Some nice rare bits

[Motor Mouth]

Greetings from the other side of the pond....this is England calling.

A number of you guys may recall that last year I sold a genuine '68 GT. I now have some parts left over from the car and am clearing some of my spares and thought some of these might be of interest, they are:

1. Genuine '68 Split Front Bumper, follow the link:eBay.co.uk: Opel GT GENUINE 1968 Split Front Bumper - VGC (item 130076679240 end time 12-Feb-07 21:30:00 GMT)

2. Near MINT and CRACK FREE steering wheel, follow this link: eBay.co.uk: Opel GT Wooden Steering Wheel - near MINT (item 130076681551 end time 12-Feb-07 21:30:00 GMT)

I'm happy to ship both items and as most of you suffer from cracked rims, the steering wheel is a must for anyone wanting a immaculate show car.

Let me know I can help with any other bits from blighty

[Sparky73]

Wow the famous split bumper..! I have never actually seen one before not on a car. That is awesome. I really wish you good luck with your items, and I will be watching to see how much they go for..!!!

I wonder how many bidders you will get, since, I have never actually heard of anyone owning a "for sure" 68 GT.

Anyone got an estimate value?

[Motor Mouth]

Thanks for the good luck wishes. The GT I had last year, which was a '68 also had the split front bumper, but the condition of this one is far better. I'm obviously kicking myself for selling the car last year.....she's turned out to be the third oldest GT on record.

I obviously have my fingers crossed that there are some '68 owners out there needing or wanting a spare, this really is a great item.

SO is the Steering wheel, I already have guys in Finland and Israel asking if I'll post it....the answer is of course yes, I'll happily post Stateside too

[hallgeir]

Originally Posted by Motor Mouth Thanks for the good luck wishes. The GT I had last year, which was a '68 also had the split front bumper, but the condition of this one is far better. I'm obviously kicking myself for selling the car last year.....she's turned out to be the third oldest GT on record. I obviously have my fingers crossed that there are some '68 owners out there needing or wanting a spare, this really is a great item. SO is the Steering wheel, I already have guys in Finland and Israel asking if I'll post it....the answer is of course yes, I'll happily post Stateside too

How did you find out that? I also have a GT that is made in -68, but first time registered 10 jan. -69. It has all the early GT things such as split bumper, flat rear panel and so on. Gauges are stamped 10-68. I have tried e-mailing the factory, but haven`t heard from them.

[Motor Mouth]

If you go to the dachverband they may have a link to the database, but my father knows a couple of people in Germany that have access to the records and so he managed to get the info from them.

That said, when I had another GT I did write to Opel and they came back with the information within a couple of weeks, maybe you should try again.

My particular '68 GT was first registered in Oct 68 and as sales only started in Sept that could be one reason why she's so old on the record.

[hallgeir]

Ok, thanks. I will try writing to Opel once more. I think it`s interesting to collect as much history about the car as possible.

[2 Fast 4 U]

Originally Posted by hallgeir Ok, thanks. I will try writing to Opel once more. I think it`s interesting to collect as much history about the car as possible.

I have an E-Mail address for info:

Rainer Hopfengart
OPEL Classic PKZ D5-05
Adam Opel GmbH
D-65423 Rüsselsheim
Tel.: + 49-6142-7-74852
Fax.: +49-6142-7-78489
E-Mail: rainer.hopfengart@de.opel.com

[hallgeir]

Danke, Erick.

[2 Fast 4 U]

Originally Posted by hallgeir Danke, Erick.

Bitte, Hallgeir

[hallgeir]

.... and Mark, good luck on selling the bumper and steering wheel. I am watching them in "my ebay". Interesting to see how much you`ll get for them. There are almost 5 days left of the auction, and you have many bids already, so it`s clear that there are people who wants them. And it`s fine that you make them available for them.

[yellaopelgt]

Just asking a question here..... and I apologize in advance if its taken the wrong way, but does the bumper have a clean edge where it was split? I'm saying hypothetically..... could it be a bumper that was simply cut in half.NOT THAT YOU WOULD DO THAT!!!! But I am honestly interested in knowing if the bumper was manufactured in such a way that you could see that it was cast in two seperate pieces. Your a stand up member here and I know your car was a true 68,(I've never seen a 68) so please dont take offense. I'm just curious....
Joe

[GTJIM]

That is not a cut-in-half front bumper - notice that there is not the 'hump' in the centre that a one piece bumber has at its furthest forward point.

