GM's Lethal Weapon. Iraqi assassins choose the Opel Vectra!!!

[Kowalski]

I'm very surprised to know, that no one bothered to post this article. Anyway, I just thought you folks would like to know, that Toyota is not the only favorite brand of the terrorists. They also like GM cars as well.

The Vectra: from sales fleet to assassin's car of choice
By Colin Freeman in Baghdad and Aqeel Hussein
Last Updated: 11:25pm GMT 15/01/2005 - http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main...16/wirq216.xml



Opel saloon cars have long been regarded as the dull runabouts of middle management and travelling salesmen. In Iraq, however, they have acquired a dangerous new image: the assassin's car of choice.

Opel Vectras - sold as Vauxhall Vectras in Britain and famously derided by Jeremy Clarkson as "the acme of dull and boring" - have been used in so many killings and car-bombings that Iraqi police are now on constant alert for them at checkpoints.

Available second-hand in Baghdad for as little as $2,000 (£1,070), the Vectra's modest sportiness and affordability that have made it a fleet-car favourite also make it ideal, it seems, for drive-by shootings. The electronic sunroof fitted on many models forms a perfect gun turret for a Kalashnikov, while the 130mph top speed is more than adequate for the getaway.

According to Iraqi security officials, a Vectra features in almost half the murders committed by insurgents who are targeting government officials, police and voter registration workers ahead of the election on January 30.

In the northern oil city of Kirkuk, a Vectra was used in 51 of 63 attacks on police during the last six months of 2004. The result is that just the sight of a Vectra barrelling down the road is enough to put Iraqi police on their guard.

"Whenever we see one approaching we are suspicious and will often check it," said Sgt Thair al Shaikhly, a police officer at a vehicle checkpoint on a Baghdad main road.

"The mujahideen also like BMWs, but the Opel Vectra, and sometimes also the Opel Omega, is more popular. It is a lot cheaper but still fast."

In Sunni muslim neighbourhoods of Baghdad, where anti-occupation insurgency is strongest, the Opel sports-saloon profile has become an unlikely symbol of the resistance. Graffiti on street corners warns Iraqis who "collaborate" by working with coalition forces to look over their shoulders for Opels coming after them.

"Those who are not spies have nothing to fear from the Opel car, those who are should look out," says a slogan in Al Adamiyah, a northern district known for its loyalty to Saddam Hussein.

The Opel is among the many brands of European cars - mostly models from the early 1990s - that have flooded into Iraq's second-hand market since sanctions on foreign imports ended.



Because of a lack of proper motoring records since Saddam's regime was toppled, the cars are difficult to trace, while their popularity enables insurgents to blend in among law-abiding motorists.

Legitimate Opel drivers now run such a risk of being stopped and questioned at checkpoints, under the guns of Iraqi police and US soldiers, that some now want to switch to other cars. "Wherever I go I get suspicious looks from the police, and they are constantly searching me," said Abdul Hassan, an Opel Vectra driver in Al Adamiyah.

"I went to see how much I could sell the car for but I was told by the garage that this has become such a problem that I would only get a lower price."

Inoffensive family rep-mobile car, huh? Yeah right... Jeremy Clarkson watch out!

[DanCBJMS1988]

That's horrible. This is ruining whatever reputation Opel has left! Guess we'll have to start using Chevy Luminas to go after them!

[member12]

Originally Posted by DanCBJMS1988

That's horrible. This is ruining whatever reputation Opel has left! Guess we'll have to start using Chevy Luminas to go after them!

Lots of American cars in Iraq.

In fact, the Iraqi police often use Chevy Trailblazers and Colorados.

The ironic....they also use KIA Optimas. Ironic because K.I.A. is initials often used for Iraqi police nowadays. Its a sad thing.

[Kowalski]

The electronic sunroof fitted on many models forms a perfect gun turret for a Kalashnikov,

I would like to fit a turret for a Kalashnikov on the sunroof of my Vectra. So I could have fun, shooting those wankers who keep dawdling around at 5 Mph, then indicating left and going right!

while the 130mph top speed is more than adequate for the getaway.

130 Mph? That would be the Sporty GSI 2000 16V which has a 2.0 16V 150 Bhp engine. I wonder though, is the car still capable to reach that top speed, even with the extra weight of the machine-gun turret?

[Martino_z]

Well the chevy luminas in Iraq are australian. Its strange to see holden commodores and statesmans in the foreground of bombings and the like.