Opel collection - expanding the garage for next to nothing.

By sheer fluke, I popped into Kiosk on Sat a couple of weeks ago (CH Newsagent chain), and whilst having a quick looked at the magazines on offer, my eyes were promptly drawn to the Opel Collection.



The first mag is €4.99 (CHF9.50) – which is for the Commodore GS/A, with subsequent issues being €12.99 (CHF24.99), and like most of these type offerings, grow in to a collection over a great number of weeks. The collection is available in the German speaking areas of Europe – so that is Germany, Switzerland and Austria, and to date the series will span 20 models.

The first model is as per below, which is an Opel Commodore GS/A Coupe. What is good, is that the publisher clearly states who the manufacturer is of the model, and in this case, it is IXO Models. I need not go on about them, but suffice to say, stamp of approval. A well detailed model that exacts how it was built when it first came off the production line. Well detailed tampos and accurate proportions make this one of the bargains of 2011 so far…..

Now for those of you – like me – have grown up on Vauxhall, this looks to be a great set to collect. There are a few cars that don’t really appeal, such as the P1 Kapitan, and Olympia Rekord, all of which where made in the 1950’s, which is not my era of collecting so there will be some weeks where I will simply not get the next model in the series – little point of spending the cash when it can on summat that you are not really keen on when you can put that money towards summat you actually want as part of the 1/43 garage.

Some model highlights include :
6. 1951 - 1953 OPEL OLYMPIA
7. 1989 - 1992 OPEL LOTUS OMEGA
(normal language: Vauxhall Lotus Carlton – remember that 1991 beast with 380BHP and 180mph unrestricted, which made the Sierra Cossie look like a 2CV….)
8. 1957 - 1960 OPEL OLYMPIA REKORD P1 4-doors
9. 1992 - 1998 OPEL ASTRA F CABRIOLET
10. 1973 - 1977 OPEL REKORD D 2100 DIESEL
11. 1977 - 1979 OPEL KADETT C GT/E COUPE
12. 1975 - 1988 OPEL MANTA B/ GTE
13. 1935 - 1937 OPEL P4
14. 1953 - 1955 OPEL KAPITÄN
15. 1963 - 1965 OPEL KADETT A COUPE
16. 1972 - 1977 OPEL COMMODORE B GS/E
17. 1990 - 1997 OPEL CALIBRA V6
18. 1974 - 1975 OPEL MANTA A GT/E
19. 1959 - 1963 OPEL KAPITÄN P II
20. 1966 - 1970 OPEL KADETT B RALLYE COUPE

I am hoping that the range will become easily available within kiosk in Switzerland – as stated before, unless you are a completest, i see there no need to “collect” models that do not appeal to the individual.

As they come available, i hope to review the ones that i like the look of. The models from the 1970s to 1990s are the ones that really stand out for me.

Overall, €12.99/CHF24.99 for a good quality 1/43 model every two weeks I think is great VFM. If you think about it, 1/43’s normally hit the €28-40 mark. As I mentioned before, unless you are a total Opel nut, this is quite a good series to pick and choose the models that suite the period that you collect.

Further details on the collection can be found here:
HTTP://WWW.OPEL-SAMMLUNG.DE/INDEX.HTML

Careful: website is all in German!