1972 Opel GT was given second chance after 30 years parked
- This 1972 Opel GT was parked up for three decades
- After spending so long off the road it was in a bad state
- It was rescued and given a new lease of life
Published on Sep 04, 2024 at 4:34 AM (UTC+4)
by Claire Reid
Last updated on Sep 04, 2024 at 12:24 PM (UTC+4)
Edited by
Tom Wood
A 1972 Opel GT was given a new lease of life after being parked up for three decades.
Originally produced between 1968 and 1978, the two-seat sports car had a second generation, which ran from 2007 to 2009.
The first-gen Opel GTs could be ordered with a 1078-cc engine, that produced just 67 horsepower, or the slightly more powerful 1897-cc, that provided 89 horsepower.
So it wasn’t exactly the sort of super-powered sports car you see around today.
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The Opel GT had spent decades off the road
Only 103,463 of the first-generation Opel GTs were produced, meaning they’re a fairly rare car to see out and about.
So, when the team from Turnin Rust stumbled across not one but two that had been abandoned and left to rust, they were determined to get at least one back on the road.
As only one of the cars had an engine and transmission, the decision was pretty much made for them: the 1972 model that had been parked for 30 years.
As you can probably imagine, after spending so long off the road the car wasn’t in great shape.
But we’ve seen plenty of miraculous engine revival jobs, including the man who got two Plymouth Superbirds running after being parked since 1975.
Or this Ford Thunderbird that was restored after being hit by a hurricane.
The car was in a pretty bad state
The Opel GT’s entire engine bay was filled with debris, which meant even giving the engine an initial look-over would not be an easy task.
The team was forced to admit that ‘there should be no reason why it should run’.
But nonetheless set about vacuuming away the dirt and debris inside.
Once the bulk of it was cleared, they were finally able to hook up to a battery and see if it would turn over.
The car showed little signs of life, so the guys cut the belt to the water pump, pulled the plugs, and sprayed lubricant into the cylinders.
This time the engine actually turned over pretty well.
After making some more adjustments to the wires, adding fresh oil, air to the tires, and hooking it up to an independent fuel source, the guys decided to see it could move.
Incredibly, with the trailer lowered the Opel GT was able to drive off the bed.
A ringing endorsement of the reliability of the Opel GT.
With a background in both local and national press in the UK, Claire moved to New Zealand before joining the editorial team at Supercar Blondie in May 2024. As a Senior Content Writer working on New Zealand Standard Time (NZST), Claire was the first writer on the team to make the site’s output a slick 24/7 operation covering the latest in automotive news.
