From David F – Opel GTs have always had a following. They were fun to drive and economical. Perhaps someone wants a unique, cool looking car, that will hopefully be easily to make road worthy. The Opel GT is said to be styled after the 1968 Corvette. They were built in Germany and sold through Buick dealers. Opels were pretty good cars for their day – economical and reliable. This 1972 Opel GT was parked in a garage for 23 years and only has 58,000 miles on it. There is some rust in the usual places, but it’s said to be a solid car and the engine turns. It just needs the usual work after sitting so long. The paint even looks like it may be OK. Find it here on craigslist in Plattsmouth, Nebraska for $5,750. Special thanks to David for sharing this Opel with us and his thoughts on it! So would you drive this baby Vette?
Only thing more optimistic than his asking price, is the speedometer!
Back in the day, I knew a couple of people that had them (from new or nearly so), but even back then, you never saw them around much__certainly not around Detroit anyway…
I had one in the UK in the 90’s loved it, too bad this one is an auto box. They aren’t hotrod but with a stick they can be fun And handle pretty well.
Have always wanted to pick up one of these. Love the roll over headlights. I’ve seen them in comparable shape for half this asking price. And they weren’t automatics, as this one appears to be.
Prices on GTs have gone up.. but not that much and not on inop, rusty garage finds. This is at best a $1000-$2200 depending on the actual rust level of the frame and floors. That said automatics are rare and depending the buyer is a bonus not a deduct.
There is also this one: http://fresno.craigslist.org/cto/5006581689.html for $6500.
“Good running condition! I have owned her for 2 years and I drive it almost everyday and I have never had a problem except for replacing the points a few times. I would really like to find someone who is interested in restoring her. She is in very good shape and deserves to be restored! I would do this, but I don’t have the place or time to do it. I’m not interested in any trades. “
Every time I see one of these I am reminded of an ad I saw at least 10 years ago offering an Opel GT powered by (I’m not making this up) a rear-mounted Allison V-12 aircraft engine. Can’t remember the price, but I remember thinking, “Heck, the engine has to be worth at least that much.” Then, of course, after a few minutes of thought I realized that the engine might be worth that much, assuming you had a use for it. At that time I couldn’t think of a pending project that might need a one-ton 1,200-horsepower engine for motivation. That said, I almost wish I had bought it.
Too bad it’s an auto. I have one of these currently (1970) and had another in the past (1972). I pulled the ’72 out of a yard where it sat for nearly 20 years. Put a new carb on it, did the fluids, redid the brakes and it ran great. It was rusty as hell but it chugged along. I got it for $500. The one I have now is running and driving and in much better condition. The only thing really wrong is the headlights don’t turn over, they’re bolted open, not sure who did that or when, but I’m working on getting the parts to restore their function. Anyway, picked it up for less than $2k just less than a year ago, so yeah, I would say they asking price for this is a bit much…
All good if he can get anywhere near that asking price, I guess.
My first thought was $900 car, if you’re drunk or high, maybe, you’d buy it for $2500,
….but $5750 ??
Anyone do a Miata BP swap in one of these?
In case some thought I was smoking some bad stuff, here’s a shot of the Allison/Opel GT. I have no idea where it is today.
Back in the ’70s my dad painted one of these for a customer. The customer drove it up to the shop, and that was the last time it ran while we had it. We just couldn’t coax it into starting. It hardly mattered; it was so small and light that we just pushed it around the shop. I remember that it was easy pushing forward because of the high tail, but you practically had to lay down to push against that low front bumper.
It was originally silver, and the customer had specified a Volkswagen metallic blue. I can still see that car in my mind’s eye–the color transformed that Opel; it was gorgeous, absolutely perfect for the styling–too bad Opel never painted them that color. The customer came to pick it up and of course started it on the first try.
I know of two of these sharing a barn with a 70 trans am in titusville pa. Been there since the mid seventies. One is this ones twin. Guy has about fifty old cars laying around. Wont sell anything. Such a shame. Model a’s, camaro’s, lots of opels, 35-38 Ford’s, 35 lafeyette cpe, 240z. Atrue waste of some neat stuff.