I’ve always had a fascination with odd-ball race cars, no matter how successful or otherwise they were. It was in the newly released model car section of Classic & Sports Car magazine recently that I spotted a curious looking 1:43 scale sedan-come-Can-Am car, that was described as “Peter Hoffmann 1974 Opel Commodore Interserie racer” that my interest was piqued. Pictured was a bright yellow two door Opel Commodore, with large flares, and massive front and rear wings, the latter of which looked like it had been plucked straight off a Porsche 917/10 Can-Am car.
As many of you will know, the Interserie was a European version of the SCCA Group 7 Can-Am series, that first began in 1970, and continued until 1985. Its longevity can probably be attributed to its failure to actually replicate the Can-Am, in that it was never really strong on actual big block Can-Am cars. Rather, its numbers were made up largely by small and medium capacity European sports cars, as well as endurance sports cars, of which there were vast numbers throughout Europe.
Witness the very first Interserie race, held at the Norisring in June 1970. Of the 26 cars that showed up, 13 were Porsche’s of various types, including 917K, 908/02, 907, 910. In addition was an Alfa T33/3, Ferrari 512S, half a dozen Lola T70 MkIIIB coupes, and a Chevron B8. A lone McLaren M12, March 707, and McLaren M6B were the only real Can-Am type cars in the race. The early years of the series were dominated by Porsche, and this became much more the case with the arrival of the mighty 917/10, which also wiped the floor with the competition in the Can-Am series when it arrived in 1972. And this is what captured my attention when I saw that little 1:43 scale model. Surely this wasn’t a car built to take on the mighty Can-Am cars? Well, no, not quite.
For 1974, the Interserie widened its scope, by introducing a new category for modified sedans, called Super Stock, most of which were Group 2 cars, such as Capri RS2600 and RS3100, BMW CSL’s, Camaros, and the like. And it was for this new class a wild looking Opel Commodore was constructed. The driver was Peter Hoffmann, whose name I recognised as being a long-time racer of a bright pink McLaren M8F Can-Am car in the Interserie, and in historic racing events. To the best of my knowledge, he still owns the McLaren.
Of the Opel, I did a quick internet search to see what results came up, but not a lot is known. One site provided a little info, and actually suggested there were two cars made, constructed by Opel tuning brand Steinmetz. Power came from a 6 litre Chevrolet V8, of which the beautifully crafted headers swooped up and over the inner fenders, before rolling back down behind the front wheels, exiting beneath the doors. But the real visual impact came from those huge front and rear spoilers.
Of the Opel’s racing record, it appears brief. Entered as an Opel Commodore ‘Jumbo’, it made its Interserie debut at Round 2, held at the Nurburgring, where Hoffmann finished 27th outright, and 4th in class. The term Jumbo, I assume, was a nickname given to the car thanks to its extreme appendages. Against a smaller field at Kassel-Calden, Hoffmann placed 10th from 16 cars.
And that was it. The Jumbo made no more Interserie appearances in 1974, and it appears the Super Stock class was dropped from the series for 1975. Hoffmann continued in the series in 1975, in the McLaren M8F that he would race for many years.
The website where I found the small amount of info on the car said the Jumbo was put on display at an Open dealer for a short time, before being placed in storage. It was then said to have been cannibalized for its parts, the remainder of which was scrapped. Interestingly, when doing a search on ‘Steinmetz Commodore’, I found there were at least two other scale model variations produced; one in red with Tabac Original signage, and one in white with Pan-Am signage. Albeit, these were slot car models, which are sometimes total fabrications created to produce multiple variations on a single theme. However, if these were based on real paint schemes, then the Jumbo wore three different coats of paint, so therefore must surely have raced somewhere else besides the Interserie.
In the history of world motorsport, this wacky Opel Commodore is a virtual unknown, its short career and ultimate fate almost completely lost to the sands of time. But as far as odd-ball racers go, ‘Jumbo’, this little-known curiosity, certainly deserves a mention.
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