Opel?

[nfpgasmask]

Has anyone ever heard of OPEL? I just ran across this pic of a pretty nice looking truck. Not sure if it is a concept or not. I think it might be a Polish make.

I like it....

OPEL?

Bart

[shoota77]

They're big in Europe. Saturn is starting to use Opel over here in the states. The Sky is an Opel GT. Vauxhall fits in there as well somewhere. From what I've seen Opel is pretty solid.

[ThirtyftFL]

I belive Opel is a european division of GM, not sold here. The Cadillac Catera was an imported Opel vehicle.

[Zorak]

Opel is a German car manufacturer and the main brand in Europe for GM, who has owned the company since 1931.

German Opel automobiles were sold in US at Buick dealers starting in the late 1950's up until 1975. The 1975 models had fuel injection, which was considered such a big deal back then that it actually had a "fuel injection" emblem on the trunk lid. I used to have a 1975 Opel Manta, which was a good car mechanically, but the bodies seemed to be susceptible to rust and the interiors started falling apart after a few years.

GM tried to keep the Opel program going after 1975 by replacing the German built car with a Japanese one carrying the Opel nameplate. It was an Isuzu I-mark and they called it "Opel by Isuzu", but it was not very successful and Opel finally disappeared from the US market after 1979.

[nfpgasmask]

Wow, very interesting, especially the Isuzu tie-in. Thanks for the info!

Bart

[E-ZooZoo One]

The Isuzu tie-in continues:

The Rodeo was sold as the Opel Frontera in Europe...
And guess who just happens to have some authentic Opel badges that are waiting to go on his Rodeo, just to mess with people's minds

Ahhh... but it's not a de-badge sort of thing -- Remember, I'm the guy that installed a LARGER Isuzu emblem on the front of his VX

[djkymar]

yeah i heard about opel its really popular car in europe like opel kadet opel astra escort and more other ones. I used to drive cadillac catera which is body and most loking is from opel omega, but then i sold it and bout VX =)

[nfpgasmask]

Funny, that's how found the photo. I was browsing eBay for some center cap emlbems for my new American Racing rims (the American Racing logo has to go) and I came across the OPEL emblem. I was like "wtf is OPEL" so I did a Google image search and found the photo I posted above. It would be funny to use OPEL badges on my new rims!

Bart

The Isuzu tie-in continues:

The Rodeo was sold as the Opel Frontera in Europe...
And guess who just happens to have some authentic Opel badges that are waiting to go on his Rodeo, just to mess with people's minds

Ahhh... but it's not a de-badge sort of thing -- Remember, I'm the guy that installed a LARGER Isuzu emblem on the front of his VX

[E-ZooZoo One]

...It would be funny to use OPEL badges on my new rims!

You care to share that link?
I think my 'Opel' would look pretty good with Opel caps


Cheers!
Smiley

[JHarris1385]

I have been a fan of Opel cars for quite sometime considering I am an AC Milan soccer fan and they are/were sponsered by Opel.....Plus I just think the symbol is a good design..........

[nfpgasmask]

Have at it

The symbol is nice. I like the clean lightening bolt look.

However, I would actually like something that is either straight black, or something with the Isuzu logo or symbol in it instead. Does anyone know a place that sells the stick on emblems? I need ones that are no bigger than 2.5"s.

Its funny, cause the American Racing center cap badges are just glued on to the center cap. So, I thought, sweet, I can just rip this off and I am good to go. WRONG! Underneath the stick on badge is another AR logo molded into the centercap. So what did I do? I Dremeled it out and then sanded it all down. Now I have 100% debadged center caps. But I was thinking of putting an Isuzu symbol in there, trouble is I can't find anything that will work.

Does anyone know where to get titanium stuff made? It would be pimpy to have smaller "VX" logos cut out of titanium for my center cap decals.

Bart

PS. Yes, photos are coming soon. Rubber goes on Saturday morning.

[rowhard]

You can add Vauxhall in England and Holden in Australia to that shared platform list. Thats where I first saw a 'Cadillac Catera', but it was called a Vauxhall Senator or something like that. I thought it was a big car till I saw it here. Maybe it shrank coming across the Atlantic.

[E-ZooZoo One]

Have at it

Thanks!

I might even have to get one of these too...

[ScottinMA]

Wow, I've had many friends that have owned Opels. I went to their website and discovered that there is no US link. I think they owned Cadets. Great vehicle. Very cool car.

[thedutchguy]

That opel pic you posted is underbody the same as the Chevrolet Captiva: