Lüneburger Heide in spring

[ScottColumbus]

Here are some tour pics from the last two weeks. A dutch friend f came to us (on his R100R) because Hamburg celebrated it´s 820th port anniversary.





We met some guys of the Opel Veteran Car Club. (I hope) you know, Opel belongs to General Motors for more than 80 years. Those Opels of the 50th are typically for the style of the German post-war cars. Similar in shape to the 57er Chevy but smaller (with 4 zylinders).





Hamburg







I like most to get out of the city, especially to the Lüneburger Heide. There is a huge military and especially artillery training area. I was a soldier from 1985 to 1997. I´ve spent half of my life on the training area, at least I feel so.
Nowadays I think completely different. Germany is to small to give the beautyfull landscape for artillery training.

[ScottColumbus]

Our children like to visit the tank museum, where they have a lot of fun with those huge vehicles.








But especially my son got sentimental when we visited the British War Cemetry.





That´s it.

See you next time.

Dirk.

[NC Steve]

Thank you once again, Dirk. You folks take care.

Steve

[not-so-fast-ed]

Thanks, Dirk.

Your photos are great!

Does Opel still have a factory in Russelsheim?  I seem to remember it from my time at Rhein-Main, 45 years ago.  The Kadette and Caravan (?) models were once imported here and sold by Buick dealers.  I always lusted after the GT sportswagen.  Nice fun, fuel efficient cars.

Ed

[SCJJR65]

Doggone it, Dirk! Yet Another wonderful photo travelogue for us to savor!  LOVE those pics with the Beemers in the sunset!  Well done!!!   [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

[ScottColumbus]

...
Does Opel still have a factory in Russelsheim?  [...] I always lusted after the GT sportswagen.  Nice fun, fuel efficient cars.

Ed

Yes, Ed, the Opel factory in Rüsselsheim still exists.
I didn´t know, that Opel has exported other cars than the Opel GT to the United States. In the Seventies the GT was a Corvette for the poor (with 90 HP). Today this car is extremely rare and expensive.



Since last year there is a new Opel GT out, after 30 years!

[not-so-fast-ed]

Shades of the Pontiac Solstice - Saturn Sky!!!

Both neat (reasonably) inexpensive General Motors sports cars of recent years:

http://www.pontiac.com/solstice/?seo=goo_|_2008_Pontiac_Retention_|_IMG_Pontiac_Solstice_|_Solstice_Reviews_and_Ratings_|_pontiac_solstice_review


http://www.saturn.com/vehicles/2009/sky/overview.do?seo=goo_|_2008_Saturn_Retention_|_IMG_Saturn_SKY_|_2009_SKY_|_saturn_sky_2009

[SCJJR65]

I remember a small Opel coupe in the 70s, called the Manta.  It was a pretty nice handling, if somewhat underpowered car.  A friend of mine had a 5-speed model and I drove it from time to time.  Great fun!  

[Justin B.]

I remember the Manta as well.  I also remember loonies stuffing a V-8 into an Opel GT for drag racing.

[ScottColumbus]

There is another Opel of the seventies that brought a little bit of American feeling to German roads. The Opel Diplomat 5,4 with a Chevy V8 engine.

[Justin B.]

The lines remind me quite a bit of a late 67-68 Chevy Nova.  It wouldn't surprise me, isn't Opel (at least back then) owned by GM?

[trolle]

Very beautiful pictures - Hamburg and Lüneburger Heide is definitely on my agenda and having only 540 km~440 miles I can make the trip in five hours on the boring road or seven on the less boring road.

BTW on one of the photos there is an Opel Record (the red one) just like the one I learned to drive in back in 1967 - it brings back memories of a driving instructor who demanded that we smoked behind the wheel, for as he put it; 'you will do it anyway, so you might as well learn how to in a proper fashion!'

greetings from a very windy and sunny north