A silver Opel Astra hatchback, seen on a bridge in Wangjing district in Beijing. The third generation Opel Astra ‘H’ was made from 2004 until 2009 with a small facelift in 2006. Our Beijing car is a pre-facelift example.
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Design has aged surprisingly well over the years. When launched, this was just another Golf-sized boring family hatch, but it almost looks classy today.
The interior with one piece of wood trim, in front of the passenger. What a luxury! Seat covers are after market, protecting the original seats against dirt and dust.
The Astra H was available with various petrol and diesel engines. The most powerful one was the 2.0 liter turbo for the Astra GTC, which delivered 240 horses.
The silver hatch we have here has a 1.8 under the bonnet, good for 123 hp and 170 Nm.
The Opel Astra H hatchback was officially sold in China, but as an import it was expensive compared to the locally made competition. Price in 2006 started at 184.000 yuan. And that, sadly, makes the hatch a rare sight on the capital’s roads today.