1983 Opel Monza 3.0E Is a Gray-Market Import Making the Value Play

View PhotosHumphrey Sutton|Car and DriverFrom the July 1983 issue of Car and Driver.Okay, let’s say you’re tired of driving your Zircon but you can’t afford to move up to a Diamond. Can we show you something in an Opel?That’s basically the deal in this piece. It’s a real German car—with all the poise and grace that pedigree entails­—for less than the price of those with the famous-maker labels. View PhotosHumphrey Sutton|Car and DriverThis opportunity is being brought to you through the miracle (well, call it what you like) of Reaganomics. When the world saw that newly inaugurated President Reagan intended to stop in­flation, it responded by placing a higher value on the dollar relative to other currencies. And in something over two years, the dollar has risen nearly 25 per­cent relative to the West German mark. This means that, in Germany, cars that used to be relatively expensive are now quite affordable, if you have dollars. Prestige importers like Mercedes-Benz and BMW keep edging U.S. prices up all the time, despite the strength of the dollar, which creates a big gap between the German price and the American price for the same car. And that, in turn, creates the “gray market,” the business of going around the factory export net­work. The gray marketeers buy Europe­an cars in Europe, ship them here, bring them into compliance with U.S. safety and emissions laws, and sells them at a healthy profit. View PhotosHumphrey Sutton|Car and DriverIn the case of this Opel Monza 3.0E, however, the importer—Fritz Automobiles—is bringing in a car that’s otherwise not being imported, just because it thinks the high prices of the BMW 633CSi and the M-B 380SL leave plenty of room for a natural competitor such as this Opel. While the 3.0-liter ex­ample we drove was outfitted with every conceivable option, including leather seats and a 700-button Becker Indianapolis radio, and therefore had an expect­ed selling price of about $24,000, the base Monza with the 2.5-liter six and nothing but the hardship package may sell for a little as $15,500. The question then becomes, would anybody want such a car? We’ll give you a good, strong maybe on that. The Opel definitely drives German. It has a resil­ient suspension (MacPherson front, semi-trailing-arm rear) that maintain excellent behavior on rough and wind­ing roads. All of the control responses necessary for happy living with the five-speed are present. The body structure seems solid and rattle-free. There is even some horsepower (180 DIN before subtraction for emissions controls), al­though there’s so little torque below 4000 rpm that you have to rev the whee out of it if you wish to blur the scenery. View PhotosHumphrey Sutton|Car and DriverThe Opel drives well, but the fact re­mains that it’s pretty much a German Camaro, made by Adam Opel AG, the German division of General Motors, and a five-year-old design at that. It was a real head-turner when it was young, and its shape has probably held up as well as any five-year-old car’s. But that doesn’t make it this year’s monster hit, even if it’s new here. And while the de­sign and the materials of the interior have a German accent to them, they haven’t entirely lost their GM flavor, which makes the Opel seem common, a cut below BMWs and Mercedes. View PhotosHumphrey Sutton|Car and DriverThe Monza is also about a generation behind today’s cars in space efficiency. It’s three inches shorter overall than a Camaro and has about the same space limitations: there’s a bit less headroom in the rear seat, a bit more trunk (a lot more when you fold the rear seat flat, because the trunk floor is lower than that of the Camaro). We’re speaking of a two-passenger car here with room for two more short ones in the back. What the Opel really has to offer to American customers that no BMW or Mercedes can match is exclusivity. For about the same price as a Porsche 944 or a Corvette or an Audi 5000 Turbo or a Volvo 760, you can have a car that no one else has. No more meeting yourself on the way home from racquetball. No more parking beside yourself in the Vic­toria Station lot. The Opel doesn’t look like anything else on the road, and, just as important, almost nobody will know it was made by old, reliable General Motors, so you won’t have to suffer the taint of practicality. View PhotosHumphrey Sutton|Car and DriverIf this combination sounds something like the universally sought-after nym­phomaniacal Amazon who can cook, well, that’s exactly what the importer is counting on.SpecificationsSpecifications
1983 Opel Monza 3.0E
Vehicle Type: front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 3-door sedan
PRICE

Base/As-Tested: $15,500/$24,238
ENGINE
inline-6, iron block and head, port fuel injection
Displacement: 181 in3, 2969 cm3
Power (est SAE net): 170 hp @ 5800 rpm 
TRANSMISSION
5-speed manual
DIMENSIONS

Wheelbase: 105.1 in
Length: 184.6 in
Curb Weight (C/D est): 3400 lb 
EPA FUEL ECONOMY (C/D EST)
City: 19 mpg 
Source: caranddriver.com