1970 Opel GT

Okay...first off...allow me to state the obvious: the Opel GT is NOT a muscle car, it's not something that I would ordinarily write about....IF...it wasn't for ONE thing that I cannot deny. It's really a cool little car. Look at it....back in the day around High School, us "budding car guys" referred to the 1970 Opel GT as "a baby 'Vette".

The Opel GT came from modest beginnings. In the 1960's Opel responded to the growing demand for sportier, more youthful cars. One of its earliest attempts to meet this demand appeared at the 1965 Frankfurt show, as a slick one-off two-seat fastback coupe simply called Opel GT. At the time, Opel said it had no intention of selling copies, but the show car caused intense public interest that couldn’t be ignored, and a production version appeared just three years later with the same name.

I know what you're thinking. It's a Euro car...so, how'd it end up looking like the Chevrolet Corvette? The Opel GT was styled chiefly by GM’s Clare MacKichan, who’d played a big part in designing the 1955 Chevrolet before his tour of duty in the Russelsheim studios. This explains the obvious similarity between the Opel GT and the newly styled 1968 Corvette, with the same low, sharply profiled nose, blade-type bumper, and hidden headlamps.  From the cowl back, the production Opel GT was the same as the show car, with an abbreviated tail sporting four round lights (again, just like the Corvette), plus shapely flanks and doors cut up into the roof (with hidden drip rails).

Beneath this sporty exterior were the chassis and running gear of Opel’s Kadett model in its beefier GT form. Transverse-leaf front suspension, front-disc/rear-drum brakes, ordinary worm-and-roller steering, and a coil-sprung live rear axle located by radius arms and Panhard rod. There were two Overhead Valve 4 cylinder engine choices : a 60-horsepower 1.1-liter, and the new 1.9-liter cam-in-head unit . Only the 1.9 came to America and was favored in Europe, as the smaller engine had too little power. The 1.9 was offered with automatic transmission as an optional alternative to the standard 4-speed manual. No self-respecting enthusiast would have a “slushbox” in 1960's America.

The Opel GT was quick with the 1.9-liter engine and manual gearbox. Independent French body builder Brissoneau & Lotz fashioned its unit body/chassis structure from Opel-supplied Kadett floorpans.

The cockpit was surprisingly roomy and functional, with full instrumentation set in an impressive dashboard. And again, like Corvettes since 1963, the Opel GT lacked an external trunklid, so luggage had to be loaded from inside, behind the seats, where it was concealed by a little curtain.

There’s no mystery about the Opel GT's popularity, which was high for a European sports coupe of the day. It has yet to develop much of a collector following, probably because it’s an Opel, a make still not closely tied to high performance in most minds. The Opel Kadett’s 1972 redesign on the T-car platform ended GT production, and there was no direct replacement. Despite early rust problems, Opel GTs are still running around in the care of loving owners with a taste for the unusual...which brings me to this final thought: A mini-Corvette was not bad thing years ago, and it wouldn’t be a bad idea now. Since we've already resurrected the Chevrolet Camaro and Dodge Challenger, and retro styled the Ford Mustang, I think a "Retro- Opel GT" would be a huge seller these days. What do YOU think, GM?