25.03.2025The black rocket from the house of Opel

At the end of the 1990s, the Opel Calibra, with its all-wheel drive and 2.5-liter six-cylinder engine, played a key role in international touring car racing. Over 500 hp, a hydraulic six-speed semi-automatic transmission with paddle shifters, and a perfectly adjustable differential made the Calibra 4x4 a perfect racing machine.

The black Calibra with Cliff livery, driven by Manuel Reuter and from Team Joest, stood out not only for its distinctive color scheme and brutal exterior. Another special feature was the highly technological interior of such a Class 1 touring car at the time, with which Opel and its competitors Mercedes and Alfa Romeo were sometimes in no way inferior to the Formula 1 cars of the time.

For these cost-intensive and increasingly complex racing cars, the International Touring Championship, or ITC for short, was launched in 1995 alongside the DTM. After the somewhat opaque parallel running of both championships, only the ITC took place the following year.

The aforementioned 1996 ITC season began for Opel works driver Manuel Reuter in the Calibra with number 7 directly with a victory in the opening race at the Hockenheimring. Reuter celebrated further successes at both the Nürburgring and the second race in Hockenheim. Reuter also made it onto the podium at the Circuito do Estoril in Portugal and at both races in Helsinki, thus securing valuable championship points.

At the end of the season, Manuel Reuter was crowned ITC champion with a 13-point lead over his rivals from Mercedes and the previous year's winner Bernd Schneider. Thanks to the successes of his works colleagues Hans-Joachim Stuck and Klaus Ludwig, Opel also won the manufacturers' championship ahead of Alfa Romeo and Mercedes.

WERK83 has released a model in scale 1:18 of Manuel Reuter's iconic Cliff Calibra. The front wheels are steerable and the doors open.

Manuel Reuter #7 Opel Calibra V6 4x4 Team Joest DTM / ITC Hockenheim 1996 1:18 WERK83, RRP €79.99, item-no.: W1802009

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Manuel Reuter #7 Opel Calibra V6 4x4 Team Joest DTM / ITC Hockenheim 1996 1:18 WERK83

57,56 €