Today we have a Chevy Corvette and a “baby Corvette,” which is not actually a Corvette, of course, but an Opel GT. Aside from just now, I’ve never been one to refer to the Opel as any flavor of Corvette, and not just because it literally isn’t. I get it, the GT is also a fishy if snot shark-y looking sports car with two seats and pop-up headlights, but I don’t think anyone would mistake it for a Chevy product. And the GT isn’t really that much smaller, with a wheelbase just three inches shorter than a C3 Corvette’s, leaving most of the body size difference to the Corvette’s much larger overhangs, especially in the rear (look). The Opel does put up a much smaller number on the scale, however; around 2000 pounds for the GT versus 3,600 for the ‘Vette.
But first, let’s turn our attention to Friday’s contestants, the 1990s MN12 platform-mates Ford Thunderbird SC and Mercury Cougar. I thought the Thunderbird would take the win despite its automatic transmission by virtue of it looking oh so good and having a legit odometer reading (you’ll recall the Cougar’s 14,000 miles were highly dubious), but twas the Cougar that took the win – “right number of pedals” and all that. Also helping: it looked well and truly stock, whereas the lowered T-Bird had been fussed with.
I remain torn based on what little I can see in the words and pictures, but I can tell you for certain that if I were schlepping out to see these MN12s in person to make a buying decision, I’d be looking for every reason to rationalize getting the T-bird.
I thought I was mildly clever with today’s picks, though I suspect few buyers in the normie world would flip a coin between an Opel GT and a Corvette of any variety. As for us Autopians, it’s likely a different story. I can certainly see myself enjoying either of these machines, though in very different ways, and with very different vibes at stoplights (and levels of attention from law enforcement). Let’s take a closer look:
1973 Opel GT – $9,000
Engine/drivetrain: Not stated, but it should be a 1.9-liter inline-4. Transmission listed as “automatic,” which should be a 3-speed
Location: Lindsay, OK
Odometer reading: Not stated, but the seller replied to a message to say the car has 100,000 miles on it, with the original engine.
Operational status: “Good running condition.”
One might expect the Facebook Marketplace ad for a clearly-loved example of an obscure, collectible enthusiast car to be chock full of information, but guess again. This example appears to be painted in Jade Mist, a color that was indeed offered for the final year of Opel GT production, but I suspect the green-apple hue we see here is a repaint (UPDATE: the seller says the paint and interior are original, as far as she knows). Of much less ambiguous provenance are the wheels. Opel did offer Ronal alloys for the GT, but the kidney-bean rollers seen above aren’t them, and I doubt the offsets and the Hot Wheels stance they provide are correct.
The interior looks to be in nice shape, but I’d prefer to have the original steering wheel over the fat-rimmed Momo. Failing that, can I at least get the center cap for it? Maybe it’s in the glove compartment. Also, what does that very-tacked-on switch do?
Hmm, I know the car is allegedly all original, but those don’t look like 100,00 mile seats and rather a clean reupholstery job. I wonder, was the surround for the auto’s gear selector supposed to be installed first, and then the console goes over it? Sure looks that way, based on how it’s floating. Note also what appears to be a knife plunged into the center console (but it’s not a knife, of course).
No, it’s the lever for the mechanical, muscle-operated pop-up headlights, which delightfully flip rather than pop. Sound up if you’re able, these things thunk open and shut as solidly as well-engineered doors.
Where’s the engine photo? Believe me, I wish I had one. Other than being original to the car and having gone 1000,000 miles, there’s nothing to go on regarding the condition of the Opel-made cam-in-head inline four. But it’s in “good running condition,” so it runs good, presumably? Definitely a test-drive situation. As for this rear view: I’m a sucker for a kammback and bus lights, but oof, looks like this GT backed into something (or was backed into). Still, the body could be much, much worse.
1975 Chevrolet Corvette – $8,500
Engine/drivetrain: 327 cubic-inch V8, Turbo 400 automatic transmission
Location: Boyd, TX
Odometer reading: 60,000
Operational status: “Very quick.”
I would be remiss if I didn’t give you the full Facebook Marketplace description on this one:
‘75 Vette fresh rebuilt 327 with original forged steel crankshaft. Numbers matching camel hump heads. Edelbrock Torquer 2 intake. Manuel choke 600 Holley, Comp Cams 270 Magnum camshaft. Rebuilt Turbo 400 tranny. Limited slip Posi tear end 355 gears. New tires, straight body, interior needs some TLC. Very quick small block vette. Beautiful Sunset Orange paint job. Won’t last long.
