The Vauxhall Astra is a compact car family car that has been produced over eight generations since 1980. The Astra Mk 5 (officially the Astra ‘H’) was launched in early 2004, initially as a five-door hatchback but with an estate and a racier ‘Sport Hatch’ added later that year.

The Astra Mk 5 came in many variants of trims and power, but this example is the flagship VXR presented in ‘Nürburgring edition’ form. The name VXR, short for Vauxhall Racing, was established in 2004 and quickly became synonymous with Vauxhall’s performance cars. The Astra VXR was available from 2005 and held the hot hatch record at the Nürburgring in 2008.

This limited-edition version of only 835 cars celebrating this achievement was only available in white with a distinctive black and white chequered stripe across the bonnet, roof and tailgate. It was given a tweaked version of the 2.0-litre turbocharged petrol engine and a Remus exhaust from the standard VXR meaning it could reach sixty miles per hour in a just over six seconds.