Opel Rekord C coupe

[christheo]

Hi all, a neighbour has a 1968 Opel Rekord C coupe, garaged since 1980, its all dusty as it was buried under loads of stuff, the car is all there minimal rust, i have looked underneath, not a single rust spot on sills, chassis, the only welding patches required will be on top area of the front wing, brakes are all seized, i didnt try turning the engine, but the owner( he is the 2nd owner) purchased the car in 1970, said the engine has been done back in 1978, it needs a recommissioning for sure 😂
What is it worth these days, i do wanna buy it, he is got a price in mind but i don’t really wanna overpay, i know its a rare car and I really want it
I don’t know how to upload pics

[MostlyOpels]

Hi, you have set you sights on a cool car, I once had a '67 Rekord Coupe. I guess you're situated in UK, and if so, they must be pretty uncommon around there. Keep in mind though that cars this old, rot from the inside out. I've seen countless old Opels that look really good on the outside but once you poke around a bit, the rot starts to show itself.

If there is visible rust on the top of the front wing, then there's a possibility that the inner fenders and bottom parts of the a-pillar (very common) have rust on them too. Another common spots for rust are the bottom rear quarters. Water gets in from between the rear glass and it's gaskets, and runs all the way down to the trunk.

The chassis legs are the most deceptive. They can look really solid on the outside, and some cautious poking won't necessarily lead to any findings. Once you use a bit more force though, you'll get through the first layer now thinned by inner corrosion, and find out that the inner chassis leg is all gone. See, the way these cars were constructed is that they spot welded form pressed sheet metal parts on top of each other, without any protection for corrosion in between.

Anyway, the fact that it has been sitting so long could be a blessing or a curse. Depending on the conditions, and the way it was left to sit, the body could very well be in really solid condition. At least you're looking at reconditioning the drive train, brakes, and more than likely most of the dry rotted bushings, and seized joints. It's a big plus, if the car retains most of it's original parts.

You can get most of the common mechanical parts for the car from Germany, and bushings, joints etc. are also reproduced for most old Opels. Body panels are the hardest, and most expensive things to find but some of them are reproduced too.

A regular coupe (not Sprint) in that condition, here in Finland would be somewhere around 1500 - 3000€. One can ask for more (and many do!) but that's the realistic estimate. If it's a rust bucket underneath the pretty skin, then it's not worth more than 1000€. Again, hard to say as I haven't seen the car.

Good luck with the purchase!