Car Thread

[Roy]

Always loved the looks of these:



Look familiar?

[healey36]

My first car, a yellow 1970 with a blown gear-box. Three bucks worth of needle bearings and we were on the road. Here's the only picture I have of the little bugger, taken at Frostburg, Maryland, 1977 or 1978:



Deceptively quick in a straight line. Just a 1.9L four-cylinder, distinctly remember dusting a 914 while tearing across Tufton Avenue.

Healey

[E7]

The old "mini-vette" Opal GT. A guy I worked with had one. The only thing I remember about it, was that it's headlights had a manual arrangement to flip them up!

[Rufus T. Firefly]

[Roy]

Yes, the 1968-73 Opel GT. More info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_GT

Extra credit: Name the driver in my above photo.

[healey36]

Don Adams, aka Maxwell Smart. He went through a string of neat little cars during the series - I liked his Sunbeam Alpine better.

Yes, the Opel had headlamps that rotated/flipped to the "on" position. A lever on the center console rotated the lamps, and there was a switch on the passenger-side lamp that turned the lights on when they went into the locked position. For some reason the guy that owned the car before me had disconnected the switch and installed a manual switch on the dash to turn them on and off. Not sure why, maybe he liked the look of the car with the lamps in the open position without the lights being on (?) Once I realized how they were supposed to work, the first thing I did was remove the improvised wiring and rewire the switch.

The windshield-washer operated via a foot-pump on the floor on the far left of the driver-side footwell. If you tapped the pedal the wipers would make one pass over the windshield. If you pressed it repeatedly it would pump cleaner onto the windshield while the wipers made three or four passes over the glass. I used to tell people the car had a sensor that told it when it was raining. Some bought it.

After I drove that car for three or four years the gearbox started to go up again. It would jump out of gear at the top-end while you were just driving down the road. I never had it checked, but my theory was the car had a slight twist in the unit-body that caused an alignment problem in the drive-train. It would manifest itself in the joint between the half-shafts in the gearbox, grinding the needle bearings to bits. It was a Getrag box, the same one that was in the Chevy Vega. Quite simple to work on, although a PITA to get back into the car. I fixed it twice, and got rid of it before it was due for a third.

[Roy]

The old "mini-vette" Opal GT.

Back in the day, I was told Chevy sued Opel to stop making the car, because it infringed on the Corvette design. Now, I read that GM made both. The designs are too close, for coincidence. I prefer the look of the Opel.

I also like Smart's Karmann Ghia:

[Roy]

Don Adams, aka Maxwell Smart. He went through a string of neat little cars during the series - I liked his Sunbeam Alpine better.

This one?:

[E7]

Yes, the 1968-73 Opel GT. More info:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opel_GT

Extra credit: Name the driver in my above photo.

A bit too fuzzy for my eyes!........but I'll take a WAG: George Lazenby

[Roy]

Extra credit: Name the driver in my above photo.

A bit too fuzzy for my eyes!........but I'll take a WAG: George Lazenby

Missed it, by that much. It's from the fifth season(1969-70) opening to Get Smart. I can't make out Don Adams in that photo, either.

I did a little looking, but I haven't been able to identify the building in the background.

[MYmoo]

The old "mini-vette" Opal GT.

Back in the day, I was told Chevy sued Opel to stop making the car, because it infringed on the Corvette design. Now, I read that GM made both. The designs are too close, for coincidence. I prefer the look of the Opel.

I was told the same thing, until I learned it was German GM, and a competitor for VW's:

I also like Smart's Karmann Ghia:

A Karmann Kreeper!
SlugBug's little brother...

Another car NOT for the big guys!

[webenda]

I did a little looking, but I haven't been able to identify the building in the background.

It is The United States Court House in Downtown Los Angeles, at 312 N Spring St. Except the 1969-1970 opening sequence with the Buick Opel (because Buick sponsored the final season) was shot on the back side of the building, 312 N Main St., Los Angeles, CA.

[healey36]

The Opel line was sold by Buick (GM) in the U. S. Whenever I needed parts I had to go to the local Buick dealership. Almost everything had to be ordered, took about a week to get stuff. The car was missing its front bumper when I got it...took about a month to get a nice new OEM chrome bumper for the front-end.

Opel (Germany) and Vauxhall (UK) were GM's European subsidiaries, Holden in Australia.

[E7]

The Opel line was sold by Buick (GM) in the U. S. Whenever I needed parts I had to go to the local Buick dealership. Almost everything had to be ordered, took about a week to get stuff. The car was missing its front bumper when I got it...took about a month to get a nice new OEM chrome bumper for the front-end.

I once ordered a hood for a 70 Olds Cutlass/4-4-2. It was the 'fibreglas' job with the big scoops, and they did not stock them as a part, but made them after they received so many orders. Been a long time ago, but I think it was about 3 months.

[Roy]

1:48 scale! Why doesn't Hot Wheels make the Get Smart cars?