Remember the Opel GT? I spotted what was left of one a couple of months ago. I was on my way to lunch when I noticed something small and yellow to my left. “Is that an Opel GT?” Yes, it was. Or at least, it once was…
The Opel GT, with its baby-Corvette styling, was a pretty nifty little grand tourer in its day. I remember that Maxwell Smart drove one towards the end of Get Smart’s run–a gold one. As a 10-12 year old, it was my first exposure to the German sportster, thanks to Nick-At-Nite. They’re pretty few and far between these days, so I had to pull over and check it out, despite the rain, which was doing its best to haze over my photos.
Here’s an amusing Opel GT commercial on Youtube from around the time of its 1968 introduction. Yes, they were pretty small. But so compelling! We did do a CC on a much nicer GT; the writeup can be found here.
The GT was imported to the United States and, like other Opels, were sold through Buick dealerships. 1973 was the last year it was available–in Europe and elsewhere. European models had a choice of 1.1L or 1.9L inline four cylinder engines, but all U.S.-bound GTs came with the 1.9 and all of 83 emissions-regulated horsepower. A four-speed manual was standard, with a three-speed automatic an option.
I saw a restored twin to today’s car back in 1999, when I attended the Lake Carroll Car Show. My Dad put his 356 Roadster in the show, and I my 1991 Volvo 940SE; you can just see it over the Opel’s left shoulder. Looks quite nice in yellow, doesn’t it?
But back to the present. Our yellow GT here is going to need one of everything to get back on the road. The question is, is this GT getting a new lease on life or heading to the metal recyclers? Amazingly, this was not my first Opel GT sighting this year. Last summer, I saw three of these sitting together in the local junkyard, all extremely far gone. More and more, I’m thinking the QC area is the Eugene of the Midwest!
Jiminey Christmas! Unless that’s the actual GT from the final season of Get Smart there’s not much left to save there.
Interesting 79 T-bird in the background.
I look at this car as an owner of a 73 GT myself and can picture this car coming back to life in the hands of someone patient and willing to spend a little money collecting parts for her. As bad as the body looks, I’ve seen worse. Their is a loyal following and ownership group for the GT and most gravitate to the site OpelGT.Com. Every spring at the Carlise Import Show the Opel contingent is represented well with a a nice collection of restored GT’s along with other Opel models such as the Ascona, Kadett and Manta on display. Parts suppliers? Not many. I imagine this owner will be calling Opel GT Source in California or Splendid Parts in Germany to begin his/her parts chase. It certainly won’t be like restoring a vintage Chevelle, with a vast selection of parts vendors to choose from! Of course, this owner will also be checking in on Ebay and Craigs List for that hard to find windshield, rear and side windows and the missing dash. Great find by Tom! The Baby Corvette styling never went out of style and hopefully this one will prowl the roadways around the Quad Cities again…….
That looks like an almost stripped parts car to me. They should grab the rear bumpers before recycling it.
Tricky. The great weakness of the GT is corrosion, and from that standpoint, this looks quite salvageable. But with no glass or bonnet and the degree to which it appears to have been stripped, getting it back into complete running shape might cost more than a well-restored GT is worth.
I believe the hood is in the interior, but I’d keep looking were I intent on restoring one.
Rough translation of the commercial: Ah, the Opel GT. Don’t you quite fit? Ah, it doesn’t matter. We’re sure we have the right car for you, too. Opel.
When was the flood?
Would love to own the copper Thunderbird Heritage (?) in the second photo. I’ll pass on the Opel. Don’t know when I last saw one.
I wish I’d gotten some pics of that T-Bird. I’m pretty sure it was a ’78 Diamond Jubilee Edition in Ember Metallic, as it had the blanked-out quarter window but the 1977-78 style grille. I drove by the following day but the ‘Bird was gone–so was the Opel.
Personally, I much prefer the DJE in Diamond Blue Metallic.
I’d pass too. It looks to me as though this car was carefully dismantled rather than parts being ripped off it as is so often the case in wrecking yards. I am sure that the guy’s done with it, and that it’s on its way to become five or six of whatever passes for 55-gallon drums in China.
I know that Opels get good notices from most ex-owners, but my 1971 1900 Sport Coupe had the same effect on me that a lot of same-year Vegas had on their owners: I never again got close to any Opel.
Another memory car!
We lived in a small subdivision in a small Minnesota town…….14 houses. Two houses down was my buddy and classmate Dale. His mom was the regional Avon Representative, it must have paid well, she was a divorced single mom, had a new Cadillac every two or three years (I still remember her 70 Coupe de Ville, green metallic, white halo vinyl roof and green brocade interior), a nice house, two good sons……and had a maid (!).
Dale grew 6″ it seemed one summer. He was tall…..but a stretched “boy” at, I’d guess 135 lbs. His mom bought him a new or slightly used orange Opel GT. We drove the 100 miles to Minneapolis, he reclined (ohhhhhhhh! a real rarity in cars back then!) his seat nearly all the way back, in what would now be “ghetto fashionable”……his out of necessity though. We drove absurd triple digits on the drive up. It handled great, got great gas mileage and sure looked cool. I don’t know how long he owned it, but will always be the car I associate with him!
Wow that commercial is GREAT! They never would have aired that in the US… it’s like the polar opposite of the ridiculous Shaquille O’neal Buick commercial that is supposed to emphasize how big and roomy the Lacrosse is, but shows him painfully squished into the driver’s seat, unable to stretch his legs out.
I love that Opel commercial, it had me laughing pretty hard on the first viewing. In fact, my running across it changed this post from an Outtake to a Capsule. Why aren’t there any really good commercials any more?
A very apt replacement for the place occupied by the Opel GT could have been taken by the brilliant Opel Calibra. At it’s inception, it was the most areodinamic automobile in series production. Later production models degraded the cd due to larger engines and their greater cooling requirments. Nontheless, I would have loved to see some of these sleek coupes showing up on CC. As it happens, I, like many, do not live in a place where that has the slightest chance of happening.