1973 | Opel GT 1900

The history of this 1973 Opel GT 1900 S:

This Opel GT came to Germany from America in the early 1980s with an American soldier stationed in Germany and was brought to the Netherlands around 1986 by my family with minor right front damage and sold to an acquaintance in our family who worked at the kromhout barracks in Utrecht where he restored this Opel GT and then put it away in a heated garage. In 1994 I took over this Opel GT from this man and again stored it at my home in a heated garage, in 2021 I only got a Dutch registration on this car to enter Europe but now decided with to do this with a bigger car.

How did the Vauxhall GT come about:

This model was groundbreaking at the time and was the first sporty model from the popular German brand. Although dubbed ‘Opel's European answer to the Chevrolet Corvette’ by loyal fans, the Opel GT was based on the Kadett B and not nearly as much of a sports car as the Corvette. It officially entered the market in September 1968.

The GT's bodywork was not made in Germany but at the French firm Chausson.

Chausson then sent the bare bodies to the French firm Brissonneau&Lotz (B&L). B&L was responsible for painting and fitting wiring, interior, windows and chrome work. The bodies then went by train to Germany to be finished with the mechanicals at the Bochum factory.

The car was designed by Clare Mac Kichan and Erhard Schnell.

The Opel GT came with an 1100 or 1900 engine and remained in production until 1973. In 1973, production ceased because the Chausson and Brissonneau & Lotz supply companies were taken over by Renault and because of increasingly stringent American safety requirements. Hardly any changes were made to the model during production.

In 1970, the 1100 was withdrawn from production; in its place came the GT/J in 1971.

This version was simpler than the GT version. Instead of an oil pressure and ammeter, the GT/J had indicator lights, it had no lights in the engine compartment, and the main difference is that all the chrome was replaced by matte black rubbers and rally stripes were applied to the side of the car. The GT/J came in four non-metallic colours: orange, blue, bright yellow, ochre yellow. Many of the examples produced were built for the US market.A semi-open prototype, the Opel Aero GT, was presented at the 1969 Frankfurt Internationale Automobilausstellung. However, this targa version never made it into production.

In 2007, another car was launched under the Opel GT name.