I have cut bumpers in half - for postage reasons - and the centre edges look lots different in shape. I welded the bumper together and rechromed it BTW ...

Pics of MM's Two Piece Bumper attached.

[yellaopelgt]

Thanks Jim!! I can clearly see the difference! I wasnt trying to be "one of those guys"" HAHA.....I just have never seen what a true 68 bumper looks like and now I know!!! There just simply arent many examples of 68 GT's here in my neck of the woods and this is all good info to me. Thanks!
Joe

[Motor Mouth]

Originally Posted by yellaopelgt Just asking a question here..... and I apologize in advance if its taken the wrong way, but does the bumper have a clean edge where it was split? I'm saying hypothetically..... could it be a bumper that was simply cut in half.NOT THAT YOU WOULD DO THAT!!!! But I am honestly interested in knowing if the bumper was manufactured in such a way that you could see that it was cast in two seperate pieces. Your a stand up member here and I know your car was a true 68,(I've never seen a 68) so please dont take offense. I'm just curious.... Joe

Hey, no worries no offence taken, I'm not in the 1000+ club yet, but when I do post i do try and make it worth-while.....I wish I had the time to get up to the 1000 mark.

As far as I'm aware the 'split' '68 bumper also has it's hanger attachment points in different places. The edges on this bumper are really clean whereas my '68 GT's bumper was becoming really thin. I think this bumper has been rechromed once in the past as the inside is nearly as nice as the outside (GTJIM, thanks for posting pics). There's only minor pitting on the bumper and I've not even given it a polish, so it really is quite nice.

The only thing I never understood about the 68 split bumper is why Opel never designed a 'finishing' clip to cover the join, it just seems a bit wierd to have the 'gap in the teeth' when everything else is so clean and crisp.

[GTJIM]

Originally Posted by Motor Mouth The only thing I never understood about the 68 split bumper is why Opel never designed a 'finishing' clip to cover the join, it just seems a bit wierd to have the 'gap in the teeth' when everything else is so clean and crisp.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the split bumper was a panic response to a problem with producing one-piece bumpers .. and the production date for the cars was approaching.

The drawing dies for the 'half' bumper would have been a 1/4 of the size and a 1/10 of the cost of the full bumper. It looks to me like the two halves are the same and not mirror images - one is just turned upside down from the other before the mounting holes are punched. That would mean only one smaller set of drawing dies. There may have also been considerable problems in just making such a complex shape in one piece.
Probably not enough time to make the centre cap - or there was too much argument amoung the designers/engineers to settle on what, where and how - especially since they were working on the one-piece replacement ....
such are the politics and machinations of production engineering!

[Motor Mouth]

Originally Posted by GTJIM I have a sneaking suspicion that the split bumper was a panic response to a problem with producing one-piece bumpers .. and the production date for the cars was approaching. The drawing dies for the 'half' bumper would have been a 1/4 of the size and a 1/10 of the cost of the full bumper. It looks to me like the two halves are the same and not mirror images - one is just turned upside down from the other before the mounting holes are punched. That would mean only one smaller set of drawing dies. There may have also been considerable problems in just making such a complex shape in one piece. Probably not enough time to make the centre cap - or there was too much argument amoung the designers/engineers to settle on what, where and how - especially since they were working on the one-piece replacement .... such are the politics and machinations of production engineering!

There speaks the voice of reason, you can tell you're into engineering / machining.

[manta73wi]

Originally Posted by 2 Fast 4 U I have an E-Mail address for info: Rainer Hopfengart OPEL Classic PKZ D5-05 E-Mail: rainer.hopfengart@de.opel.com

When contacting Rainer about a vintage Opel, would it be helpful to communicate in German, or would English be OK? THANKS for posting this contact info!
-Jeff W.
'73, '74, & '75 Manta

[Motor Mouth]

When I spolke to them I did it all in English....I speak enough German to get by, but they're english is probably better than my!

[hallgeir]

Well guys,
I e-mailed Mr. Hopfengart yesterday, and today I got an e-mail from his colleague:
************************************************** *******************************
Dear Mr. Bjørkavåg

Thank you very much for your e-mail dated February 8th, 2007 to my
colleague Rainer Hopfengart.

We found the following data of your GT in our files:


Chassis number: