We also used to have an Opel Monarch!
02/11/2013
Without exaggeration, sometimes nobody believes what you have to suffer in a single day when you're out and about in an oldie. Early in the morning, I saddled up my 1973 Ford Granada Coupé and drove to the cross-brand classic car meeting. Once there, the question arose as to who I should join.
There was an ancient pre-war vehicle. It would certainly be happy to have younger company from a 40-year-old pensioner Ford. But far from it! I had clumsily asked the owner how the pedals were mated. It was probably quite different to clutch-brake-gas in such old cars. "You young people [thank you, I'm over 40] have absolutely no idea what an old car is - THIS is a classic car!" and pointed to his pride and joy. "What you're driving has nothing to do with old cars!" Of course, he was absolutely right. My Granada is practically a new car compared to his. Well, there was no point in talking to this "newcomer scaremonger".
A younger guy came up to me and said: "Hey, he's really hot! Do you know that they still make these cars?" No! That's a completely new insight. "Yes, have a look at the news when they report on Iraq. You can still see new Ford Granadas driving around in the streets!" Despite my objections, the young man stuck to his assertion. Since his expertise apparently exceeded mine, I had to capitulate for better or worse. The solution to the riddle, which unfortunately I couldn't get across, was as follows: In Iraq, war veterans of the first Gulf War in 1980 were rewarded with the VW Passat B1 from Brazilian production. These so-called "martyr cars" are still driving in front of the news cameras. So they are neither newly manufactured, nor are they Granadas. But they do have a hatchback. You can get things mixed up.
Somehow I was no longer in the mood for a wealth of classic car knowledge, but I was now hungry. I stopped in front of the nearest store on the way home. Not a good idea. Because parked next to me was a two-door BMW 3 Series E30 from the eighties with a man at the wheel waiting for his wife who was out shopping. He immediately got out, complimented me on my coupé and said proudly: "Mine is a coupé too. Very rare and built exclusively for the American market. You never see them in Switzerland." I looked at the car again and still saw the BMW two-door that thousands of us used to drive around in. I couldn't find any evidence of a US import either. I did know that the Americans sometimes called the two-door a coupe (without the é). But no matter, the man wanted a rare coupé. I let him have it, pretended to be happy for him and went into the store.
Back outside, the BMW was gone, but a mature woman with shopping bags filled on both sides was standing next to my Ford. When she saw me, she said: "He's beautiful. It brings back childhood memories. You know, we used to have an Opel Monarch like that..."
An extensive article has been published on Zwischengas about the 1972 Ford Granada , but there is nothing about the Opel Monarch, probably because there never was such a vehicle ...
