Track Stars is a new addition to our site. In this series we showcase cars, such as this Opel Kadett, built and raced by regular petrolheads at circuits all over our beautiful country. Not cars prepared by teams of technicians paid for by sponsors. If you have a racecar and would like to be featured here, drop us an e-mail: [email protected]. In the second instalment we highlight a 1990 Opel Kadett GSi 16v ‘S’ (Superboss) raced by Durban-based Greg ‘Bennie’ Bennett.
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Owner: Greg ‘Bennie’ Bennett
Car: 1990 Opel Kadett GSi 16v S
Engine: Opel 20XE
Cylinder configuration: inline four
Capacity: 1 998 cm³
Induction: naturally aspirated.
Boost pressure: n/a
Power: 125 kW
Torque: 228 N.m
Drive wheels/transmission: FWD/five-
Best lap time: 1 min 27,6 at Dezzi Raceway
Category: Modifieds
Best championship position: KZNRRC Modifieds Class C 2021 Champion
Continued below the gallery…
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Why did you choose to race this car? This could be a long story, so bear with me. I need to start in the beginning…
My parents bought an Opel Monza in the early ’90s. As a young boy, I was instantly in love with the shape, the speed and the digital display that went to 288 km/h. My dad told me Opel made a faster version of this car and when I reached high school in the early 2000s, and the internet became more accessible, I joined the Opel Owners Forum SA and learned of the legendary ‘Superboss’. The racing pedigree, the legend of Mike Briggs and the underdog Opel taking on the mighty BMW 325is.
Fast forward a couple of years and at the age of 21, I was able to find a black car in Johannesburg for sale through the same owners forum. I got to test drive the car up in Johannesburg while on a business trip and the deal was all but fait accompli. A week later the owner called me to say he had snapped the cambelt on the car and had a change of heart, and so the search continued. These cars were even rarer back then.
A month or two later I came across a white one for sale in Durban, not in nearly as good a shape but at this stage, I could not let another one slip through my grip. I spent three years driving that car as my daily and what a fantastic three years it was…
In 2010, I started a new job and with new starts come new opportunities, I parked off the Superboss and bought a new daily driver with the hopes of eventually going to join my friend Chris Davison who was racing his yellow Superboss in Gauteng at the time. Things progressed slowly though with no racetrack in KZN to test the car out on.
In 2011, I finally got to test the Superboss in its ‘home’ environment on the track at the once famous Hesketh Raceway near Pietermaritzburg. These track days were organized by another friend and petrolhead Rob Prece. This is where the bug truly bit.
I will never forget the first time I went around the track in my Superboss, even while jotting down these words, the vivid memories bring a lump to my throat. I knew then what all the hype had been about in Group N racing of that era. This car truly felt alive on the track, it took me to another level, way more than any spirited daily driving I had ever done in it before. I knew then what I had to do – build a racecar!
What major challenges have you faced? Like any good story, this was a journey fraught with insurmountable odds but somehow, as South Africans, we always find a way to persevere no matter the challenges.
In the early days there were financial issues, I was young and started a family and motorsport dreams sort of took a back seat at the time. I didn’t have a workshop of my own or even a garage or parking spot for the car at my house to work on the car. But, what I did have, were friends.
Friends that I had made back in the days of the Opel Owners Forum and one such friend, Rob Prece, offered me his help and his workshop to build the car in 2019. His shop in Westville still houses my racecar to this day. I don’t think I will ever be able to repay the help, support and friendship Rob has given me over the years but I will forever be eternally grateful.
Was it a good choice to go racing with this model? The short answer is no. Basically, I took a perfectly good, one of only 500 in the world cars and converted it into a racecar. The scarcity of parts and the high demand and high prices of these cars now reiterates my ludicrous choice of racecar, but I wouldn’t choose to race anything else.
What has been your best achievement with this car to date? I won the 2021 KZN Road Racing Club (KZN RRC) Modifieds Class C Championship and finished runner up in 2022. However, I would say that my greatest achievement would be that I built and race my own racecar, something few people in the world can say.