South Africa has an interesting, and relatively unknown, history of motorsport, especially when it comes to BMW. There have been several South Africa-only BMWs throughout the brand’s history, especially back in the ’70s and ’80s, and they’ve all been excellent. However, BMW isn’t the only brand that’s made a big impact on South African car culture. Opel was also quite big and had one specific car that took on BMW back in the ’80s. In this video, we get to see both brands and cars meet back up again thirty years later, with the E30 BMW 325is Evo1 and Opel Kadett Superboss GSI 16v.
As part of Cars.co.za’s SentiMetal classic car collection, these two cars have been perfectly restored and look incredible. In this video, they get driven by a pair of South African racing drivers who actually raced these sorts of cars back in their day.
The E30 BMW 325is Evo1 seen here is one incredible machine. It’s obviously based off of the E30 325is but it’s far different than the standard car under the skin. Powering the Evo1 is a 2.7 liter naturally-aspirated inline-six from an ALPINA C2 2.7, which made 210 horsepower and 196 lb-ft of torque. That engine is mated to a dog-leg five-speed manual and the front suspension is from the E30 M3. It also has an aluminum hood, trunk and door panels, to reduce weight. So it’s a serious piece of kit.
As for the Opel Kadett Superboss GSI 16v, it was another SA-only special edition and was properly tuned itself. While it’s front-wheel drive, it uses a 2.0 liter 16-valve four-cylidner GM engine, which makes 156 horsepower. It also has a clever front differential to minimize wheel spin and reduce understeer. So it may be a car with humble beginnings but it’s no slouch.
This video is great, as it brings two iconic South African sports cars together, not to race each other but just for the fun of bringing them together.
