8th Feb 2009, 19:34
I loved my 67 1/2 Opel Kadett. My dad picked it up for me in 1972 for $40. Someone had traded it in at the Buick Opel dealer where he was the Service Manager. Both front fenders were smashed and it smelled like a barnyard, but I fell in love with it. I disinfected the whole inside of the car to remove the smell, the front fenders replaced and the whole body repainted. The 1100cc engine ran perfectly until I blew it up one day. I had the engine rebuilt at the shop. I think it cost me about $240. I put 1974 Opel 4 spoke wheels on it with Firestone 500 radial tires. A white Opel side stripe and white wraparound door moldings finished the look. I remember checking the gas mileage on time and I got 42MPG. Top speed was 86 MPH according to the speedometer.
I owned the car for about 3 years and sold it to a co worker. I saw the car around town for about 8 years after that so someone got a lot of life out of it.
Since then I have owned a 72 Opel GT and a 74 Opel Manta. My 67 1/2 though was my favorite and I wish I could find another one.
Note: The 67 1/2 designation means that this was a mid year care that had some of the 1968 features including rear coil springs, a padded dash, and larger tailites with the backup lites incorporated. I don't believe their were a lot of these made, which makes me sad that I sold mine.
15th Feb 2009, 11:55
I was in college and my kind parents bought me a new 1967 Opel Kadett during the fall of 1966; fastback, bright red, looked a little like a Mustang. Cute, nice trunk. Absolutely the WORST car I have ever owned. Go find a yearly Consumer Reports consumer guide from about 1972 or 1973. You know, the one where, based on user feedback, cars get black/green circles (horrible), half-filled black circles (bad), open circles (average), half "hatched" filled circle (better than average), and full-hatched circle (much batter than average). You will not BELIEVE the number of black dots. Horrible - engine (valve jobs), electrical, exhaust, body integrity, etcetera- everything!. The car looked good and I liked driving it when it ran...Don't believe me, check the consumer Reports...
5th Feb 2009, 08:58
My first car was a 1967 Opel 1.1L engine four-speed and I loved it. Drove it hard for over 100,000 miles. On a couple of occasions got 40 mpg (with a tailwind across the Nevada salt flats). It was a GREAT little car. If I had it now, I think I'd turn it into an EV. It was really well built and reliable.