As 50 years ago, Opel assembled some GT at the Hockenheimring . On the occasion of the jubilee many things were different from those of the presentation in 1968: Among the drivers were Walter Röhrl , the GT designer Erhard Schnell and Volker Strycek .
Picture show: 50 years Opel GT >>
The umbrella organization of European Opel GT clubs celebrates the anniversary of the Opel GT with a Grand Tour . The sports car came on the market 50 years ago. A stopover during the anniversary trip reminded of the premiere: From 21 to 29 October Opel had invited journalists, customers and dealers to get to know the new GT at the Hockenheimring . Exactly there drove now again Opel GT : 75 sports cars from private ownership and Opel stocks rolled over the small course.
Röhrl in the GT at the Hockenheimring
At the wheel of his silver GT : Walter Röhrl . The former rally driver Porsche has not become renegade, aht but met in 2016 with the two-seater a childhood dream by buying his former rally mechanic Herbert Fabian the car . In the passenger seat: GT designer Erhard Schnell . The 91-year-old stylist still finds the shape of the GTbeautiful and signs one of the folding headlamps on Röhrl’s GT – otherwise the rally world champion signs cars , this time he himself asked for an autograph. With Volker Strycek is a second motorsport celebrity in his own GT on the road: The Opel Motorsport boss drives an orange GT Junior.
Motorsport GT at the start
The President of the American GT Club, Gil Wesson , came to the party from the USA . The tour was organized by Olaf Moldzen. The North German manages the umbrella organization of European GT clubs and brought two cars : a 69 GT 1900 and an Irmscher touring car. Even a Conrero GT roars through the motordrome. The Italian sports car sat down in 1971 at the Targa Florio against various Porsche to the defense.
Hard to camouflage form
Already in 1965 Opel shows at the IAA in Frankfurt a sporty two-seater. His name: “Experimantal GT”. Folding headlights, flat front, wasp waist and the rear spoiler shaped spoiler lip at the rear already show the later features. Car motor and sport the study in 1965 no chance of mass production – fortunately a mistake, three years later, the sporty coupes comes in Coke-Bottle -Design of the Corvette on the market. The shapes and curves were made even more pleasing and beefy, the body overhangs slightly shortened, the square folding headlights were replaced by round. A problem had Opel in the development with the secrecy of the GT: The unusual body shape could not be camouflaged.
Opel saying: Only flying is more beautiful
The slogan “Only fly is more beautiful” will soon take on a new meaning. Especially the young drivers are thrilled by the low-priced Opel GT (starting price 10,767 marks) and often give a little too much gas in their youthful levity. The handling of the Opel GTwith unfavorable weight distribution – in the back he is very light – brings him soon the addition Heckschleuder a, although the engines afford a maximum of 90 hp.
GT engines: 60 and 90 hp
Customers can choose between a 1.1-liter four-cylinder with 60 hp and a 1.9-liter counterpart with 90 hp. The performance of the GT 1900 can be proud of in 1968: 185 km / h top speed and 10.8 seconds for the sprint to 100 km / h. The optional three-speed automatic transmission is ordered in Germany and Europe only in homeopathic cans, in North America, it certainly looks very different.
The Opel GT comes in a high phase of Rüsselsheimer. The plants in Rüsselsheim and Bochum are so busy that the bodywork is made in France by Chausson and Brissoneau & Lotz. The paintwork and interior design will also be completed in France. The final assembly is carried out in Bochum.
Successor will come in 2008
By the end of production in 1973, 103,463 copies of the GT are manufactured and about 70,000 of them sold to the United States . The study Aero GT with removable roof, which is presented in 1969, unfortunately remains an unrealized dream of many Opel fans. Only 40 years later Opel brings the new GT a roadster with the famous name. The displacement is little compared to its ancestor grown. Only 100 cc more has the two-liter four-cylinder, but the performance increases to almost three times: 264 hp. 229 km / h and an acceleration to 100 km / h in 5.7 seconds show the progress.