Buick Opel

I always knew Buick and Opel had some ties to each other during the early 70's. I was just wondering if anyone could tell me more about this? Thanks

 

Starts here, way before the 1970s

 

They still have ties, because they are both part of the GM family.
Your new Buick Regal is a rebadged Opel Insignia, and there are plans for a Buick Adam, the North American version of the Opel Adam.
Cars like the Opel GT (the biggest joke on wheels ever...), Opel Manta, Opel Ascona and Opel Kadett were sold as Buick Opel in North America.

In Europe, Opel is considered to be a brand for old people, just like Buick is in North America

 

Remember Kadett and GT as Buick captive imports in '60s...most experience w/Kadetts...sheet metal so soft would bend if leaned on, and everything rubber disintegrated right after warranty ran out...

 

Most people think it started in the GT/Kadette days but it was after WWII. Here's probably all the info you would ever want and more: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel. There were some pretty body styles influenced by GM and imported here. I think mine is one of the styles really overlooked. I've melded the Buick/Opel a little more than GM did with adding a Buick 350 to my Opel

 

As a kid I always thought the Opel GT's look Kewl .. a few years ago a friend left me his to care for for a few weeks and said it was OK to drive it. His was a beautiful example with the motor worked over .. suspension mods etc.

... 10 minutes into my joy-ride I was turned around and headed home - I'd had enough o No:

 

Buick tried to jump start Opel sales in the U.S. market back in the late 60's by introducing the Cadet and GT but neither car never caught on to the extent that GM was looking for. The most popular of the U.S. Opel line back then was the Cadet Rally. It was fun to drive around town but not a family car or a real sports car so it never filled either market. Opels were probably more popular in the Flint area becuase of the high number of Buick employees that bought them as a second car and I remember seeing a lot of them around town. My girlfriend had one that I got to drive often and the first few miles were always fun but after that it was just an uncomfortable small car. As someone already memtioned, the sheet metal was an issue here in the rust belt and they did not hold up for very long. The GT was said to be the poor man's Corvette.

 

Wow! Talk about a sleeper...

 

To clarify, if you meant "Buick-Opel" that was an Isuzu badged as an Opel and sold by Buick in the 1970s after they decided to stop selling Opels in America. Why this was I dunno.

FWIW, Pontiac used to sell Opel's distant cousin, the Vauxhall, although at the time (late-1950s/early-1960s) they were distinct brands. I know in the 1980s they were similar.

 

Buick started importing Opels in the 50s, the Opel Record that was a four speed on the column, then changed to the Kadet in the 60s. In 70 they introduced the GT (mini-vette), In 71 they brought out the Manta and the 1900 sedan (same car, different bodies). In 75 (the last year for that series) they had Bosch port fuel injection on the 1.9 engine. I had a 75 1900 sedan and it was a decent car, kinda like a small Audi. In 76 they badged an Izuzu as an Opel. When I lived in Germany I had a 71 Opel Record that was a good size car. Opel is GM of Germany and they have a full line of cars, the Diplomat and President are full size cars, the Diplomat came with a 327 Chevy engine with fuelie heads, the President had an overhead cam straight six.

That everything I know about Opels.

 

I had an Opel Kadett in 1977 or 78. I was a teenager, but I could keep it running (barely) with constant maintenance and repairs.

I wish I had never seen this thread, because I had not thought of that car for a long time.

 

Thanks guys, I learned alot

 

FWIW, it's an Opel "Rekord."

Can't comment on the fuelie heads for the Diplomat, but it sounds far-fetched.

Grand Prix fans will recognize the roofline:

<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/zappadong/6326009661/" title="Opel Diplomat A Coupe 5.3l V8 1966 -6- by Zappadong, on Flickr"><img src="http://farm7.staticflickr.com/6225/6326009661_bdbe030f06.jpg" width="500" height="375" alt="Opel Diplomat A Coupe 5.3l V8 1966 -6-"></a>

 

Opel GT (the biggest joke on wheels ever...)

Hey PUNK. I'll have you know I had a '72 Opel for 16 Years. That's something for a Daily driven car in Michigan. Plus You spell your Name Wrong.
Arick, my Son's name.

PONCH

 

The Diplomat had decompressed 300 hp 327 with double hump heads. I don't know if they were 194 or 202. Most of the fuel in Europe is 80 octane so most cars were 8:1 compression ratio or less. You can fetch as far as you want, I lived there and worked on them.

 

The 327/300 was never related to a Fuelie, which had ratings from 360 to 375 hp. It's quite possible the 300 hp version and the Fuelie version had the same heads, but I dunno. Would love to see evidence.

 

In the late 50s Detroit became mildly concerned about the inroads in their markets that were being made by AMC and VW. The big three didn't want to invest in the tooling for VW-sized American cars, so they decided to build Rambler-wheelbase "compact" cars. The VW competition was supplied by imports. In the early '60s I worked for a Ford dealer which held the New England distributorship for English Ford. We were charged $96 per unit to have them delivered from Edgewater, NJ. The dealer's owner thought that this was a ripoff, so we would go and get them. Along with yours truly, Skip Munro and Bobby Houlihan would ride the Eastern shuttle ($11 each) from Boston to Newark, take a cab ($10 with tip) to the Tri-Terminal building in Edgewater, and pick up Anglias, Prefects, Consuls, Zephyrs, Zodiacs, Cortinas, and once in a while, a Cortina GT, which was a pretty hot little car and fun to drive. We would then drive them back to Newton, MA (just outside of Boston). They would use 7 to 10 gallons of gas at about .30 per gallon. Total cost: $55 or less for three cars (plus our salaries - Bobby and I were earning about $1.60/hr., Skip got about $2). A $100 bill would pay for three cars. We did this a lot. When you are 20, this was about as good a job as you could have. Sorry to snitch the thread, but it brings back fond memories.

 

I've lived 58 of my 60 years in the USA and everyone I know refers to the double hump heads as fuelie heads. I've lived in 8 different states and that's what people call them. They may call then something else where you live. OK, you and I should fly together to Germany to find the evidence you would like to see and whoever is wrong can pay for the plane tickets. Are we on??? What heads do you think the 360/375 had on them? Answer:double hump heads.

---------- Post added at 10:30 AM ---------- Previous post was at 10:19 AM ----------

I had a friend with a Cortina GT, that thing screamed! Very cool car!

 

...likewise Kadetts in '60s...but closer...Bethesda MD to Baltimore waterfront...had to pass "the block" on way...:Brow: