Classic & Sports Car - December 2015 UK

finishratherthana senseof engineeringpride.
TheCommodore6’s deepcast-ironstraight-six
is non-crossflowwitha miserable-lookinginlet
manifoldforthesingleSolexcarburettor. The
Sprint’s twinSolexeslookslightlymorepromis-
ingalthoughtheyare,as Cooperpointsout,not
particularlyeasyto setupproperly.
TheCommodore’s interioris aboutmiddle-
of-the-roadcomfort.There’s lotsofcrash
padding,a halffaux-wooddashboardbehindthe
deeplydishedwheelanda basicmedium/long
waveBlaupunktBluespotradiofortuninginto
JamesLastandKlausWunderlichonthose long
autobahntrips,buta clockratherthana tacho.
TheSprintdoeshavea revcounter, as befitsits

sportierpretensions,plusampsandoil-pressure
gaugesanda wood-rimsteeringwheel.Both
havegenerouslydimensionedfrontseats– half-
cloth,half-vinylintheCommodore– dainty
pedalsanda solid,pleasingsortof finishthat’s a
subtleblendofGermanandAmericantastes.
Thefat,sweepingC-pillarprovidesa predictable
blindspotbutstilllooksdramatic 50 yearson.
Thesix-cylindercarhasa leather-rimmed
steeringwheelthroughwhichyoucansensethe
heftof theengineas youturnin.It woulddefi-
nitelybea betterdrivewithpowerassistance

• whichwasanoption– to masktheundersteer.
  Theoriginalownerof thisexampleoptedforthe
  three-speedautomaticgearbox,so the2.5-litre’s

performanceis smoothratherthanexciting.

Thatsaid,thereis a usefulsurgeof acceleration

in kickdownbetween 40and 80mph – accompa-

niedbya determined,raspysoundfromthe

high-camshaft,short-pushrodtopend.

By105mph,it feelsas if it is prettymuchall

over. Anyway, if youwanteda reallyquick

Commodoreyouboughta twin-carb130bhp

GSoraninjected150bhpGS/E. Surprisingly,

theOpelcollectiondoesn’t haveanexampleof

eitherofthose,whichprobablyindicateshow

scarcetheyhavebecome– evenin Germany. In

theUK,wheretheywereheavilypushedas a

racycontinentalalternativeto a Tr iumph2.5PI

or a 3-litreCapri,theymustbeallbutextinct.

December 2015 Classic&SportsCar 165

This 1970 single-carburettormodelin subtle

SierraBeigemetallicis a swishanddignified

towncarriage– albeita slightlythrashymotor-

way car – but one that handles better out in the

countrythantheinitiallyheavysteeringleads

youtoexpect.Withitsproperlylocatedcoil-

sprungliverearaxleandanti-rollbarsat both

ends,progressis surprisinglytidy. You can

happilydriveit nearitslimitswithouteverfeel-

ingthatit willbiteand,somehow, thatliveaxle

rarelybetraysitselfevenonbumpysurfaces.It is

certainlya cutabovetheFordCortina,if not

quitein thePeugeot 504 class.

TheSprintis muchlighterto manoeuvreand

haslessundersteerthantheCommodore,thanks

‘THERE’SABASICRADIO,

IDEALFORTUNINGINTO

JAMESLASTONTHOSE

LONGAUTOBAHNTRIPS’

Super-rarecabrio,builtby

KarlDeutsch,wasbased

onanL,hencethebasic

butwell-madetrim;engine

revswell butlackspower;

BlaupunktBluespotradio