By Classic Yorkshire contributor Tony Lofthouse
Do you remember the time when Opels were sold alongside Vauxhalls in the UK?
Opel can trace its roots back to making sewing machines in Germany in the 1860s before turning to producing cars in 1899. By 1929, the company had become part of the General Motors group.
Over the last 50-odd years much of its line-up was available under the Vauxhall brand here. But, growing up for me it just seemed that the Opel name had a bit more cachet compared to Vauxhall. Cars like the Manta and Monza came with some style!
As a bit of fun, here is my five favourite classic Opels. You may have your own favs!
Opel GT
Launched in 1968, the original two-seater GT was based on the early Opel Kadett and had a body built by a French company. It was often cited as a European version of the Chevrolet Corvette and came with a base 1.1 litre engine or a 1.9 litre with an automatic transmission option. The manually operated pop-up headlights added to the fun.
Monza
In the 70s the Opel Monza coupe arrived, an altogether more exciting buy than the Vauxhall Royale, it’s Vauxhall-badged equivalent.
It was based on the Senator saloon and came with 3.0S, 2.8S and 2.5E engines A facelift in 1982 brought a 2.0E engine as well as upgrades to the 3-litre engine. In 1983, a GSE version was launched as the Royale was dropped.
Manta B GTE
Following the launch of the Manta A in 1970 and conscious of capitalising on the success of the coupe design, Opel introduced the Manta GTE to compete with the Ford Capri. It continued in production until 1988. A rally version – the B 400 – was introduced in the early 80s.
Ascona
It might have been a bit of an overlooked model in the UK but the Ascona sold well in Europe with nearly 700,000 saloons and estates produced between 1970 and 1975. Arguably, the pick of the range was the 1.9 litre Ascona SR and the rally-designed Ascona 400.
Kadett
I couldn’t cover my top 5 without mentioning the Kadett B Coupe Rallye. It was Opel’s first works rally car and came with the option of a lively 1.9 litre twin-carb engine.
Picking five cars was tough so a shout out to a clutch of other desirable Opels, such as the Lotus Omega from the early 90s, the 2.5 litre Calibra V6 and the Commodore B GS/E coupe launched in 1972.
When I was an apprentice back in the early 80’s one of the maintenance fitters had an Ascona SR in a orangey-yellow and I remember it used to sound a bit fruity when we all left work. Happy Days!
You missed the mighty Diplomat with the 327 Chevy motor!
I had a 1974 Opel GT which I imported from Germany. It was a sheep in wolf’s clothing. It certainly had the looks but the performance was poor in relation. It appears fitting the Vauxhall/Opel 2ltr red top twin cam seems to be the most popular conversion these days. The sort of engine that should have been fitted in the first place. The other design fault imho was the fact that the spare wheel was hidden behind a curtain behind the front seats and if you had any luggage on board and you got a puncture you had to unload it all at the side of the road and drag the spare out through the passenger compartment. It should have been designed ala hatchback/Scimitar style.
M