Opel GT in the UK

[Beastie]

Hi

Well we bought an Opel GT and have it in the UK. We have had it since June 08 and just love it - but are we the only ones in the Uk or do we have any friends?



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[newman27]

Very nice! This is the classic Opel site so the Opel GTs here are 35+ years old and most members live in the USA. Still, welcome!

Matt

[baz]

hi where are you in the uk ? there are a few of us here but only older gt's like the one top left on the banner and the usual crop of manta's and the like

[GTJIM]

Welcome to the Opel Community!

We love the 'new' GT ... just about as much as our 'old' ones ...

Have a look here:

2007 Opel GT Launch - Opel Forums

[Beastie]

Originally Posted by baz hi where are you in the uk ? there are a few of us here but only older gt's like the one top left on the banner and the usual crop of manta's and the like

Hi Baz we are in Malvern so a bit away from you. We sometimes do a few informal shows such as the Midlands Breakfast Club at RAF Cosford on a Sunday morning - I'd love to take my Opel Gt there and see some of the original Opel GTs at the show!

[Motor Mouth]

Welcome to the forum Beastie.

You're the only New GT owner in the UK that i'm aware of, but i do know of a company in Nottingham that are selling them.

The UK club for the original GT will welcome any members of the new car and in fact at the annual meeting at Northampton, Billing Aquadrome, my father drove a New GT over from Germany for the weekend, just so that we could have one on our stand, celebrating 40yrs of the GT.

The car attracted a huge amount of interest, i think we could have sold it 10 times over and of course my dad and i thoroughly enjoyed blasting it around for the weekend.

Out of interest how will you get around the Headlight beam pattern issue when it comes to your first MOT, as surely the lights are set up for LHD?

[Opel-GT]

Hey Beastie or is it Beastmaster :P

welcome to the forum. we all have old opels here only mines not as old as the rests..

only 2 weeks and I am over in UK too.



once we are sorted the Breakfast club looks cool..

[Motor Mouth]

Originally Posted by Opel-GT only 2 weeks and I am over in UK too.

Drop me a line, pop in for a coffee and you can check out the collection

Are you holidaying in the UK or coming over permentanly?

[Beastie]

Originally Posted by Motor Mouth Welcome to the forum Beastie. You're the only New GT owner in the UK that i'm aware of, but i do know of a company in Nottingham that are selling them. The UK club for the original GT will welcome any members of the new car and in fact at the annual meeting at Northampton, Billing Aquadrome, my father drove a New GT over from Germany for the weekend, just so that we could have one on our stand, celebrating 40yrs of the GT. The car attracted a huge amount of interest, i think we could have sold it 10 times over and of course my dad and i thoroughly enjoyed blasting it around for the weekend. Out of interest how will you get around the Headlight beam pattern issue when it comes to your first MOT, as surely the lights are set up for LHD?

Opel GT is pondering this too. In my case the car was SVA tested and the lights were flat beamed (whatever that means) so is legal in the UK, if it is an issue at MOT time I'll cross that bridge then.

On another note, are you (MotorMouth) the chappie who recently sold a gorgeous blue Opel GT and are now restoring another one/ Saw that car on another forum and it was loverly! Hmmm I have a friend in Boston Lincs....

[Motor Mouth]

Originally Posted by Beastie Opel GT is pondering this too. In my case the car was SVA tested and the lights were flat beamed (whatever that means) so is legal in the UK, if it is an issue at MOT time I'll cross that bridge then. On another note, are you (MotorMouth) the chappie who recently sold a gorgeous blue Opel GT and are now restoring another one/ Saw that car on another forum and it was loverly! Hmmm I have a friend in Boston Lincs....

I Mark am MotorMouth, elsewhere know as GT2200 and am that man...

As well as restoring the other GT, an orange '73, i'm also working on my dad's latest purchase.....a RHD converted, Targa topped, Rover V8 powered GT

Boston's all of 40miles from me, if you're ever up in this neck of the woods feel free to get in contact and call by for a GT (old / new photoshoot).

Did you buy your new GT because you were based in Germany or purely because they're sexy as hell and you simply needed to have one?

[kwilford]

Originally Posted by Motor Mouth ... i'm also working on my dad's latest purchase.....a RHD converted, Targa topped, Rover V8 powered GT

I assume that your newest GT is the one that was partially burned a few years ago?

[Motor Mouth]

Hi Keith,

Yes, it is indeed that one......the damage occured a good 5+yrs ago and a chap in Scotland bought it from salvage, thankfully it was never recorded. He then had a Scottish Restoration house carry out the necessary repair and after spending a small fortune he decided that he didn't want to spend the rest finishing her off.

As my dad (fredopelgt) and i were involved in it's original transformation, dad decided that he should finish the car to the standard it now deserves, so she's now getting a full mechanical check / overhaul, new interior, repaint (maintaining the red), new alloys, new chrome.....the list goes on.......but definately worth it

[newman27]

Just curious - what caused the fire?

Matt

[Motor Mouth]

From memory a fuel hose split close to the manifold and some electrics

All have been re-routed

[kwilford]

Originally Posted by Motor Mouth From memory a fuel hose split close to the manifold and some electrics All have been re-routed

The fellow that was selling it on eBay back in 2003 (when I downloaded the pics) claimed it was sitting next to a car that caught fire, and the damage to the GT was caused by "proximity" heat rather than an actual fire in the GT. It made sense, as the engine compartment was relatively unscathed. Did you see the car before the repairs were made?

[Motor Mouth]

The guy that was selling it was the salvage yard that got the car from the Insurance company.

