The Vauxhall VX220 was a British-built mid engined, targa-topped, 2-seater sports car introduced in the summer of 2000. It was built for GM Europe in both right-hand drive and left-hand drive versions at the Lotus Cars plant in Hethel, Norfolk, England. The left-hand drive version was badged the Opel Speedster for mainland Europe distribution, the right-hand drive version the Vauxhall VX220 for UK distribution.
The normally aspirated version used a Vauxhall Astra all aluminium alloy 2.2 L Z22SE engine giving 108 kW (147 PS; 145 bhp) in a car weighing 870 kg (1918 lb) — originally designed for GM by Lotus, it arguably gives the VX220 more mechanical Lotus content than the Elise. The Turbo model, introduced in 2003, used a GM designed cast iron block 2.0 L Z20LET engine, producing 147 kW (200 PS; 197 bhp) but weighing 930 kg (2050 lb).
The Vauxhall VX220 formed the cover for the Dreamcast game, Metropolis Street Racer and featured heavily in the games promotional material. Speedsters were displayed with the Daewoo badge, although only one was built to be used for marketing purposes. A final version, the track-oriented VXR220, based on the turbo model, was tuned to give around 220 hp (164 kW) and used 16 in (406 mm) front wheels that allowed the fitting smaller front tyres to give sharper handling.
