The world of fun cars and car fun has changed, and we're going to try a different tack by trying something smaller. If big cars won't slip through the holes in traffic any more, we'll try something smaller, and if the white-collared chart readers at State Farm and Allstate insist on putting a bounty on horsepower instead of on the drunken and accident-prone driver where it belongs, we'll feed our driving appetites on something more sophisticated. And while we're at it, since we all have to breathe the air we drive in, we will make use of every exhaust emission control device available.
We've spent the last couple of months honing and massaging what was once a mildly underprivileged Opel GT, and now we're ready. The revs are up for an end run around the insurance cartel and the government and all the other loose-talking dissidents who would have you believe that driving a car and enjoying it is just slightly less anti-social than genocide.
The Opel GT has potential. You know it the minute you snuggle into the cockpit, reach out for the racecar-size steering wheel, and snick through a couple of gears. Right on. Who needs an Aston Martin when you can have an Opel GT? But then, when you take it around the block, you can see why Buick is willing to part with them for $3324 a copy.
Of course, there's more to this scheme than just shaping up a car. It gives the staff a chance to let it happen with a car that the accounting department has to pay for. Knowing that, the art department was not to be denied its chance at designing a trick paint job, and the frustrated Bruce McLarens from every corner of the office had to have a chance to play with the Opel's innards and satisfy a few accumulated curiosities.
The needed improvements are obvious. Look at the tires on a normal Opel GT—miniature 165HR-13s. And Buick demonstrates a lack of concern for handling when it imports all of the GTs into this country without anti-roll bars. European models are available with both front and rear bars and a limited-slip differential as well, but nobody at Buick seems to know, or wants to know anything about that.
And when you get the suspension to work, you finish off the job by gluing the car to the pavement with a set of man-size tires. There is no doubt that tires can do more for handling than any other bolt-on suspension part or adjustment.
The overall tire diameter is indeed somewhat larger than is convenient on the Opel but, because of the extreme low profile design, the diameter is actually less than that of a 14-in. 70-series tires of the same load-carrying capacity. And the 15-inch rim size is advantageous because it allows the wheels and tires to clear the Opel's front suspension control arms and steering linkage without using an outrageous wheel offset.
After driving the car, we like what has happened. It's now a zippy little machine that corners with a combination of grip and balance that will worry Porsches to death. Of course, like all project cars, it's not really finished yet.
We're still testing and adjusting and looking for ways to make it even better. Right now, we're experimenting with different seats and kicking around the pros and cons of a roll bar.
