Story by Johan Dillen • Photography by Dirk De Jager
Unless you’re driving a Porsche, beating a Porsche is the common yardstick in motor racing. In 1971, that’s exactly what the Opel GT did on its first Targa Florio outing thanks to Autotecnica Conrero, a name long associated…
The Opel GT has always looked better than it ran. I used to race against one in the 1970s. Inferior handling kept it from being a threat. The styling is pretty easy on the eyes, though.
Footnote - the modern Opel GT (Kappa GM platform sold in Europe) is an exclusively convertible model. When did the buying public get so stupid that the manufacturers could apply whatever inapt name they wanted. Apparently the lure of using the familiarity of 'Opel GT' trumped the fact that GT cars are coupes.
I guess the new Porsche 'Turbo' name applied to their electric car (nothing to turbocharge there) is a continuation of this. Guess it is all about money, not logic and consistency.
Great story. Thanks. I didn't know that they were ever anything more than a poseur.
They ARE fun cars!
In reply to wspohn :
GT. Grand Touring. It has nothing to do with being a coupe.
When did the buying public get so stupid ...
So when did the original Pontiac GTO (Gran Tourismo Omologato) get homologated for anything? The first Pontiac GTO was an option package for the 1964 Le Mans available with the two-door sedan, hardtop coupe, and convertible body styles.
Well, duh!
Almost a year, so it's time to post...
Gee whiz, whspon, next thing you'll be telling us is that coupes have only two doors!
I'd agree, but BMW has more lawyers than I do.
I always like these cars and Opel's in general. Some friends had one in the late 70's that they modified for autoX racing. They had intended to go road racing but their budget wouldn't allow it. About 10 years ago I had another friend contact me to help build a Lemons race car which turned out to be an Opel GT. They added a "kamm" back and called it the "Bread Van". I built the engine and trans for it, a Ford 2.3L Lima & T-5 trans. It used an Alfa rear end because that's what they had. While not successful at first the car did end up winning Class "B" twice, afterwards the judges moved the car up to Class "A" where it lacked the HP to compete.
i raced an 1100 gt in scca h production; a veryvery few suspension mods made it corner with the best of them. i just couldn't get it down to minimum weight by 90 pounds--i guess we never cut enough stuff out! conrero built a single-cylinder engine for us with variable valve timing, which bryan crow and i patented in '64 for internal combustion engines. he told us he lost the alfa tuning job because of family relations between alfa and autodelta. we had some conrero cams we put in the sprint speciale we raced in the '69 daytona 24hr
There is a fellow up here in the PNW that races one. Breaks alot, but is comptetive when it's running. Pretty car.
Hi- The Opel GT has attractive, sexy looks, and an underdeveloped suspension, notably the front suspension: A horrible front suspension geometry which gave you an awful Camber Pattern: when turning aggressively, the outside front wheel would go into Positive Camber, making the car understeer badly! Also, the bushings, steering linkage, ball joints were of limited durability! The brakes were perfectly adequate for the available power: slightly bigger & thicker front rotors, bigger OD & wider rear drums than BMW 2002s... The carburetors were terrible, too! that Solex 2-barrel was problem prone in other cars, worse on the GT because of Opel's exhaust & intake being essentially siamesed, and in the rear corner of the engine compartment, with very little airflow, leading to vapor locking and terrible idle when hot. The GT can be made to work as a race car, but it takes work & money. Lots of both. Speak to Roger Lee in California and Tom Drake in the East Coast... probably the most successful Opel GT racers in the US. The engines are interesting- the bottom ends are nearly bulletproof, more so when carefully assembled; the cylinder heads are a weak link, need lots of work to make power, but people have found ways to make power: Bob Legere in the NE, Xtreme Cylinder Heads in SE Florida are well known. Careful porting and airflow proportions, bigger valves and stiffer springs, etc... You know, like nearly any other car of that vintage.... Been into Opels since 1971, racing a Kadett C GT/E in Vintage Racing since 1991... there's fun to be had! Ernie
I was an Opel guy when I was young, and they were newer. The Manta coupe and the Ascona sedan (and wagon) were more sophisticated cars than the Opel GT. The latter was essentially a Kadette and ran with a leaf-spring suspension. The Manta and Ascona had a coil-spring suspension and they were highly capable. I always considered them superior to the Datsun 510, but I was biased. I had a slightly modified Manta for a long time, and a wagon as a beater/runabout for awhile. Loved those cars!
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