480 Celebration & 480 GT

subtlesandy · Post by **subtlesandy** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 11:08 am

Hi everyone

Could anyone please tell me what the differences with an non-celebration and a celebration 480 model are?

Also, I have read postings about a 480 2.0 GT? Is this another name for the Celebration model? And by the name, I'm curious as to whether it is turbo-charged or normally aspirated.

I'd be very grateful if someone could put my curiousness at rest!

Cheers.

AK

aibast · Post by **aibast** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 11:10 am

I think 2.0 was never sold turbocharged so its a N/A

Big Brother · Post by **Big Brother** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 12:38 pm

The Celebration was made to make the end of an era (if you like) they made 480 of them and they had all the extras like alloys, aircon, 2.0, full leather, rollerblind cover, CD autochanger, and a special Celeb plaque with its number 001 - 480 which ever one it was. All this was as standard. They never made a turbo Celebration. Infact they never made a 2.0 turbo.

dragon · Post by **dragon** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 4:13 pm

A celebration is basically the end of the line for the 480 - it was the last 480 models to roll off the production line and they were all desitined for the UK - they are all essentially the 2.0 litre GT car, but without the funny GT leather, having Jaquard instead. They all got an individually numbered plaque above the glovebox. They never made it in a turbo version.

They also celebrated the end of the 480 by creating a second set of 480 cars, which were called the Collection models. Same idea as the celebration models, except the Collections were all intended for Germany and there was more varience in what you got - e.g. turbo model Collections DO exist. Again, they all had a uniquely numbered plaque to identify them as being special.

The GT model is basically a 2.0 litre NA 480 with a very high trim level, usually including some very strange white leather seats with coloured shapes on them.

Other slightly special editions include the Two Tone, which came about in 1992 and as the name suggests, had a body colour which was in fact 2 colours.

Hope this very brief cover of the situation helps you. There's more info on the main club site

JohnTurbo · Post by **JohnTurbo** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 4:42 pm

dragon wrote:A celebration is basically the end of the line for the 480 - it was the last 480 models to roll off the production line and they were all desitined for the UK - they are all essentially the 2.0 litre GT car, but without the funny GT leather, having Jaquard instead.

Its been too long since you owned a 480 in a meaningful sence.

Celeb = leather.

dragon · Post by **dragon** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 5:00 pm

Well corrected that man.

Spooky that you of all people would pop up and make the comment - just minutes after I had a virtual conversation about you to one of the other club staff members...

Anyway, I might be on the road in the Green Goblin turbo in a couple of weeks... Watch this space...

subtlesandy · Post by **subtlesandy** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 8:49 pm

Wow!!

Well guys thanks for your help. That's sure cleared that up!

I'm curious as to why the 1.7ltr was replaced by the 2.0ltr? Inc. power? Surely not, because I can't imagine the NA 2ltr is any faster off the mark than the 1.7T? Could it have been fuel economy? I have been told that the 1.7ltr has a racing performance manifold as standard - one designed by Porsche? Have I been wrongly informed or is the 480 generally great VFM (value for money)??? It seems it!

AK

dragon · Post by **dragon** » Fri Nov 09, 2007 9:02 pm

Firstly, the 2.0 didn't replace the 1.7, they were on offer side by side for much of the 480's retail life.

Secondly, the 2.0 generates a fair chunk more torque than the 1.7 and as such has the potential to be better off the line.

All 480s had engine setups which were tinkered with by Porsche, and the suspension was tinkered with my Lotus. Not that it means much, as these companies do/did similar for many models of car.

Bear · Post by **Bear** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 6:21 pm

Well this should get some more responses!

The celebration is indeed the last of the 480 line! however it had common as muck cetus wheels!

The GT? ah ha now there is a true limited edition. Production run of only 250, only avalible in 2 colours, flame red and green. Also the GT come with 15" VESA multispoke alloys only avalible on that model.

The leather interior was also individual to every car. Each hide was hand printed with the green and red geometric shapes, so no 2 are the same.

In short the GT is a far superior 480!

Let battle commence

All the best guys and girls!

Dan the 480 Man · Post by **Dan the 480 Man** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 6:37 pm

Bear wrote: Also the GT come with 15" VESA multispoke alloys only avalible on that model.

Won't argue with the rest, but the Vesa's were actually an option for Turbo's in '93...

esta · Post by **esta** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 6:57 pm

I was always bought up that GT stood for Grand Tourer...so many people seem to think it means G-something Turbo! As far as i am aware this is wrong as all the GT's that i am interested in and know about (Astons/Jaguars etc) are all naturally aspirated...and anything with a Turbo is TDi or or something like that...

Big Brother · Post by **Big Brother** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 7:01 pm

Don't forget Bear on paper there are probably more GTs than Celebs, remember the DVLA screwed up loads of log books

Bear · Post by **Bear** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 7:19 pm

Good man Dan! Someone else who has an endless supply of all the 480 options brochures then?? I thought I was the only one, and I was going to get away with it!

Adam, True, however the cause of the V5C cock up? Dealers supplying the wrong information, we at the Department for Transport do not make mistakes!

However on paper doesn't count, every 480 owners worth his/her salt can correctly identify a true GT or Celeb without the logbook.

1900sr · Post by **1900sr** » Sat Nov 10, 2007 11:06 pm

Don't forget Bear on paper there are probably more GTs than Celebs, remember the DVLA screwed up loads of log books

I've had a thought about this, what were the European spec GT's like? The reason I ask is that if someone parallel imported a car in RHD from Europe, they'd get European spec. Is this maybe why there are quite a few "GT"s about that don't have the Vesas or the cool hand printed leather?

Just as an example, with the Opel Manta the UK top spec car was the GT/E, but in Europe it was known as the GSi, and there are a fair few rhd GSi's in the UK. Some of these came from Eire, and the rest were "grey" or parallel imports.

Mike · Post by **Mike** » Sun Nov 11, 2007 9:37 am

Re: VBB's list of standard spec on the Celebration: interesting that he quotes the Celeb as having a CD changer as standard - mine has the lowly VC602 radio cassette, and has had from new

As for pros and cons of 1.7 v 2.0 (NA, I've no experience of the Turbo), I would suggest that if you want a sporting drive, go for the 1.7 - it may or may not be quicker in absolute terms, but the 2.0 litre encourages a much more laid-back style of driving. More of an old man's car, perhaps, which is why I like it