This little gem was my second car, a 1968 Opel Rallye Kadett. Opels at that time were imported by GM and sold through their Buick dealerships. This particular car came with the 1.9 litre engine. Rallye Katetts came with rather large twin fog lamps mounted to the front bumper. Unfortunately, by the time I got this car the original lamps had been lost. Apparently they were rather prone to getting damaged. I eventually replaced those originals with after market rectangular ones that had fog-friendly yellow lenses.
Kadetts were rather slab-sided and that caused the wheels and tires to look too small. The dual side strips helped break up the vastness of the metal work and gave the car a rather snappy style. The cars were recalled by GM in the mid-1970s (I think around1974 or 1975) because of gas leaks in the fuel line. The factory had neglected to use hose clamps where the rubber flex hose attached to the metal carburetor intake tube. I had smelled gas while driving long before the recall and put on my own clamps.
As I recall, the cars were also liable to explode if rear-ended in an accident. The gas tank is in the passenger-side rear fender area of the trunk. In a collision the taillight on that side could be pushed into the gas tank where a thin bolt holding the lens assembly in place would puncture the tank and case a conflagration. The solution was to put a plastic cap on the bolt. My solution was to eventually trade the car in for a Subaru.
The fact is, you won’t see many of these today. I think the last one I saw in person was probably 30 years ago. Frankly, as with many cars of the era, and certainly when compared to modern autos, these things were death traps. The driver protection was zip, the burst into flames, and the build quality was lacking.
Still, they were fun.