As i mentioned i knew the car from prior to that, so it mean't i knew the owner. Having spoken to him to him on several occasions i'm lead to understand that the damage occured as the fuel feed line to the pump, bottom left of engine bay pic, was of an incorrect spec. It split and the ensuing pressure caused the fuel to squirt out, ignition and there you go, a short localised fire. Damage was relatively small, mostly wiring.

I didn't see the car before the restoration house took control of her rebuild, but i've got all the bills.....and there's a lot of money been spent!!! As per usual though i wouldn't say they've done everything correctly and so the car's now with my engineering friend whose rectifying numerous niggling issues.

Once the car comes back to me, i estimate that it's going to take another 4-5months to get her to a standard that befits such an unusual GT.

[Beastie]

Originally Posted by Motor Mouth I Mark am MotorMouth, elsewhere know as GT2200 and am that man... As well as restoring the other GT, an orange '73, i'm also working on my dad's latest purchase.....a RHD converted, Targa topped, Rover V8 powered GT Boston's all of 40miles from me, if you're ever up in this neck of the woods feel free to get in contact and call by for a GT (old / new photoshoot). Did you buy your new GT because you were based in Germany or purely because they're sexy as hell and you simply needed to have one?

er lol that there Motor Mouth of yours will get you in trouble as it will see me on your door step next time I'm up in Boston!

We saw the Opel GT on the internet and thought it was gorgeous but thought you cant buy a car from a pic on the net so we made a weekend of seeing it at the Paris Motor Show, loved it in the flesh so came home and ordered it from the LHD Car Company. They came good in the end but messed us about and it took from ordering it in Feb 07 to July 08 to get the car! I still think that it (and the original GT of course) are the sexiest motors on the planet!!!

[Motor Mouth]

Originally Posted by Beastie er lol that there Motor Mouth of yours will get you in trouble as it will see me on your door step next time I'm up in Boston! We saw the Opel GT on the internet and thought it was gorgeous but thought you cant buy a car from a pic on the net so we made a weekend of seeing it at the Paris Motor Show, loved it in the flesh so came home and ordered it from the LHD Car Company. They came good in the end but messed us about and it took from ordering it in Feb 07 to July 08 to get the car! I still think that it (and the original GT of course) are the sexiest motors on the planet!!!

Hey that's not a problem, you can visit me any time.....kettle is always on the boil and if you bring the new GT we can have our own little GT show!!!

Great to hear that someone in the UK is stilling will to do things out of the box when it comes to new cars. Having visited the local dealers near my dads in Germany back in 07 i'm not surprised that that you waited so long. I actually found out that not all the dealers were even getting a display model and that they ended up with a years waiting list very early on.......I'm delighted you've got one though.

When my dad brought one over in July for the show weekend he absolutely feel in love with it and it's performance, but there was a big but.....the boss, my Mum, didn't like the interior space in comparison to the original. They had the funds to buy one, but mum said she'd rather he spent the money on a 0mileage original GT. Obviously when the Targa RHD V8 came up it was a done deal......i rather hope to get the odd drive in it too

[Beastie]

Interior is a bit cramped. My wife Peanut is only 5 ft though so she has a booster cushion as you can see in the pic and i'm not huge at 5ft 7 so it suits us. Nonetheless this compactness is exaggerated as it is awkward to reach the seatbelt as gap between seat and door is so narrow and the electric window switches are very awkward to reach. But ya what who cares, this car is lovely to drive and lovely to look at. When I look at all the pics on here of the original opel GT, I think it had supercar looks but without the supercar price tag and to be fair I think Opel achieved that again with this new Opel GT and with 264hp 340nm of Torque and a sub 6 seconds 0-62 time I think they even gave it the performance to match its looks.

[Motor Mouth]

I fear that i have just messed my pants........loverly!

Out of interest and talking about the stance, have you actually seen your GT coming up behind you, when we had the silver one over for the show and it came rushing up behind me there was only one thing on my mind......MOVE....and my GT is now slow-coach at 190bhp, but obviously no traction control etc......technology sure has moved forward.

[Beastie]

We also like our MINIs so both of us have had the pleasure of seeing the Opel GT in our rear view mirrors and yep it does have a presence! We have noticed people move out of our way on motorways too and no we dont belt upt to within a foot of a cars backside, they just spot the car and slide over - rather nice really.

You can find us on The Phantom, Club & CooperBeast | Beastmaster and Peanut Adventures which is our own little web site of our car adventures nothing commercial on it whatsoever!

[Motor Mouth]

Had a good trawl of your site, interesting to see you're into watches too. I've only recently picked up a 40yr Omega Geneve Dynamic!

As for Mini's ....... the last time I was out out in one was the very first time i got interested in GT's......some 20+yrs ago, when my mum had a old shape Mini......i think the last thing said about that car was by a bus driver, his words were........" I saw this car flying through the air, are you alright?"......needless to say the Mini was in a rather bad way. I had created 3 4foot holes in the of the lawn of the garden centre....i actually didn't physically fit back into the car, but thankfully walked away!......and that's all i have to say about that day!

[Beastie]

Wow that watch is the perfect accessory for the Opel GT and the futuristic look of the Omega Dynamic in 68 went perfectly with the looks of the GT. The chap who sold me my Ventura is a huge Omega fan and he showed me an Omega Dynamic! I'm a saddo, I was inspired by watching James Martin try and drive an old Maserati around the Mille Miglia. For 2010 my dream is to drive the route of the Mille Miglia in our Opel GT. Not the official rally that is a rich man's game but make a holiday out of driving the route, course I'd have to have a Chopard watch to remember the trip by!

[Opel-GT]

Black GT now UK registered

[Beastie]

Originally Posted by Opel-GT Black GT now UK registered

and now duly met at the Midlands Breakfast Club!