The Buick Opel by Isuzu was one of GM's weirder creations and has the honour of surely being the only vehicle in the world with three brand names, but no model name. It's kinda like having three surnames, but no first name.
Conceived as a more financially feasible replacement for the German Opel range which had enjoyed a niche market via Buick dealers, the Buick Opel by Isuzu was based on General Motors T-body range, which included the Vauxhall Chevette, Opel Kadett and our own Holden Gemini, amongst many, many others.
Buick had invested a tangible amount into making the German-built Opel range a small but reliable seller, coming in a very distant second place on the import sales charts behind the Volkswagen Beetle, which was selling around the 580,000 per year in the late 1960s, versus Opel's 84,000ish. Buick dealers had changed their signage to include "Opel", however by the early 1970s, the compact Opel Kadett B was both ageing and expensive, with the US dollar dropping against the Deutsche Mark.
The solution was to not supply Opel's version of the T-body, the Opel Kadett C, but to replace it with a left-hand-drive version of Isuzu's T-body variant, the Isuzu Gemini on which our own Holden Gemini was based. Given that the T-body was designed as a 'World Car', it's amazing to think that while this Japanese version was chipping away at an infinitesimally small niche, General Motors USA had designed and built their own version of the T-body, the Chevrolet Chevette.
Although mechanically and visually dissimilar, the DNA was evident in small things like windscreens, door handles and the door apertures themselves. Chevrolet's Chevette was anything but a niche player, being Chev's largest seller throughout the oil crises of the late 1970s. Furthermore, Pontiac had their own version, the 1000, like the Chevette available in a 3-door and 5-door hatch only.
Introduced for 1976 as the "Opel by Isuzu", the compact was available in sedan or coupe, with Isuzu's 1817cc G180Z SOHC engine being the only option, mated to a choice of a 4-speed manual or a GM Hydramatic 200 3-speed auto. The car sported the same grille as our TC-model Gemini, round headlights, Gemini sedan tail lights, US-compliant side marker lights and huge chrome bumpers to comply with the '5mph' bumper design rules.
For 1977, the car became the Buick Opel by Isuzu but remained essentially the same, save for large, Buick/Opel tonal dropout stripes.
For 1978, round headlights were retained but the grille was replaced by one shared with Holden's TD-model Gemini, albeit for two small areas removed to allow fitment of blinkers and parkers. A 5-speed was made available for the first time and examples optioned as such sported a '5-speed' badge identical to that fitted to similarly-specced Holdens of the era.
The final model year, 1979, brought more detail changes including square headlights different to those in our TD-model and variations to the stripe packages. Notable was the absence of the Opel name, with the car now being marketed as simply "Buick Opel".
The model line died a quiet death at the end of 1979, however nothing is ever that simple; Isuzu's T-body returned for 1981 with a sheetmetal update but the same running gear, doors and dashboard, sold through stand alone Isuzu dealers as the I-Mark.
The Buick Opel by Isuzu is pretty rare over in the States now; enthusiasts of the earlier, German-built Buick Opels are Europhiles at heart, shunning the Japanese designed and constructed Buick Opel by Isuzu, while remaining virtually unknown to JDM enthusiasts as well.
As a Gemini enthusiast from way back and a lover of the rare and undesirable, I had read about the Buick Opel by Isuzu and had collected a few brochures; I figured that a good one couldn't be too expensive, so I tried to source one while I was on holidays in California.
A friend and I inspected one on the outskirts of LA, but it was in sad condition. I think it was a driver; I didn't bother to check, but the trim was worn and the, paint was rough. Also, it was a 5-speed, and I wasn't sure if I really wanted a manual one; cruisers aren't manual.
This one came up on Craigslist California but it turned out it was actually in Michigan. I spoke briefly to the previous owner, Alan Wandrei and we quickly negotiated a price. He'd owned one in his younger years; a Buick Opel by Isuzu sedan and had fond memories of it. He was unable to source a sedan; they appear to be rarer than the coupe, he found this white coupe in Texas and had it shipped up North.
He assured me that he'd never taken it on a salted road; I dread to think what the underside would look like if they're half as prone to rust as the Holden Gemini is. Alan had retrimmed the interior in brown vinyl and collected a bunch of hard-to-find NOS parts including badges and side trims. Many of the parts he had collected he admitted to buying from eBay Australia from Gemini enthusiasts.
After a couple of years, he'd lost interest in the project and decided to sell it via Craigslist California; feeling that the western state would harbour more people that would appreciate it. I paid US$2250 and spent about $500 trucking from Michigan to California. It owes me probably a couple of grand for the boat and about the same in mechanical work getting it roadworthy.
I've had the car since 2010, however only got it registered at the end of December 2014. I had to throw it at my mechanic to get a bunch of stuff done, including the front brakes (same as Gemini), rear brakes (Gemini Diesel) and the auto transmission which, weirdly, turned out to be a GM Hydramatic 200. Aussie Geminis used locally-built Trimatic autos but the Isuzu Gemini ran a Japanese-built Aisin, so why they elected to install a T200, renown for its spectacular failure rate, is beyond me.
I've put it on historic registration and organised historic-style South Australian "S-plates" representative of the mid 1970s SXX-### registration numbers. I had previously bought a genuine South Carolina numberplate with a similar numbering convention from a souvenir shop with a view to putting it on a car. It's not legal, but I usually take it off when I'm not at a show.
It's been great to have it on the road finally and at 77,000-miles, it's still pretty tight. I've got a Bellett and most people don't know what it is, but this is so recognisably a Gemini and yet not, that I've seen guys almost fall over when they see it, but the best moment was not long after I got it. I was relocating the car one night on a trade plate when I lip-read a girl yell to her taxi driver "F***, that thing's left hand drive!"
Read More ∨
