Gabi Weiss never has to deal with car breakdowns, or with missing check-ups or TÜV inspection deadlines. That’s all down to her husband’s hobby: As she puts it, Volker Weiss lives for leasing and buying new cars. He’s been doing that for 39 years now – and, of course, the cars are always Opels. His hobby is made possible by the discounts offered through the ‘Verkauf an Mitarbeiter’ (Employee sales) initiative. The production foreman not only steadily supplies himself, his wife, and their two sons Andreas and Christian with the latest models, but also “other relatives and acquaintances, if they want to join in on the fun, too,” says the Opel employee, who is based at the plant in Rüsselsheim, Germany.
The Vectra V6 was number one –
but then along came the Insignia
Over the years, the family has parked over 60 Opel models in the garage of their single-family home in Reinheim-Ueberau, located in Germany’s Odenwald mountain range. Ascona, Kadett, Omega, Vectra, Corsa, Astra – the Weiss family has owned them all. Most of these were caravan models, since the family usually travels in their Opels, preferably to Calpe in Spain. “That’s an 1,800-kilometer drive one way, so taking that route really shows you what a car is capable of,” says Volker Weiss.
Next up Gabi Weiss is currently driving an ADAM in Ocean Blue. What will her next car be? “Definitely a Crossland X!”
Car collector Volker Weiss loves to drive new cars. He’s currently riding around in a Mokka X. Looking back, there’s only one missed opportunity to try out an Opel that he still regrets: “Shortly after I started working at Opel in 1978, there was an Ascona 400 on offer as a pool car. I should have gotten in on that.”
Familiy ritual Volker’s son Christian is currently driving an ADAM. The whole family designed this car together – as they do for all the vehicles in their ‘fleet.’
Successor to the throne The new Insignia pushed the family’s long-time favorite, the Vectra V6, down to second place. Andreas Weiss says, “It’s such an incredible car.”
Until a few weeks ago, Volker Weiss’ all-time favorite was the Vectra V6: “It was a total pleasure to drive, thanks to the engine.” However, this model has dropped down to second place now – the new Insignia sedan has snatched the throne: “The flagship model drives wonderfully, is gorgeous to look at, and, on top of that, has all kinds of special features.” Volker’s son Andreas agrees: “It’s such an incredible car.”
Designing the cars is a family ritual.
Gathered around the screen
“It’s fun for me to always drive a new Opel,” says the family patriarch in defense of his passion. In order to continually make room for new models, he offers his Opels for sale on popular online platforms after driving them for about a year. Designing a new car has become a fixed family ritual: The family members gather and create the next vehicle together. Gabi Weiss usually limits her involvement in this process to selecting the car’s color: “When it comes to the model and technology, I leave that all to my husband.” At least, that was the case until recently – once she saw the first photos of the new crossover model, she knew that “My next car will be a Crossland X!” They’ve already set the date for jointly designing the latest addition to the family.
Last updated: October 2017