Opel GT – Cult Classic, Not Best Seller
August 17, 2022
When most people think of ’60s sports cars they are, generally speaking, reminded of the more exotic examples of the time; the Ferraris and Maseratis, the Aston Martins and Alfa Romeos, for instance. Or perhaps the mind wanders closer to home, evoking images of MGs and Triumphs, blasting along sunny B-roads with the roof down. Those with more Americana influenced affectations may recall the fire-breathing muscle cars of the era from across the pond. Whatever the case, what we’re getting at here is we’re pretty sure not many of you would consider the Opel GT when compiling a list of sporting greats from that decade of counter culture and social unrest but it’s a car that most definitely deserves its place alongside more revered automotive machinery.
More than just Vauxhalls with a different badge for Europeans the Opel brand has been around for 160 years, albeit beginning life as a sewing machine manufacturer, eventually moving on to bicycles and then cars in 1899. The majority of the German firm was bought by American giant General Motors in 1928 and then fully incorporated three years later. GM had already acquired British company Vauxhall in 1925 but it wasn’t until the ’70s that the two brands were merged due to a decline in Vauxhall’s fortunes following the Second World War. Conversely, business was booming in West Germany and so the decision was made to consolidate Opel’s designs into Vauxhall’s in a bid to ensure its continued success. So, Vauxhall is called Opel in Europe because that’s where the cars are built but Vauxhall remains a British brand while the cars themselves are German which is why the two brands exist side by side. Alles klar?
But enough about the convoluted history of Opel and Vauxhall, “what about the car?” we hear you cry. Well, the Opel GT was initially conceived as a concept in 1965, debuting at the Frankfurt Motor Show. It was a front-engined, rear wheel-drive two-seater sports car aimed directly at a younger generation of drivers despite sharing mechanical parts with the far more lugubrious Opel Kadett B. The cars were pressed and welded by French coach-builder Brissoneau & Lotz with Opel taking care of final assembly of the chassis and powertrain.
Thankfully though, the GT didn’t take any styling cues from the aforementioned Kadett. The body was designed from the ground up by Opel’s Erhard Schnell under the watchful eye of GM’s chief designer and Chevrolet Corvette stylist Clare MacKichan. The similarities between the two cars are clearly evident and the long, sweeping lines of the GT were like nothing anyone had really seen before from the Germans. Perfectly proportioned the car was also well-balanced thanks to the engine being placed as far back in the chassis as possible and the cars were marketed with the tag line “only flying is more beautiful”.
Engine options were limited to either a 1.1-litre or 1.9-litre four-cylinder from the Kadett mated to a four-speed manual or optional three-speed automatic gearbox. With around 67 and 102 horsepower respectively neither engine was particularly shouty but when combined with the car’s low, sub-tonne curb weight 0-60 was achievable in around ten seconds, give or take, and 115mph could be seen if you kept your toe in for long enough. With a conventional steel unibody construction, independent suspension and disc brakes up front and a live axle, coil springs and drums at the back the GT wasn’t exactly breaking new ground, mechanically speaking. Where the Opel GT did excel though was in the looks department. Boy was it a handsome beast and those manually-operated pop-up headlights are just the icing on the strudel.
While the car sold pretty well on the continent unfortunately there was no Vauxhall equivalent for the UK market which makes the Opel GT a very rare beast on these shores and a prime candidate for this series. We reckon GM missed a trick there and the Opel GT would have made quite the splash here as an affordable alternative to other ’60s sportsters of the time. Yes, a handful were officially imported into the UK by Opel, less than 150 in fact, but it wasn’t enough to whet our collective appetite for this particular American/Franco/German collaboration.
The Opel GT lasted until ’73 when tougher US impact regulations came into force. GM were unwilling to spend the money bringing the cars up to standard and so the Opel GT was canned like so many other sports cars of that era that didn’t meet these new safety specifications. Decent Opel GTs nowadays are few and far between with many having succumbed to rust but there are a handful currently available via the Car & Classic classifieds, from those in need of work to completely restored examples.
The Opel GT still represents a fairly affordable slice of retro ’60s sports car but prices are only going up. Despite being the most feeble of the bunch the 1.1-litre cars are the most collectible but we would still prefer the more powerful 1.9 version because speed. Whatever your poison, a lightweight, beautifully styled sports car with a manual box and rear wheel-drive will always appeal so have a browse of the classifieds and maybe pick one up for yourself. We can pretty much guarantee you won’t meet another one on the roads.
