My first car was a $100 69 Opel Kadet wagon that I had to rebuild before it would start. I put on a trailer hitch and it would comfortably seat 6'5" me and my 6'9" dad while pulling the johnboat. It was a great little car that I upgraded with junkyard parts from various other Opel sporty models.
I had a 65 Ford pickup with a 352 and an 18 gallon gas tank behind the seat. On a long straight grade just out of town, it would use 1/4 tank of gas getting to the top.
I did the reverse. The drive train from an Opel GT was basically the same as for the Kadet. One day my rear end gave out. The american version of the Opel GT did not have a rear anti-sway bar but had nylon plugs in the bold holes for one in the frame. I bought a rear axle off a Kadet in the junk yard WITH anti-sway bar. Really improved the handling.
I knew where all six Opel GT’s were in the Seattle junk yards.
And that brings up another point: Until the mid 1980’s I spent a lot of time in junk yards. I’ve not been in one for decades.