The Opel GT should be a great car for the likes of us. And yet, beyond Team Tiny Vette, I’m not really aware of any great Opel GT builds around (cars like that tend to show up in the LeMons paddock). From what I can tell, they’re kind of Opel’s Fiero, in that they look sporty but use mostly plebeian sedan motors and underpinnings, leading to uninspired handling. Of course, that’s roughly the same formula Ford used for a certain equine specialty, so it’s probably a matter of throwing the right aftermarket parts at it.

Our two examples represent the typical condition of a US Opel GT: stalled projects in a yard full of other stalled projects. Something along the lines of “seemed like a fun car, but parts are a little hard to find and don’t really have time for this”. The most concerning two words from the seller are “typical rust”. “Typical” means different things in different states: In the Rust belt, that’d mean disintegrated floors, rockers and fenders. In the southwest, that’s a few microns of iron oxide where the paint’s been burned off. Kentucky’s sort of a crapshoot, but for our likely use they’ll be just fine.

Given 1) the mini-Corvette styling, 2) the GM connection and 3) Opel being German, the only proper engine swap would be an alternate-universe next-gen Corvette rotary. Dropping in the heart of a rusted or wrecked RX-7 of any generation would likely produce great results. The key is to build in the necessary GM “XP Car” fake provenance and supply the necessary breathless Popular Mechanics preview based on a foggily remembered conversation overheard at a Detroit bar and some equally foggy spy shots.
1972 and 1973 Opel GTs for sale – eBay Motors