CONTINENTAL ICONS Part 3: Epic Opel GT Roadtrip

Finding an Opel GT for sale in South Africa is not something that happens often. For our very own Hannes Oosthuizen it was a childhood dream to own one, and in the early 2000s the dream became a reality... but then he had to let it go. This is the story of getting it back, and driving it home.

The Opel GT is a very rare car in South Africa, with fewer than 20 speculated to have arrived on our shores, and even fewer currently on the road. For Cars.co.za’s Hannes Oosthuizen, the little Opel was an object of desire from his childhood, having grown up on the backseat of an Opel Rekord. For him, seeing such an exotic shape from a relatively conservative brand, was just incredible, and so he really wanted a GT.

In the early 2000s he finally stumbled across the car you see in this video, and had it restored (badly), but it nevertheless cemented his love for the car, and even his then very young son fell in love with the car. Unfortunately, in 2011 he had to let the car go, and regretted it immediately.

Then started a near-five-year long search for his Opel, which he eventually tracked down in Kimberley, but the new owner didn’t want to sell. He kept trying though, and in early 2020, just as the world became aware of the COVID-19 pandemic, he bought his beloved GT back. His busy schedule meant that he had not seen the car in the metal until the first day of shooting of this film.

So, would he still feel the same love for the car after nearly a decade apart? And would the little Opel, which had been standing for much of the past 11 years be capable of a 1 600km roadtrip to Cape Town? With its new Continental tyres fitted, and some new cooling pipes, it was time to hit the long road, with our trusty Opel mechanic, Werner Meyer, riding shotgun. 

Enjoy the film! We enjoyed making it!

Find out more about Continental Tyre’s history and why so many brands fit them as standard.

If you've missed the previous episodes in this series you can find them here;

EP1: BMW 2002tii

EP2: Porsche Cayenne Overlander