Other than the 2-door wagon, the Kiemencoupe is my favorite of the body styles for the Opel Kadett. The tip for this Crystal Blue 1966 Opel Kadett B Kiemencoupe was sent in by Jim S. and it’s found in Ridgecrest, California on eBay with a price of $2,000. There are five days left on the auction so it’ll give you a chance to get a message in to the seller about possibly coming down on the price, because you were thinking of doing that anyway. Barn Finds writer, David, showed us a nice Kadett B a few days ago that was a turn-key car; this one will need some work but it’s $6,000 cheaper, so if you’re handy this one may be worth looking at.
Isn’t that a nice design? Opel had a leg up on it’s main competitor, the Volkswagen Beetle, or they thought that they would have a leg up for US consumers. I mean, with Buick dealers carrying the Opel line how could it possibly fail? And, once this particular car is restored, just look at the fun you’ll have! You can restore this car, I know that you can. Here is a YouTube video of a Kiemencoupe being restored and it’s unbelievably nice when they’re done with it!
The seller says that this is a “solid desert car” and it sure looks solid, rust-wise. I don’t see any rust-through anywhere, even underneath where it almost looks better than the top side does. The desert sun is great for not turning things into rusty hulks but it sure wreaks havoc on paint, rubber, plastics, etc. And, they do say that “the dash and top of steering column are sun rotted also the rear package tray and the window seals are toasted.” Bummer, but you should be able to find replacement parts.
The interior does need help from the car being out in that pesky sun. I’m guessing that a few rodents have taken up residence in there but I’m not 100% sure about that, it’s just a guess. The interior is pretty rough but it can be restored back to like-new condition again, of course. This car was last licensed in 1981 and the seller says that they started it and it seems to run fine but the carburetor will need work. They also mention that the power brakes still work! Even though the hood is open in this photo there are no photos of the engine at all which seems weird. This is what it might look like under there: 1,078cc of four-cylinder power. I really like these fastback Kadetts and this one looks like it can be saved. Do you have any memories of owning or restoring an Opel Kadett B?
Growing up, a neighbor had one, but in the Rallye specification… Silver w/ a black hood. It was an excellent car. Interestingly, his wife had a blue Opel wagon with an automatic. They were fairly obscure back then, but still cool. Great find!
As said, I’ve had several Opels, and they were all good cars. I had a ’67 wagon like this. It was a tinny little thing, and while it got the best “holeshots”, it ran out of steam pretty quick,( like into 2nd gear) and struggled to do 55 mph. I think I got gas like 3 times, it got super mileage, but ain’t no highway car. Being unibody, these were scrapped as soon as the front suspension rusted clear of the body, ( or rear track rods broke free) even though, the engines ran for ever. Great find.
Wish it were nearer, would make a great fun litte daily driver with out a ton investment
I bought one new from Grady Buick on the beach at Biloxi, Ms. in ’66. It was red/red and I had them hang a Buick A/C unit under the dash right in front of the passengers knees. Good thing my wife was 5 ft. tall. 1,100cc of raw power. It was a Kadett L. I was maybe 5 yrs. into discovering the sports car scene, so I quickly took it to an SCCA parking lot autocross in New Orleans and took FTD. My first autocross. All I did was add air to the tires and turn up the idle on the carb. I was as surprised as the other competitors. The only problem I think I had with it was having to replace 2nd gear synchro one. Lost my job and had to sell it. This blue one is the first one I have seen in several yrs. of watching Ebay, BarnFinds and BringaTrailer. I still have a couple of pics of my car.
This car brings back memories. As a young kid growing up in the 1960’s, my neighbor’s 18 yr old son bought this exact color Opel as his first car. Sadly he was killed in Vietnam Nam in 1968 and the car sat for almost 10 years covered in plastic in their driveway.
My Dad had a Coupe L in yellow/black.
Little engine had hard time keeping up at times.
I found the definition of Terminal Understeer, trying to keep up with my buddy in his Dad’s wagon.
Some gravel on the roadway, meant I could not make left turn, to avoid the tree.
We were OK tho
Holden Australia had a similar model, and it was basically a scaled down Chevrolet for European standards.
I bought one of these from a neighbor for $25 in 1974. I was 12 year old gearhead and convinced my folks that having my own car to work on would keep me and (dads) tools away from their cars. So they ok’d the purchase and let me keep it on the patio in the backyard to tinker with. I would sneak it out at night after everyone was in bed and make the subdivision my own little racetrack. If you revved it until the valves started to float and dumped the clutch it would pull the front wheels off the ground (a couple of inches anyway) and lay down a nice stripe of black rubber :-)
I don’t understand why these receive no respect yet Cortinas are drooled over ?! I’m close. If it goes off cheap, I own it!
I´ve got one!
It´s from -67 and I bought it as a restorationproject about 5 years ago.
My dad had one when I was twelve and sometimes he let me drive it on the road.
Things like that you just never forget:-)
The Kadett B was a quiet refined small car to drive , I took driving lessons in a 71 model in the UK. It was quite rare but I thought they were as good as a Ford Escort for space and modern features and considerably better than GMs UK offering in the same range , the Vauxhall Viva , which was smaller inside.