Heh, you are SO right on the mark there. Even a somewhat crappy car can worm its way into your heart!
I always thought those Opel GTs must have been a huge amount of fun to drive, and right smart looking, too!
I had bought the 71 mach 1 in late 73 (by then the owner had subjected it to three winters of IL road salt, commuting 70+ miles round-trip to John Deere), i traded it for the opel exactly 3 years later (the corrosion was coming on strong by then). The opel mileage was good, but it didn’t cure my desire for a vette. So about 5 months later I traded for the 74 vette. I knew the vettes original owner. He had traded for a new 77. Knew he was a laid back conscientious owner.
The vette was not strong as far as vettes go, but I worked the carb some, that helped. Gas prices as they were I just didn’t want terrible mpg. I did work the suspension over, really improving its cornering. Two years later I was married. Two years after that, we had our first son, bought the monte, and after a year sold the vette.
I owned the vette for 5 years and 55,000 miles (sounds like warranty numbers). We enjoyed it, but the growing family and ag economy dictated it needed to go.