Classic Wheels Spotlight: 1970 Opel GT

High school student Jim Sosnowski recalls riding on a bus in the late sixties when he fell in love with the Opel GT, which was on the lot at the local Buick dealership.

Produced from 1968 to 1973, the Opel GT was a styling exercise by the French locomotive engineering company Brissonneau and Lotz. Marketed out of Buick dealers in the U.S., only 103,463 GT’s were built. Because of this arrangement with Buick, people often referred to the sleek Opel as the ‘Buick Opel’ or even the ‘Baby Vette,’ due to its resemblance to the 1968 Chevy Corvette.

Opel bodies, built in France, were fitted with an Opel Kadett B drivetrain and other components and then shipped to the Opel plant in Russelsheim, Germany, to assemble the rest of the car. Eventually, the car was discontinued due to the expense of redesigning a new Opel to compete with up-and-coming sports models, like the Datsun 240Z. Opel, which is now owned by Stellantis, did have a second-generation GT from 2007 through 2010.

According to Jim, around 35 years ago, one of his coworkers told him that his father had a 1970 Opel GT he was considering selling. It seems the father was more into Triumphs and was willing to part with the Opel GT. Jim made a deal, and suddenly he had his dream car!

When Jim got the Opel GT, it was factory white, paint number OP649. He has since painted it red. The left quarter panel was damaged and replaced, and Jim says he had to do some repairs to a seam on the rear of the car, so rather than try to match the paint, he painted the vent above the rear window black and down the sides to a point at the tail of the body. He also added a chrome strip at the back, separating the tail of the car from the quarter panels, a distinct touch.

In addition to the exterior, Jim says Opel GT’s interior has had some updating, from the carpets and the headliner to the reupholstered seats he finished five years ago. He doesn’t know the history of his car, though he says there was a Berkeley sticker in the window. So, you could assume that it spent some time in California.

Under the hood sits a 1.9-liter 4-cylinder engine producing 102 horsepower. The engine, marketed as a front mid-engine design, sits as far back in the engine compartment as possible to create the best possible center of balance.

Jim replaced the original Solex carburetor with a Weber unit. The transmission is a manual 4-speed, and a limited-slip differential finishes off the drivetrain. In addition to changing the carburetor, Jim also swapped the factory exhaust manifold with a header. He still plans more upgrades to the exhaust system.

The Opel GT’s brakes have been upgraded to a much better master cylinder and brake booster. New front calipers were added; the original ones were badly corroded and couldn’t be repaired. Jim had six used calipers and wasn’t able to make a good pair out of any of them. He even went with a later model GT rally wheel. He also replaced all of the bushings in the suspension with polyurethane variants, and the car was lowered by installing new springs.

Like the Corvette, the Opel GT has hidden headlights. They are not electric or vacuum operated; they are operated by a lever in the console, next to the gear shifter. It’s a push/pull arm that rolls the headlight assemblies over mechanically.

Jim does his own maintenance. He recalls one time when the steering just locked up, which is not a good thing while you are driving. The issue was with the ignition lock on the column. He had another steering column, so he practiced on it, taking it apart and reassembling it. He says it’s kind of tricky because there are gears in there that have to be “timed just right” to work properly. He was able to tackle that project.

While Jim admits that his Opel GT is not fast, and way more ‘show than go,’ he still enjoys cruising around in it. He likes attending car shows and speaking with all the people he meets.

If you have a car you would like to see featured in Classic Wheels, contact Rudy Host, Jr. at Classic.Wheels.Rudy@gmail.com.