The first Opel GT Clubs were founded in the late 1970s:
1977 the Opel GT Club Nederland and in Germany the GT Club Berlin, 1978 the GT Clubs Switzerland and Sweden and in Germany the Clubs Württemberg and Braunschweig. From 1979, more and more clubs were founded, e.g. in Lübeck.
The clubs organized the first smaller meetings.
On October 11, 1980, the legendary first really big Opel GT meeting took place at the Nürburgring. Over 400 Opel GT and almost 1,000 visitors from all over Europe came to this meeting organized by the GT Club Nederland and GT Club Württemberg e.V. This event was the nucleus of many other clubs. After that, close contacts developed among the clubs, which resulted in the “Central Office of the GT Clubs” under the direction of Gerd Krause (formerly GT Club Rhein-Main e.V. - founded in December 1980 / renamed in 1983 in Opel GT Club Germany).
In the following years the club scene grew bigger and bigger. The Opel GT Clubs had regular board meetings since 1981, and board elections have been held every two years since then.
In February 1983 the "umbrella organization of the Opel GT Clubs" was founded.
In the spring of 1990, the two Belgian Opel GT Clubs at the time joined the umbrella organization, the GT Club Nederland was already regularly represented, and this is how the European umbrella organization came into being. Other clubs from Switzerland, Denmark and Alsace followed.
In autumn 2011 a new board was elected. A European team has now been found. Before that, the board consisted exclusively of representatives from German clubs. Since then, the Executive Board has been providing monthly updates through GT News. Since 2015 we have been communicating bilingually, in German and English, and have our own Facebook page.
At the autumn meeting of 2012 it was decided that individual drivers can join the umbrella organization as supporting members.
The GT Club Sweden came to the community in 2013, and Entraide Opel GT from France has been there since October 2017.
As of October 2017, over 1,400 GT owners from nine countries belong to our community. However, only 30% of them are German-speaking. So the European idea continues.
Every year at Whitsun, a club affiliated with the umbrella organization organizes a large Opel GT meeting. This operated as the Deutschlandtreffen until 1991 and as the Opel GT Europatreffen since 1993.
| Germany meeting: European meeting:: | Europatreffen: |
|---|---|
1980: Nürburgring | 2002: Winterswijk, GT-Club Nederland |
1981 - 2002: required reading for Opel GT drivers.
Some larger clubs had or still have their own magazine for their members. The “GT'ler” (No. 1 - Dec. 1981) must be mentioned here. What remains are the magazines from GT Club Nederland and once a year the info booklet from GT Club Switzerland.
At the umbrella association meeting in the spring of 1986 it was suggested that a newspaper should be published for the entire GT scene. In April, some committed members of the GT Club Hannover published the first issue of the "Journal - The international specialist magazine for Opel GT drivers". By December 1994 there were exactly 95 issues. The successor was the "GT-Report" with 96 issues up to December 2002. Then, unfortunately, a magazine for the GT scene was over.
Events from the umbrella organization:
In September 1993 the umbrella organization organized a rally from Creil (near Paris) to Bochum for the 25th birthday of the Opel GT. Almost 100 Opel GT took part in the week-long tour. Among other things, the Chausson company, where the bodies were manufactured at that time, was visited.
In 2008 we celebrated 40 years of the Opel GT with the history tour. For four days, 68 Opel GTs drove to destinations connected with the history of the Opel GT.
Since 2010, the umbrella association has presented itself annually with its own stand at Techno Classica in Essen.
Our Opel GT was 50 years old in September 2018. On this occasion, the umbrella organization is organizing the Grand Tour, a five-day event in which interesting destinations was approached from Rüsselsheim over four days.
We still live the Opel GT, cultivate friendships, share our hobby and are still enthusiastic about this unique vehicle after more than 30 years.
Opel GT. Only flying is more beautiful!
