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A question often asked by people who purchase a Calibra is "what is the Calibra SE" or "is my Calibra an SE" well hopefully this guide will help you understand what the Calibra SE or Special Edition is.

In short there is nothing really special about the Calibra SE, the main really difference for almost all of them is the colour. The reason is that during almost all production runs of cars, the manufactures will at times bring out special editions to boost sales or when there is a change like the type of engine. The Calibra is no different and Opel/Vauxhall had a few, we are only going to be dealing with the UK types on here

Firstly a brief history of the Calibra, the car was designed by the GM designer Wayne Cherry and the brief was to get a sporty looking coupe that could carry 4 adults plus the luggage and get the drag coefficient down to the lowest it could be. The car was launched in 1989 and was based on the Cavalier chassis but having the rear independent suspension of the higher spec model Cavaliers rather than the rear beam axel. The suspension and drive train used the same as the Cavalier

The drag coefficient Cd) of 0.26 was only achieved by the early 8V model and that was only obtainable by using wheel trims rather than alloy wheels, the later 16V and subsequent 8V models with alloy wheels and all variants of the later Calibra, had a Cd figure around 0.29 which was about the same as most salon cars of that time. There was only the 8V to start with the 16V C20XE came later and that had two slight differences from the early and later cars. The early C20XE had the Motronic M2.5 system (distributor fitted) which was used in previous cars like the Astra GTE Cavalier Gsi and the later C20XE used the Motronic M2.8 (non distributor)

The C20XE was then replaced around 1995 with the X20XEV Ecotec. This was for a few reasons mainly the environmental issues with emissions in the European market with stricter laws on the amount of Co2 produced by cars. This engine was used throughout Europe and was fitted to the Vectra (Cavalier was knowing as the Vectra A in Europe)

The Turbo model was introduced in 1992 and that was fitted with the C20LET engine with around 204BHP it was no slouch, it also came with 4X4 but unlike other manufactures this was not a permanent system in that it used a hydraulic system to only operate the 4x4 when needed, if you can remember the advert at the time it showed a baby toddling along on two feet, but when it came to a slight slope the baby went down into a crawl to negotiate the slope. The system did the same and only when needed did the rear wheel become driven by the transfer box

Around 1994 the Calibra 2.5 V6 was introduced, with 24 valves this was a motorway cruiser that would just eat up the miles with ease. Two variants of this engine came out the early C25XE and the later X25XE apart from changes to the inlet manifolds they are identical (again for emission control)

It’s worth mentioning that there was other special editions launched as well as the SE there was the DTM (Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft or German Touring Car Championship) and the turbo LE (Limited Edition) these we will let others go on about, but basically the DTM was to celebrate the touring car wins and the LE was the last produced  Turbo