[rusty_mike]

hey guys!

I'm new here, and I have just one question about photo I've found on the net




Check out the yellow "Ranger GTS Coupé" on the right.
Did such version ever exist, or is that just a "fake" Commodore with Ranger GTS four-headlamp grille setup with all of the GTS emblems mounted on the body of Commodore


For those who have never met Ranger, just a little note I've found on one of the IMCDB threads

The 'Ranger' was a General Motors brand from 1968 to 1976.
It was used in two markets:

1. As "South Africa's Own Car", built in Port Elizabeth from 1968 to 1973
2. From 1970 to 1976 in Antwerp, Belgium, by General Motors Continental SA.

The reason for the European Ranger to be built was

A. to win customers who were believed to have resentment towards Germany and thus would never buy an Opel. It was believed that large communities of the target clientele that was supposed to fall for this nonsense lives in Antwerp, Amsterdam and Rotterdam.
(What GM Europe didn't know is that the Germans are universally disliked all over BeNeLux)

B. to make use of some free capacity of the Norderlaan production site in Antwerp.

The Ranger were sold by the Vauxhall & US GM dealers.
GM Suisse decided to get a free ride with the project and imported Rangers CKD in order to avoid the hefty import taxation on complete cars, so strictly speaking, the Ranger has been built in Switzerland too.


Initially, there were two models: Ranger 130 and Ranger 153. In 1970, the Ranger 1900 and Ranger 2500 were added. Around 1971, an SS (quality! Remember who the initial target group was?) version of the 153 was added.

The Ranger was unceremoniously buried in 1976 after being arguably the biggest flop in GM-Europe's post war history and a perfect example of the ivory-tower way of thinking which seems to habe become a trademark of industry management.

here's the photo of RPA Ranger, which, I believe will help to understand the differences on the car body that I'm asking about. Notice the front of both cars, commodore and ranger.




I hope, our BeNeLux friends would help us to find the answer.

 

[jmvv]

That "GTS" badge looks very similar to the "GTS" badges found on the Holden Monaro from Australia and sold in South Africa during the late sixties / early seventies. The positioning does not follow GM's practice of having those emblems on the side of the front fenders and on the decklid.

Also, the lack of any "go faster" stripes will let my believe that that car is a phantom.

See that era's Opel Rekord Sprint and Ranger SS styling

 

[rusty_mike]

It doesn't have to be a phantom.

check out those advertisement photos of Ranger GTS





any way front is still the same as in the South Africa version (different than front of commodore) so the question about authenticity of car in first photo is still open.

 

[GS2.8]

The car in question is an authentic Swiss built Ranger GTS(close inspection will reveal that small plaque by GM Suisse placed on the driver's side grille half. Technically it is a Commodore GS with the 2.5 Liter twin carb engine (130 hp). The 4 cylinder version was the ranger 1900, all European rangers used Opel powertrains. They were built there for a few years in Switzerland (around 69-70 I think) for dealerships that sold Vauxhalls to broaden the range of offerings.Vauxhall dealers reportedly suffered a lot because of quality issues, however the Ranger didn*t help them either. (in Belgium Rangers were available till 76 as stated ,since 1972 with the new Commodore B/ Rekord D body).

These cars are very rare, only a handful left and specific parts are unavailable. I know of two cars (counting this one) that had the front fenders replaced during restoration with Commodore/Rekord fenders and turn signals and the ones in the apron deleted because of lack of the proper Ranger parts.

Edit: I once read an article that the Ranger was only built with the Commodore A/ Rekord C body for a short time in Switzerland, afterwards they imported some later models, however here's a link to a very rare GTS 2.8 B-model that has a GM Suisse fender tag, so still some questions left.
http://galerie.motorfacts.de/main.php?g2_itemId=67041

 

[Chevy Opala]

Hi there!

The Opel Rekord B and Commodore A has some world history.

In Brazil, General Motors of Brazil brought the project with the name: Chevrolet Opala. The body differences seems to have influences from americans GM cars as you can notice. The Chevy Opala last from 1969 to 1992. Body modifications were done through the years, naturaly.

Here is a link where you can see the time line of it's history.
Best Cars Web Site - Carros do Passado - Chevrolet Opala
(press "Próxima Parte" at the botton of the page to continue seeing all the 14 pages).

It's rivals in the Brazilian market in the seventies were Ford Maverick and Dodge Dart. They were also built in Brazil at that time with some diferences from the originals. A few project adptations were done in the Brazilian Chrysler factory, because the factury used to belong to a french car brand. At the brazilian Ford, some project improvements from the american Maverick weren't applied in my country.

Here are other links with pictures of this Opel variations. GM Ranger, Opel Olimpico...

O Obscuro GM Ranger « Parachoques Cromados
Opel Commodore GS/E 1970 « Punta Taco

Found this mexican car too:
Opel Fiera IV - Club Opel México

It looks like our four door body, but uses only two. Reminds me of an american dodge dart model, anyway...

Here in Brazil, some say that the australian Holdem Monaro used this body to. But I don't believe so. There are some big diferences in my opinion. Maybe this project helped them to concieve the holdem monaro.

Well. That's it. Hope I could delivery you guys some new informations.

ps: I have a special interest in the speedometer from these Opel models that marks the maximum speed of 220 kilometers per hour. If anyone got it or has any ideia of how and where I can buy it, i wll apreciate!

 

[blind_msq]

It's opel rekord C, not B. Rekord C and Commodore A (opels) share the same body