Who needs an Opel GT?

A 430 Buick fits in an Opel GT you just need to massage things a bit. Something I did in the late 80s before getting laid off and had to sell my project .

 

I was thinking of a 455 . But I always wanted to put one of those in a Volvo SW

 

There was an Opel GT with a 426 at Maple Grove some years back. Rear tires were so wide they almost touched. Rolled it coming off the start so never saw what it could do.

 

3500 CC Rover V8 (old Buick 215 CI V8) in a German Opel Gt:

 

yes on 215

 

That's the irony of it, I wonder where the other 30% went? I lived 5 miles from Opels main assembly plant in Rüsselsheim from 76 to 78 and never saw an Opel GT other than my friends, which is why it gathered a crowd everywhere it went. In the USA they offered 2 engines: 1.1 liter with 2 carbs (I had a friend in the US who had one) and the 1.9 liter with one 2 barrel. The Opel employees at Rüsselsheim thought the Americans must be terrible driver since they needed such big bumpers (74 and 75). I had a 71 Opel Rekord in Germany I bought from a German girl (interesting test drive). When I got back to the states I bought a 75 Opel 1900 sedan (same platform as the Manta) which had Bosch injection. They lost their ass on that car. The 76 Opels were made by Isuzu.

 

If it was a sedan, it was an Ascona. There never was a 4-door Manta.
There are still loads of Opel GTs around in Europe, and they were pretty common back in the day.
Your friend was overexaggerating when he told you that his car gathered a crowd in Europe.

If you bought a GT with the 1100 cc engine, you couldn't order the automatic transmission, that's why the 1100 engine wasn't popular in North America.

Video of the 2022 meeting in Denmark, a lot of cars (check for red rear side markers) were imported from Southern US states, most European cars rusted away.

 

Meeting in May 2022 in Italy, no rear side markers on these cars except for the last (red) car.

 

Wasn't there one at the Nat's with a GN engine in it?

 

This is what I found on YouTube, video was posted in September 2012:

Turbo Buick powered Opel GT startup and walkaround

My dad has owned this car for about 25 years, and it has been off the road for almost 10.
This is the most recent version of the project, and by far the most refined. Will probably be ready for the road in about a month's time.

Some of the features of this project:
Buick Grand National v6, factory turbocharger

Home built throttle body, fuel rails
Home built exhaust system from exhaust ports to tip with tiny Dynomax bullet 3" racing muffler
Water to air intercooler system with the major parts sourced from my old '89 Dodge shadow turbo project
100% scratch-designed and built engine management system with analog circuitry 200-4r 4-speed automatic transmission,
modified Hurst ratchet shifter
Narrowed Dana-44 limited slip rear end, 3.54 ratio and home built 3-link rear suspension.

Factory Dodge truck rear drums, front brake discs & calipers sourced from early 2000s Honda CR-V
Too many subtle body modifications to list.
Pushing between 15 and 18 lbs of boost, never yet dyno tested or taken down a drag strip.
(hopefully that will change one day, it was stupidly fast last time it was on the ground!)

 

That wouldn't be a bad one to try; - it might be a bit wide though, which is why I thought Nailhead. However, the weight to power factor would be better, the car would probably handle like a dream. It would probably be more reliable than the 4 cylinder Opel "Klapperkasten" they would have thrown in there, which is the same engine (if I'm not mistaken) that wound up in the Vega.

 

Here's a German Opel GT with the Rover 3500 engine, the old 215 CI Nailhead from Buick:

Opel GT V8

Opel GT mit 3,5 L Rover/Buick V8

 

John Schmidt has a v6 powered Opel GT that he has had for years.

 

John Schmidt - that's who I was thinking of!