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Oct 21, 2023 |
Opel,
Opel GT | Posted in
Features | From the July 2019 issue |
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Tom Smiley was in the USF Sports Car Club in the 70's and autocrossed an Opel sedan and sometimes an Opel GT
which some people say looked like a Corvette of that era. Tom worked for the city or the county at a water filtration plant
on 21st or maybe 22nd street just South of USF
Tom Smiley was in the USF Sports Car Club in the 70's and autocrossed an Opel sedan and sometimes an Opel GT
which some people say looked like a Corvette of that era. Tom worked for the city or the county at a water filtration plant
on 21st or maybe 22nd street just South of USF
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Unless you’re driving a Porsche, beating a Porsche is the common yardstick in motor racing. In 1971, that’s exactly what the Opel GT did on its first Targa Florio outing thanks to Autotecnica Conrero, a name long associated with Alfa Romeo at the time.
“I have to say, originally Conrero was not convinced there was a race car hidden underneath the GT,” remembers Romano Artioli, now of Bugatti EB 110 fame and at the time a leading Opel dealer in Italy. “Opel was a typical family brand.”
That had to change. “We needed to improve that image in order to consolidate the brand,” Artioli continues. “Helmut Mander winning the hillclimbs at Mendola and Bondone and the European championship in the 1.9-liter Kadett was already a big step forward.
“But with the GT coming, we really needed to establish it in racing as well. I was convinced it would stand a chance against Porsche in its category under the new Group 4 rules. This would have been the boost we needed for the brand. Trouble was, Conrero wasn’t convinced.”