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Is a 1970 Opel GT a comfortable ride?

I'm 6'1" if that helps 

7 Answers

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  • ?
    Lv 7
    5 months ago
    Favorite Answer

    My first car was the Vauxhall equivalent, based upon their Viva HB which Opel sold as the Kadett.

    It was fine for the time but mine already had lots of rust when I bought it when the car was just 4 years old. 

    By the standards of the day it was also comfortable enough except for the hard “sporty” ride as Vauxhall/Opel just swapped the regular springs for harder ones.

    I bought it from a guy who was 6’ tall and he could adjust the seat to fit by sliding it right back: apart from also being able to control the reclining position that was the only adjustment possible. Even then he didn’t look comfortable but few cars back then took the comfort of tall or short drivers into account.

    It was noisy but fun although it got scrapped at just 6 years old due to serious corrosion to the suspension mountings, and also galloping tin-worm along the sills. Reliability-wise, mine was great. No problems at all but the gearbox was starting to get very noisy at the end: I later owned a Viva HC which had similar corrosion problems but again was much more reliable than the Dagenham Dustbins (Ford Cortina and Ford Crappi) which my friends mostly drove.

    If you can get a really good example with no rust which has been injected with Waxoyl or similar substances every few years then you should be able to fit an acceptably comfortable seat to it if you’re a slim 6’1”. But if you’re a bit lardy then forget it. But it will never drive like anything modern, and even if yours has the optional 2.3 engine it will still be a slug. The 2.3 was pretty awful: very thirsty but also far too heavy for the car. Works rallying versions had them but with extensive modifications to the car and the engine, and a totally different gearbox and rear differential. That still didn’t make them nice to drive: merely able to compete when driven by an expert.

  • Anonymous
    5 months ago

    Buy a VW Beetle! 

    You're funny!!

  • 5 months ago

    YES for it's TIME!1 EVERYONE called a MINI VETTE! I have tuned a few of them and I LIKE THEM! They are NOT super quick or FAST< but they are UNIQUE and CAPABLE! SEE if you can DRIVE one for a DAY or TWO and SEE if it SUITS YOU before BUYING IT! GOOD LUCK!

  • Anonymous
    5 months ago

    You won't fit - I have a good friend who bought one NEW - he liked the car but it was uncomfortable for him - and he's about 5'8" max.

    added:  haha - I love the other comments . . . True, any Opel was a rustbucket in most of the US and the GT was worse than the Kadett . . . engines weren't too bad for 4 cyl (better than Brits).  GM purged them from Buick dealerships once they had home-grown compacts . . . all we've seen here since was the "Cadillac Caterra" rebadge and the recent Buick Regals.  Of course, GM sold Opel didn't they?

  • 5 months ago

    They were fairly rare 50 years ago.  Never owned one, but I am an inch shorter than you and did not feel comfortable sitting in one  at the time. (But it was new . smelled good and looked good)

  • Anonymous
    5 months ago

    US by Buick, OK. European by OM, a little stiff.

    After near 50 years I would imagine the suspension is shot either way....

  • Scott
    Lv 7
    5 months ago

    They were cool looking but absolute junk. I can't imagine how bad a 50 year old one would be, they were junk in the 70's. I personally haven't seen one on the road in at least 30 years.

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