Where these ever available in the US?

I remember seeing these as a kid, even riding around in one at some point:

That's an Opel Commodore btw, at least that's what they were called in Germany. 3l straight six, in the case of the GS/E with fuel injection and approx 180hp.

I nearly bought one as a student but they were going through an unloved period and most of the available ones were rusting in a fashion only 70s cars can.

We never had the Commodore in the U.S. market, only the Kadett, Manta and GT as far as I can recall.

Ah well. Probably would have snatched sales from US-built GM products.

In reply to BoxheadTim:

When I was 11, my father imported one from Germany to the UK as a personal import. It was the saloon version, and was dropped off at the house with the wheel covers off and still covered in cosmolene. He took us for a test drive, and at the time it was the most powerful car I had ever ridden in.The acceleration blew my 11 yo mind. I was disappointed when the cosmolene was cleaned off and the wheel trim and shiny bits were exposed. It looked, the "business" before the prepping. I don't remember it having such a pronounced bonnet bulge though. The Commodore was Opels lexus version of the popular Rekord. m

IIRC they're a little bit bigger than a Rekord, but I might be wrong. I think the bonnet bulge is only for the 3l so they could stuff the big engine in there - the "base model" was the 2.5l if I'm not that much mistaken.

In reply to BoxheadTim:

They were fancy Rekords. Same dimensions, more power and more luxury. The following year I started to teach myself how to drive. I would drive the commodore for a 1/2 mile radius as I did not want to be assaulted

m