This car seemed the next logical step for Opel, yet it probably never was quite what Opel wanted it to be. Opel is - well, was - a traditional rally manufacturer. The Kadett B was a success and famous with privateers and the same applies to the Ascona A. The Ascona A only stepped in when the Kadett B was replaced by the Kadett C and the C generation Kadett was not available with an adequate engine for a while. This changed with the launch of the Kadett C Coupé in its GT/E version. This as well was the first Opel rally car with an injection engine (except the Commodore, but that was non-works group1), which was to become a tradition for Opel in years to come.
However it also has to be said that the Kadett suffered many engine problems in its rally career. It was surprising that the Kadett C was not lighter than the Ascona model rallied at the time, but it was built up really smartly! But that engine... The problem maybe was that on the road the Kadett C was the #1 competition to the Ford Escort Mk2 and it only made sense if Opel wanted to see the Kadett beat the Escort on the stages too. Hence in contrary to Kadett B and Ascona A Opel built the Kadett C to group4 rules. And they managed to tune the 2.0 8v injection engine to just over 200BHP. This is a very strong figure for a "normal" 2000cc engine, but it still was some 60BHP down on Ford's special Cosworth BDA 16v unit! In fact the Kadett C engine was already very much on its limits. And despite some 16v experiments, Opel seemed shy to upgrade further as long as the engine in this form was not reliable. Only they never got it reliable! At the same time it seemed logical Opel did not want to go a step back. Because the Ascona A's 1.9 carburator engine had a similar amazing power output, it also had its reliability issues, but not like that! Interestingly when later the group2 Ascona B 2000 arrived with a similar engine to the Kadett C GT/E, that car was de-tuned by some 20BHP in comparison and dominated the ERC first try. Yet this Kadett GT/E must go into the history books for the record of most blown engines! When Walter Röhrl was invited by Fiat to drive a works 131 in late 1977, before Röhrl became a WRChampion, he was seriously thinking of ending his career - a blown engine on virtually every event for 2 years, that couldn't just be the car's fault?
Leaves to mention that the Kadett C had a sister that as well turned into a successful rally car. GM daughters Opel and Vauxhall cooperated strongly. Their markets were not really clashing and so it made sense that there were similarities in their models. As it was the Vauxhall version of the Kadett C was the Chevette. The cars were perfectly identical except the Kadett had a much smaller dash and a proper front grill instead of Vauxhall's typical aerodynamic face. What made these cars the more interesting for the local fans was that there never was a Chevette Coupé, while a hatchback version of the Kadett C (called "Kadett City") didn't arrive until near the end of its production life. Such i.e. for British and Irish fans the Kadett C Coupé had real curiosity value - a car they somehow knew but they didn't! As a bonus, this made the two rally versions from identical base very easy to keep apart.
However Vauxhall probably went the better way to built an Escort beater. The Vauxhall Chevette had different problems - tho that is a different story for the Chevette chapter. However the Vauxhall Chevette borrowed a 2.3 16v engine, while Opel tried to achieve their targets with something more similar to the equivalent road mass product - and the car wasn't bad, it was very neat and often seen with privateers in probably de-tuned form for reliabilty. But an Escort beater it was not.
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Marian Bublewicz zdobył w '83 Mistrzostwo Polski w tym aucie 
