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Opel in the early 60’s had a similar image problem like Chevrolet in the 50’s (good old “stovebolt 6”): dependable, but boring cars – an image boost was urgently needed: Initiated in 1963, the “Opel GT Experimental” prototype was presented at the 1965 IAA in Francfort/Germany. The enthusiastic public reaction led to the development of the street car, which finally went into production in 1968. Technically based on the compact Kadett, the bigger engine came from the Rekord limousine (1,9 ltr., 90 hp, top speed 115 mph), a second version with smaller engine from the Kadett (1,1 ltr., 60 hp, top speed 97 mph) was discontinued in 1970 as considered too weak and therefore unsuitable for such a sporty looking car (proved by low sales). The attractive body was designed under GM’s supervision and shows many similarities with the new Corvette from the coke-bottle shape silhouette to the front and rear ends – therefore sometimes called “Baby-Corvette”. As Opel had no further production capacities for the body, it was sourced out to French company Chausson (built also the Renault Caravelle and the Citroen SM bodies), whereas Brissoneau & Lotz were responsible for paint and interior. Final assembly with the drive train happened in Germany. More than 103000 cars were built (the majority went to the U.S. – sold via Buick dealerships) until production finally ended in 1973 for 2 main reasons: Chausson had finally been acquired by Renault who needed their facilities for producing their new Alpine A 310, whereas American safety regulations would have made some big modifications – almost a relaunch - necessary. So finally Opel pulled the plug. In the Quattroruote series , Hachette/Fabbri released a nice 1970 Opel GT (in rally orange)in 2009 made by Ixo under the Metro/Leo models name. 2015 it was reissued in the Vintage Auto de luxe series in lemon yellow (therefore both with Italian license plates), a few years later from whitebox in a light blue metallic color: everything opens, even the headlights pop up (rotate like the real one). The latest release is the red 1968 Opel GT in the German Hachette Opel collection (no openings). - actually available from the usual European sources. Here are the first 2 (from the Italian newsstands):

FIAT 124 Abarth spider, winner of the 1974 Portugal Rally, driven by Raffaele Pinto to his only win on World championship level. A modified version of this car won the same rally again in the following year with Markku Alén – these 2 wins were the only top results of this car. A great model from Ixo - highly recommended, even they unfortunately goofed with the color: the yellow should have a slightly greenish tint (which looks different in all the pics, so this won’t be a big deal), but: the whole car was painted in a matt (and not gloss) red! So I will have to mask carefully my model and then overspray with some clear blue (the yellow parts) and clear matte (the whole body). Anyway, this should not turn you off – if you like ‘70s rally cars, this is as good as it gets ! Fiat should have taken the manufacturers championship in 1974, but the first events were cancelled due to the oil crisis, and when the year went on, the Stratos arrived on the scene and Lancia took the laurels. For 1975, the company decided that Lancia should go for the world championship and Fiat for the European and Italian championships (these goals were all finally achieved). I have 2 models (the 2nd will be modified into the ’75 version with additional light pods on the hood, additional ducts and flares which let it look even more aggressive):