Hopped up '68 Rallye Kadett...anyone else?

[avarko]

While I was in Pharmacy School in '68, my wife and I purchased a new Opel Rallye Sport 1900. It was a lot of fun and we had many adventures doing ralleys with the local sports car club in Idaho. In July of '68, I was drafted. trained as a Combat Medic and sent to Vietnam. During my time there, I bought two Weber 40 DCOE sidedraft carbs and a manifold. When I returned home, I also installed new mag wheels and wider Dunlop tires. Once my mechanic and I got the carbs to synch up and run properly, it was pretty snarly!! Out on the road it would easily run at 120+ all day long.

Even before 'Nam and the Webers, the car was a "brute". Being a long-time street-racer, I enjoyed many light-to-light races. One, in particular stands out. While sitting at a stoplight in Enid, OK, a Z28 with 3-4 guys in it pulled up beside me, revving its' engine. I checked it out and decided to run him. When the light changed, I took off, running quickly through the first two gears, while he was generating a cloud of smoke back at the light, and into the second block when he roared by me. As we pulled up to the next light, he motioned me over to the side of the road. He wanted to see what was under the hood. It was amusing to see his amazement at the bone-stock 1900 engine sitting there. The Rallye was a very fun car!

When I was finished with my surgical training at Ft. Sill, I headed home to Idaho on a 30-day leave before going on to Vietnam. Running at about 100mph through the mountains of Colorado, I picked up a Porsche 356 who wanted to race. We fell into formation, exchanging the lead many times. On downhills he, being much slicker, would draw ahead, while I, on the uphill slopes, would pull ahead on him. We were almost evenly matched on level ground and curves, so when whomever was drafting would attempt to pass they generally would not succeed. It was impressive to realize that my little Opel was running with a Porsche and not giving up very much, if anything. It was a pleasant and exciting interlude, keeping both of us entertained during the long hours on mostly untraveled roads. Fortunately, it was a remote area and we encountered almost no traffic.

With the addition of the Webers, the Rallye really grew legs and, had I been running them against the Porsche would have seriously whupped him!!

Anyway, I drove that car for several years and finally sold it. I've never since heard of anyone running dual Webers on an Opel, though it certainly changed its' personality.

Happy motoring,
Steve Streeper
Idaho

[BQS4]

Originally Posted by avarko While I was in Pharmacy School in '68, my wife and I purchased a new Opel Rallye Sport 1900. It was a lot of fun and we had many adventures doing ralleys with the local sports car club in Idaho. In July of '68, I was drafted. trained as a Combat Medic and sent to Vietnam. During my time there, I bought two Weber 40 DCOE sidedraft carbs and a manifold. When I returned home, I also installed new mag wheels and wider Dunlop tires. Once my mechanic and I got the carbs to synch up and run properly, it was pretty snarly!! Out on the road it would easily run at 120+ all day long. Even before 'Nam and the Webers, the car was a "brute". Being a long-time street-racer, I enjoyed many light-to-light races. One, in particular stands out. While sitting at a stoplight in Enid, OK, a Z28 with 3-4 guys in it pulled up beside me, revving its' engine. I checked it out and decided to run him. When the light changed, I took off, running quickly through the first two gears, while he was generating a cloud of smoke back at the light, and into the second block when he roared by me. As we pulled up to the next light, he motioned me over to the side of the road. He wanted to see what was under the hood. It was amusing to see his amazement at the bone-stock 1900 engine sitting there. The Rallye was a very fun car! When I was finished with my surgical training at Ft. Sill, I headed home to Idaho on a 30-day leave before going on to Vietnam. Running at about 100mph through the mountains of Colorado, I picked up a Porsche 356 who wanted to race. We fell into formation, exchanging the lead many times. On downhills he, being much slicker, would draw ahead, while I, on the uphill slopes, would pull ahead on him. We were almost evenly matched on level ground and curves, so when whomever was drafting would attempt to pass they generally would not succeed. It was impressive to realize that my little Opel was running with a Porsche and not giving up very much, if anything. It was a pleasant and exciting interlude, keeping both of us entertained during the long hours on mostly untraveled roads. Fortunately, it was a remote area and we encountered almost no traffic. With the addition of the Webers, the Rallye really grew legs and, had I been running them against the Porsche would have seriously whupped him!! Anyway, I drove that car for several years and finally sold it. I've never since heard of anyone running dual Webers on an Opel, though it certainly changed its' personality. Happy motoring, Steve Streeper Idaho

Wild story!!, but, check out "apprenticing my first engine rebuild" and "2.4 stroker", both have dual side drafts.

[69opelgtfvr]

Cool story! That ride with the Porsche sounds like it was a blast.
Any Opels in your life these days?

[newman27]

Great story - you should check out the new Opel GT book - it has lot's of racing stories and several of Opels beating Porches and lots of other cars of the day...

Matt

[tekenaar]

Originally Posted by avarko While I was in Pharmacy School in '68, my wife and I purchased a new Opel Rallye Sport 1900. It was a lot of fun and . . . Even before 'Nam and the Webers, the car was a "brute". . . . The Rallye was a very fun car! When I was finished with . . . . . . the addition of the Webers, the Rallye really grew legs and, had I been running them against the Porsche, would have seriously whupped him!! Anyway, I drove that car for several years and finally sold it. I've never since heard of anyone running dual Webers on an Opel, though it certainly changed its' personality. Happy motoring, Steve Streeper Idaho

. . . welcome to the site, Steve, from a fellow "Nam Era" vet . . . Navy.

Though not the dual Weber "side-drafts" to which you're most likely referring above, I am running what is likely the world's only dual Weber 40DFO down-drafts "sprint" setup, originally from a late '60s Rekord sprint, in my '69 Kadett LS "sprint" right now, for what it's worth . . .