Added on June 27, 2017  The News Wheel   , , ,
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Opel Commodore Celebrating 50th Anniversary at Silvretta Classic

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The Commodore A sedan (foreground) and Commodore A coupe will be participating in this year's Silvretta Classic

Today marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Opel Commodore, which debuted on June 27, 1967, with a 115-horsepower, 2.5-liter straight-six engine. One year later, a GS version with twin carburetors and 130 horsepower hit the streets.

Now Opel is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the classic model by entering four cars from the Commodore A, B, and C generations in the 20th Silvretta Classic, a classic car rally running July 6th through the 8th in Austria. Opel brand ambassador and Le Mans 24 Hours winner Joachim Winkelhock will lead the Opel Classic team, driving a 1972 Commodore B GS/E (Grand Sport/Einspritzung) with 190 hp on the vintage rally through Montafon. Accompanying the historic Commodores will be a new Insignia Grand Sport, continuing the tradition of the GS-name.

Partenen will be the starting and finishing point for each of the three legs of the three-day rally, with a 600-kilometer route that winds through the Austrian Alps. Highlights for spectators and participants alike include the Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse with the 2,037- meter high Bieler Höhe, the ascent to Piller Höhe on day two, the Furkajoch with a stop at Hotel Waliser Stuben, and the “Grosser Preis von Vandans” as the spectacular finale on Saturday.

The new Opel Insignia Grand Sport is meant to carry on the sporty tradition of the Opel Commodore, a full fifty years after the fact. The second-generation Insignia not only offers an exciting design, but also a wide range of new technologies that includes Opel IntelliLux LED matrix lights and all-wheel drive with advanced torque vectoring. The new Insignia Grand Sport is currently available to customers from Opel dealers.