Opel Commodore Coupe

[mph]

Long story but ended up with this almost by accident.

It's an Opel Commodore Coupe 2.8.

I know nothing about them but a bit of research reveals they're actually very rare and were rather a nice car in their time.

Anyone know much about them ?

[B'stard Child]

Oh a topic I can help with.....

Here's mine when I dragged it out of storage earlier this year and started work on it



I'll try to add a bit more later when I have a decent internet connection - this post is just to make sure it's in my topics and I don't lose it

[B'stard Child]

Oh and tell the long story please

One word of warning - in the "Opel Blitz world" rare and unusual does not equate to the price people are willing to pay unlike the "blue oval world"

Normally Opels are 1/5 of the price of equivilent Fords

(poor support for panels and parts in the aftermarket world is probably a big factor)

Edited by B'stard Child on Wednesday 4th November 15:02

[dbdb]

I have always loved the Commodore's front end styling. They sound good too. They were never a particularly common car, but must be very rare now. I haven't seen one many years. A good one would be a lovely thing to have.

[B'stard Child]

dbdb said:

I have always loved the Commodore's front end styling. They sound good too. They were never a particularly common car, but must be very rare now. I haven't seen one many years. A good one would be a lovely thing to have.

According to how many left using "Opel Commodore" all you get

15 Licensed
20 SORN

However there was a subsequent Opel Commodore introduced so for this model its

4 Licensed
6 SORN

[sun.and.rain]

TV celeb Noel Edmonds drove Commodores in saloon car racing in the mid 70s.

[dryden]

Lovely things! I had one mid seventies as a tow car, went all over with a TR3 on the trailer.. One of the few cars from my past I would have back.

[B'stard Child]

sun.and.rain said:

TV celeb Noel Edmonds drove Commodores in saloon car racing in the mid 70s.

They were quite popular for racing back in the day

POST WARNING - I appear to have a leaning towards older Opels

This one was raced at the Wilhire 24hr at Snetterton many years ago





Then it disappeared of the planet to eventually end up in France - it was restored and ended up running in the original livery at Goodwood this year





This is a resto/mod



nice 24V six banger (from Carlton/Senator 24V) brings a 50 bhp improvement



And with what I think are some nice touches it doesn't look so old



Over here we only got the 6 pot versions but our friends over the other side of the muddy ditch had a much bigger variety of engines (mostly 4 pots Petrol and Diesel - which is handy for a power bulge bonnet)

They got used for racing there too





Sometimes with bigger arches





This one is my favorite







Seriously quick bit of kit campaigned on hill climbs and sprints

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wL78lbmiUEU

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j417qN9mp6M

Several being used for Historic racing





Road going ones aren't bad either - doesn't take a lot to make them look great





Not strictly a Commodore as it's a Rekord D but they are damn near same car





Steimetz used to do a body kit for them which was very popular (hard to find now







I think that this one proves the point that more is not always better

[mikey77]

My neighbour had a Commodore coupe back in the early 1970s. It looked like a miniature Yank and far nicer than anything I've seen here.
Like this one...

[B'stard Child]

mikey77 said:

My neighbour had a Commodore coupe back in the early 1970s. It looked like a miniature Yank and far nicer than anything I've seen here.
Like this one...

That's a Commodore A if it helps

And yes minature yank is a good description and they are bloody rare in the UK

[ChasW]

My Dad had the saloon version c1972. I think it was a 2.5, Again very rare.

[Bodo]

There's one local to me. Walking past this for years now; I think it gets used daily!

[B'stard Child]

Bodo said:

There's one local to me. Walking past this for years now; I think it gets used daily!

Lovely to see one used daily - But that's unusual seeing as it's on historic plates - I thought they had restrictions on daily use?

[david.h]

I think Holden built something hairy based on this body shell? Someone will know!
DGH

[vetrof]

mikey77 said:

My neighbour had a Commodore coupe back in the early 1970s. It looked like a miniature Yank and far nicer than anything I've seen here.
Like this one...

david.h said:

I think Holden built something hairy based on this body shell? Someone will know!
DGH

HK Monaro came out in 1968.

[rallycross]

L

B'stard Child said:

They were quite popular for racing back in the day

POST WARNING - I appear to have a leaning towards older Opels

This one was raced at the Wilhire 24hr at Snetterton many years ago





Then it disappeared of the planet to eventually end up in France - it was restored and ended up running in the original livery at Goodwood this year

[108.