1975 is cited as an all-time low for Corvette performance, but clearly any low-po issues this particular ’75 had have been well solved. I assume it’s had headers and other bits of pipe installed since the photo below was taken …
There’s no telling how skillfully the engine was rebuilt, but a nicely painted block shows some care was taken. Not enough care to mask off the gasket area for the headers, but still, some care. One hopes the rest of this ‘Vette is as clean …
Ahhh, nope. This interior is looking rather nautical with all that (ply?)wood, and not in a cool Spyker kind of way. I expect the seats are downright shabby beneath those covers, and the unskinned doors suggest this Corvette is not for shorts-wearers. Nor does it appear that resting an arm on the door would be very comfortable.
Pop-up delete, whyyyy? It’s giving Corvette Summer, and that’s not a compliment. Much love for the Rally wheels though, I can’t get enough of those deep trim rings and tall sombrero centers. Not to mention orange paint. Man, I love orange.
Headlights notwithstanding, the body looks to be all here and in great shape. Not sure how much of that might be Bondo, but I wouldn’t worry about that until I’d gotten a proper interior in the thing. And even then, I’m not sure I care. Looks good, is good.
And now, the call is left to you:
Both of these things seem overpriced for what they are. In spite of that, I was fully prepared to go with the ‘vette because those stock Chevy slots are magic. Then I got a better look at things. I have so many questions about so many things. I mean, they couldn’t even get replacement taillight lenses with reverse lights?? The Opel wouldn’t even be much fun to drive with that crappy auto, but at least it wouldn’t be a rolling testament to bad decisions.
Is it not just the same transmission as an Opel Kadett, or umpteen other GM/Vauxhall/Bedford/etc vehicles? Obviously 9 grand is ludicrous, but if you had one of these and wanted to do a manual swap, I can’t see a gearbox being pure unobtainium.
I’m normally a Corvette fan, but…
That Opel is beautiful, and that Corvette is my least favorite generation with… iffy… mods.
So, how much practical use were such small cars in the real world?
I was at a studio session near downtown and they wanted to make a quick appearance at a popular club across town.
They wanted fastest ride possible, so there weren’t many options.
I was in a Fiat coupe and there was an Opel GT. I think the entire group, plus, was in those two cars somehow. I took the lead and wailed across town. No one complained, but I was very aware most people weren’t belted in.
No one wants to be part of wiping out part of music history. Rock and roll suspends the rules sometimes, there was no trouble.
It was an amazingly fast trip, sort of like driving across LA on Western, end to end.
I never did get to drive an Opel!
Bravo Peter for finding the creme’ de la creme’ of absolute shitboxes to show us.
I LIKE BOTH models and still (non)vote NEITHER of those two!
Love both models. But I raise an eyebrow at both examples.
I’m picking the Open ONLY to convert it to a stick.
From what I remember the Opel GT was actually fairly popular and only got canned when when the French bodybuilder asked for more money to keep up with demand.
I thought it would be a choice between looks and speed, but it turns out to be …OMG. PAINT INSIDE THE PORTS. that’s a nope from me.
Good job finding a C3 that I would vote against. Way too many questionable decisions for someone who knows what they’ve got.
In all honesty if that Corvette had been put up today against a Dale, I’d be picking the Dale.
Someone is building a soapbox derby car to look like a terrible vette. Even in similar condition I’d take the Opel this vette hasn’t been vetted.
Opel GT!
Both are automatic?
Pass on both.
I’ll let Mark Hamill have the Vette. I’m voting for the Opel.
I was all setup to hit Corvette.
Until I saw that interior.
That got me thinking. The same person that built that interior, built the rest of the car. Look in the engine bay picture. See that wiring that is half finished. The wires are all white or red. When the wiring has problems (no loom, it’s a matter of time), how the hell do you trouble shoot it ?
The Corvette needs the body to come off and every single thing in it gone through with a fine tooth comb. I wouldn’t drive it until I checked every suspension bushing and brake line, there’s no telling what is half-assed in it and the entire thing could catch on fire in a second with bad wiring and homemade fuel lines.
So, although I don’t want to drive an old 2.0L I-4 with an automatic, the perfectly clean Opel is a clear winner.
