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Little sports cars are great fun. They’re small enough to really take by the scruff and toss around, light enough that their little engines make the most of what limited power they make, and they’re usually very affordable to buy and run. These two go even further and add quirkiness and rarity to that shortlist of positive attributes.
Our first contender hails from Germany—a ’72 Opel GT. Looking all the world like a 3/5th scale C3 Corvette, it’s an attractive little thing bursting with character. Manually-operated fliplights and HVAC vents seemingly thrown about at random are just a few of the interior’s idiosyncrasies. RWD with a small four cylinder and manual trans, there’s tons of fun on offer here in a sub-ton package.
From Sweden comes the Saab Sonett III, a ’74 model, which was last of the breed. Translating to “So neat”, Sonetts are fiberglass bodied and of a similar size, shape, and weight to the Opel, but with FWD. This particular car uses a Ford-sourced V4, though earlier versions had Saab’s traditional two-stroke three. Though many came with a column shift, this one’s equipped with a floor-mounted stick. Again, there’s big bags of good times to be had in a tiny package.
1972 Opel GT
Click here for the Opel details.
1974 Saab Sonett III
You may take a look at my “strato blue” 72 GT if you like at http://www.desotodesign.net I think the Opel is more of a complete car where the Sonett was more of a bunch of parts “somewhat” integrated. The Sonett never looked like it was orchestrated as a design, but a series of tests to see if things worked or not. Clare McKichan’s design from Bill Mitchell’s studio seem to coalesce the German love of aerodynamics and the American’s love of beautiful surfaces as typified by GM at the time. The 1.9 Liter engine is strong, robust and has a… Read more »
Very nice! We’d love to check it out next time we’re in the Bay Area.
….I am not a purist when it comes to certain vehicles, so a buddy of mine owns one. Maybe dismay to some, but a 4.3L Vortec V-6 turned this subtle “3/4” car into a monster. Now he wants to supercharge/turbo-charge it, add a five-speed and bigger brakes. Photos to come…..
Both awful cars but with a gun to my head I’d take the Opel.
I have always wanted a SAAB. I have always admired this brand and i was fortunate enough to drive an AERO and enjoyed it up to the last mile. So i will go for the SAAB on this one, i was never into Opel and if i remove those ugly bumpers the car will look much better.
Opel for me, just to keep opening and closing the front light 🙂
Even though I’m fond of SAAB and that two-stroke engine noise is awesome, I’d have to go with the Opel. There’s basically two reasons… One, GT looks much better, never liked the Sonett (any of the three). Secondly, although not a rocketship, it’s faster with the 1.9 that most buyers went for.
opel – the choice of agent 86
🙂
Actually 86 drove a Sunbeam tiger.
Saab for me but only because I had a matchbox one as a kid
Both are going to be slow, but I gotta take the Saab, but only if it comes with the 2-stroke and funky coasting transmission.
I hear you on the 2 stroke, but I think the V4’s also had the freewheeling trans.
I am going to side with the Saab on this one.
The Opel. All day long.