I was going to post something similar as these cars were front runners in production saloon racing back in their day, ( like group N) and thie one below was the winner of the first Willhire 24 hour saloon car race ( commanders cup?). This was driven by a team of 4 including a friend ( Andrew Jeffrey) who won the first Willhire (in the Opel) and last ( escort cosworth) Willhire 24 hours . This winning car may even survive somewhere will ask if he knows where it ended up.

[Bodo]

B'stard Child said:

Bodo said:

There's one local to me. Walking past this for years now; I think it gets used daily!

Lovely to see one used daily - But that's unusual seeing as it's on historic plates - I thought they had restrictions on daily use?

Partly true. There's two types of registering a historic vehicle:
black on white plates with H-suffix (like the one on the white Como): car needs to be first registered at least 30 years ago, and needs a survey that confirms its good condition and originality. The vehicle can have retrofit indicators, but not a different engine or other major modifications. After all, it needs to be classified as a cultural asset. So it's harder to get a certificate for a Beetle (where there are lots around), than for a Bitter CD (which are rare). Tax then is set to a fixed rate, and not based on emissions or engine size (IIRC something below €200 pa.). You need a regular interval HU examination ("MoT") just like modern cars. Vehicles are exempt from emissions zone restrictions, and can be normally used. Only insurers may restrict usage with their policies. For example, my H-suffix Land Rover insurance asks for second car as daily driver, and gives rebates for limited annual mileage. 3rd party costs less than €50 pa.

The other one is a red-on-white plate starting with 07 in the numerical section (shown on one picture of the Jägermeister-car above). You may swap these around your historical vehicle fleet between your 80cc bike, your Mercedes truck and your Dodge Charger. You only pay tax and ins for the most expensive car. Conditions to get it were similar to the H-suffix, but they are no longer issued. Holders additionally needed to show reliability to the VRO, by presenting their criminal record amongst others. The cars then won't need a regular HU examination any more, but you may only use the car in context of maintaining it or for classic car events. You must not store it on public roads, or drive to work/shopping/etc with it. Red plates are also used as dealer plates, but then they start with 06 - with more freedom in usage, but even harder reliability checks and conditions.

Edited by Bodo on Friday 6th November 23:24

[imagineifyeswill]

Ive always had a liking for these Opel Commodores but they must be very hard to find nowadays as they were fairly scarce in the Uk when they were a current model. I had a friend who had a 68 Commodore A in the early seventies which he had brought North from London with him and there was another approximately thirty miles away, 2 examples of a pretty rare car in the Scottish Highlands at the same time in the early seventies. This friend got into financial difficulties and left the area again leaving behind three cars which were seized and eventually sent to scrap the Opel among them which was a great shame as althouhg the engine would have benifitted from an overhaul the body was completely solid almost like new underneath.

[sun.and.rain]

imagineifyeswill said:

Ive always had a liking for these Opel Commodores but they must be very hard to find nowadays as they were fairly scarce in the Uk when they were a current model. I had a friend who had a 68 Commodore A in the early seventies which he had brought North from London with him and there was another approximately thirty miles away, 2 examples of a pretty rare car in the Scottish Highlands at the same time in the early seventies. This friend got into financial difficulties and left the area again leaving behind three cars which were seized and eventually sent to scrap the Opel among them which was a great shame as althouhg the engine would have benifitted from an overhaul the body was completely solid almost like new underneath.

Used to be a Commodore 2.5A, J- reg maybe, in Abdn custom car scene early 80s. Very rare car, looked a bit like 68 Charger. Did burnouts with left foot braking til auto box said no. Very cool period coupe. My fave based on these is the Holden Monaro HQ circa 1974. Rhd too!

Edit, there's a pic somewhere of Swapshop Deal Or No Deal Noel well-sideways at Ingilston in a Commodore.

Edited by sun.and.rain on Saturday 7th November 19:17

[Sf_Manta]

A good friend of mine has a Commodore A GSE.. pretty much ground up restoration over the course of a couple of years.
He's just got the engine running really well after the person who did the original rebuild for him botched the engine build.
Before anyone says, yes the picture link is from Wikipedia, but it IS my friend's car.





If you want to get in contact with him, gimme a shout, he's done a LOT of research getting his restored and has become quite the guru

Edited by Sf_Manta on Saturday 7th November 19:36