing cheques the driving talent couldn't cash. Tracking down a genuine VXR220 is the tricky part, as many VXTs have been made to look like the ultimate 'Speedster'.

Worth Noting

The mismatched wheel size is something that actually improved the VX's character, as the standard Turbo used 17s on the front as well as the rear, perhaps to the detriment of chassis balance. But the S2 Elise, on which the car was based, was always designed to have only 16s on the front and 17s at the back, so Luton's decision to ape those diameters was a good one.

Summary

The VX220 couldn't overcome anti-Vauxhall prejudice in the minds of some observers, which meant it wasn't quite the sales success that the Griffin was perhaps hoping for. But being based on an Elise and blessed with a meaty forced induction engine as here, there could not have been a better way to launch the VXR brand into the world. As an example of sheer driving pleasure, the VXR220 hits the mark so completely that it obliterates it, and it's hard to imagine anything else offering any more involvement. A sure-fire classic, the VXR granddaddy can still teach these youngsters plenty of lessons.