Because I don’t see the value in doing a body off restoration on a Malaise era Corvette.
Every builder has their particular strong areas, we hope.
If that wiring was done by a bomb builder, every single wire would be black!
Troubleshoot that!
“If that wiring was done by a bomb builder, every single wire would be black!
Troubleshoot that!”
That rhymes!
You’re a poet
And didn’t even knowit
I’m not really down for either of these projects, but put a gun to my head and I vote Corvette, simply for the availability of parts.
$8500 is a lot of money to spend on kindling. Opel GT for me.
I was actually going to go C3 today until I saw that interior and the headlights.
I voted for the Opel for the headlights, but my guess is you couldn’t find the replacement parts it needs (could be wrong). Meanwhile the Vette is relatively common and easy to find parts for. I’m pretty sure sourcing the interior parts wouldn’t be too hard; I can find pretty much all of it for my ’80 Fiat, and these are much more common. I’m a bit nervous about the engine rebuild. If you can’t be bothered to do a decent job painting it, I wonder where else you took short-cuts. You’d think they would have installed the exhaust and included pictures if it were actually running, or maybe exhausts are optional?
It really is a toss-up here, but I’ll stick with the GT and send it to auction when I’m done with it.
That car is so full of short cuts, I would be scared to drive it. Look at the wiring in the engine bay. All the wires are red or white and they are half-assed routed. The fuel lines, brake lines, etc. are likely also routed weird as well. As for the engine, whoever routed those wires, built that engine. Three grunts and a fart isn’t a calibrated torque wrench.
Good point. I hadn’t looked that closely.
Why would anyone just substitute wire hanging around the house instead of proper color? Lord even knows if the wiring is the size, resistance, or capacity. I’d love to see the rebuilt fuse box with 50 amp fuses everywhere because the correct fuses kept blowing.
Truth in advertising, I did that for my first car build. I was 13-15 and no the car never ran right.
This feels like 13 year old me worked on it. That is not a good thing.
For me, seeing the interior with the lack of HVAC controls was enough to know it was half assed in other areas as well.
I would fully expect that Corvette had a full HVAC/Heater core delete.
And I noticed the half-assed wiring as well.
And that ridiculous dashboard. I’m sure they could have gotten a half decent dash from a junkyard from somewhere.
Both of them need going over to get them to be nice, but the Opel is going to be nigh-on impossible to sort out due to parts availability. Corvette because I like C3s and burnouts.
No you might need to increase the budget for shipping from overseas or alter some things but nothing as bad as that Frankenstein Vette.
I guess you have a point. It’s likely less expensive and time consuming to jack up the license plates of this C3 and roll a good one under them than to get the parts needed to get the Opel to perfect condition.
Soft spot for opel gt especially in that green. Definitely opel. That is the cleanest one I’ve seen in years. My dad worked at a Buick dealer when he was young and had friends that had got good deals on them. I always thought they were good looking and those guys loved them.
This is no contest. Unless you absolutely love Vettes, that’s ones a turd and that Opel is a cream puff, by comparison. Far more interesting car anyways. Opel by a country mile.
I wonder, was the surround for the auto’s gear selector supposed to be installed first, and then the console goes over it?
If we compare the pictures to the one from the Opel brochure, your assumption seems to be correct.
If the whole gear selector seems like an afterthought, that’s because it was. Outside of the US, nobody in their right minds would have bought a GT with a slushbox.
It’s hard to take a pick. If the headlights really open and close, I’d probably take the Opel.
BTW, the color was known as Jade Green in Germany for a good reason – the same reason, in fact, that made Rolls-Royce change the name of the new Silver Mist to “Silver Shadow” at the eleventh hour.
That Vette is a hack job in every possible way. Paint INTO the exhaust ports, thats gotta smell great. The lack of masking there speaks to the level of attention paid everywhere else.
I’m no Vette expert, but I do believe the rear bumper trim was a separate piece, that has been fused to the rear fiberglass in this example, plus it’s missing the best part of a 70s ‘Vette, the pop up up and down headlights.
The Opel is at least honest(mostly) about what it is.
Opel, by like a lot.
I know all to well the joys of C3 vacuum actuated headlights, but that was not the answer. Plus no door cards, missing sweet stock dash, and no emblems on the back, its lost so much of what makes it a Vette. CP!
C3? C3fukme! If I can fit in it anymore the Opel is the jewel I’m taking home