Ha mate, my name was in the opening post and Svens are living in our western neighbor Sweden. Time spent on old Opels might be wasted time but at least it's fun so I'm going to continue.
On last weekend was the Classic Motorshow in Lahti. I aimed my Omega in that direction and it was a great trip. Weather couldn't have been any better, and it was loads of vehicles on show. Talked crap with friends and shot over 350 pics. I picked two examples, that are somehow relevant to this thread, for you:
From the inside an Opel Diplomat B, 5.4 liters.
and from the parking lot further away a Pontiac GTO, 6.0 liters.
It seemed like this Monaro derivative was recently imported from Arizona. There are very few of these in Finland and it might be the best option to get some Holden spirit under your seat and as a bonus the steering wheel is on the right side which is left. We are still very upset with Opel since they didn't and still don't offer us a proper aussie muscle car even if the people living on the foggy island can enjoy the Vauxhall VXR8's and on the other side of the big pond they have these various Pontiacs. Adam could at least use the engine in a new top gun rwd Insignia.
Opel Commodore A 1967-71, B 1972-77, C 1978-82
Nil Bastardo Carborundum
When was the Diplomat sold? It looks like a 70's or early 80's design, around the HQ-HZ period, but doesn't appear to have anything in common with Holden designs.
And there's nothing wrong with mucking around with old Opels. For us Holden fans, it's just the same thing.
DIO..
tuffen up cream puff....
Tony 308vkcalais:
Right. Diplomat B was made 1969-1977. It's predecessor was Diplomat A 1964-68 which I think looks way better. The A series Kapitän, Admiral and Diplomat had the same body design. There was a Kapitän A on the show also and here's a bit poor photo I took of it. This one has a 2.8 straight six cih engine. The A-series was also optionally available with 327 sbc V8.
Opel Commodore A 1967-71, B 1972-77, C 1978-82
DIO..
Hey gr8 pics mate..(mate Sven)..I had a HD & then a HR.I can see sum similar lines there in the front.Dunno if sumbody else can see that & they follow the same family tree...
Tony 308vkcalais:
Nil Bastardo Carborundum
Yep. definite family resemblance, particularly to the HR, but I reckon the HR was a much neater design. The Opel front is clumsy.
DIO..
A lot of close lookers in here.Nothing like a bit of automotive incest..
The old blue goon on the car trailer has the horrible looks/stlye lines of an old FB/K.The little red & black striped thing on pg 3 looks like a little HB banana..
Tony 308vkcalais:
Well the family or corporate resemblance is no surprise. GM had a design department that gave the big lines and local studios then made some localisations to it.
Opel's A-series Kapitän, Admiral and Diplomat looks very good imo but the progress went on and when Opel revealed the more modern C-Rekord design, the A-series K.A.D. sales started to drop. The design on A-KAD is similar to A and B Rekord and C Rekord came out August 1966. Then there were the energy crisis thingies which finished Opel's big boats. There never was anything like them since and Opel had nothing to compete with bigger BMW's and Mercedes' which combined with fwd era rust and quality problems still costs dearly today.
At the time Bill Mitchell led GM design and at Opel Chuck Jordan 67-71 and after him Dave Holls. Clare MacKichan led the Rekord studios (Rekord A and B) and Erhard Schnell the Advanced studios (Rekord C).
What about the people behind GMH design?
Opel Commodore A 1967-71, B 1972-77, C 1978-82
Maybe it's time for an update again. A month back bought a new project, 1972 Kadett B LS coupe.
the C-model that followed it was sold in Australia as Holden Gemini.
So nothing on the designers?
Opel Commodore A 1967-71, B 1972-77, C 1978-82
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