Opel: From rocket cars to family cars

Learn about the history of Opel, a German car manufacturer with a legacy dating back to 1862. Discover how the company, founded by Adam Opel, transitioned from sewing machines to bicycles and eventually cars. Explore the popular models and milestones that have made Opel a reputable brand in Europe. See how General Motors' acquisition of the company in the 1920s and 1930s helped shape its future. Understand the challenges the company faced during and after WWII and how they overcame them. See how Opel's models evolved through the 1950s and 1960s and how the company contributed to the German economy. Discover how the company struggled financially in the 1980s due to changing consumer preferences and competition. Learn about the measures taken by Opel and General Motors to keep the company afloat.

[@pralhadmundargi6503]

Even though Opel cars are not as popular as Ford or Volkswagen they are still amazing. Especially cars such as the GT and the Manta, which I think are one of the most beautiful Opel cars made. Plus also heard that the first corvette of the 50s was actually a project of Opel while being under GM.

[@minuteman2022]

That's interesting. The GT does look like a small Corvette in many ways.

[@Piotrek4500]

depends where, germany, poland for example, opels are popular exactly as vw or ford. actually more than ford last days

[@mogus596]

Hi mate, I'm quite enjoying the content, however, I'm not sure if this is deliberate on your end or not but you appear to be randomly adding emphasis on words in the middle of sentences.

[@minuteman2022]

Thank you for your feedback. As I am not a native english speaker myself, I have to hire Voiceover artists. I have had a hard time finding someone who is consistent and right for the channel. I do see your point when it comes to this particular voiceover. The style is that of a news presenter, but it might be a bit too much. Our newer videos have different VO's now.

[@franciscocerutimahn]

Exactly the information I needed to understand the opal brand. Thank you.

[@minuteman2022]

Glad to hear that! Thank you for your feedback!

[@Djeseret]

I am one of the world's foremost Opel experts and I have to say that I get absolutely nothing out of this. The reason is that it is far too short and shallow, it leaves far too much out. The problem with Opel is that Opel's history contains more than any other car brand. Because Opel devoted itself to many more different things than anyone else. Therefore, it is not possible to tell a short and simple story. If you want to sum up Opel in a few short words, it would be - "There's nothing... we can't do". And that led to confusion among customers who found it difficult to understand what Opel was or what it was doing. Being different and thinking differently has always caused doubt from those around you instead of interest and admiration as it should be. But humans are unfortunately not particularly intelligent. Which, however, Opel cars have always been, well-thought-out solutions that can be used and work, have been the goal since the very beginning.

[@Djeseret]

In 1891, for example, Opel manufactured a 4-wheel tandem bicycle with rhombic wheel placement and 3-wheel drive. Where the person sitting in the back seat could also steer the bike through a steering rod connected to the front wheel, no one else had anything like that. 1911 Opel manufactures its first 60 hp aircraft engine, 5 years before BMW's first aircraft engine. 1912 Comes Opel's first luxury car with the name "40/100" with a 4 cylinder 10.2 liter 3-valve engine with 100 hp and interior heating - one of the world's first. Technically, it is superior, for example, to Mercedes' top model 37/90, which is a technical disaster... on every... single point. Opel's car is much larger than Mercedes but weighs 600... kg less…. Here you also see for the first time a windscreen / windshield that tilts backwards like on a modern car. And the appearance is characterized by elegance and lightness at least 10 years ahead of its time. Opel manufactures one of the world's first motorized internal combustion engine driven fire extinguishers and creates its own fire department. Theoretically, if the entire effect was concentrated in a single hose, the water could reach a height of over 80 meters. As the saying goes... "There's nothing we can't do"... 1914 Opel presents its first 4 cylinder 4 valve engine with overhead vertical shaft driven camshaft, it develops gradually over the years until the 1920s when in Opel's racing car they had an output of 260 hp and reached a theoretical top speed of over 230 km/h, but it could not be driven faster than 228 km/h due to the tires and rims of the time not being able to handle higher speeds. Two of these cars from 1914 have been preserved all the years and are still in original condition and run in vintage car competitions.

[@Djeseret]

If we jump to 1928 and the rocket cars, Opel invented the brake rockets there, they were used to brake the rocket car and it is now used on spaceships... which is thus an invention of Opel... Opel was also the first to use wings on the car to control the airflow, and when they came back in the 1960s it was because someone had seen pictures of Opel cars. And the wings were adjustable... while driving, they have a mechanism that allows them to be re-angled. The rockets were controlled with an electric accelerator or "gas pedal" a world first. There was also a Rak 5 and Rak 6; The Rak 6 was an ordinary car that unbelievably showed similarities in appearance to an F1 car from the 1970s, it had a centrally angled nose that consisted of an adjustable wing, Opel had then discovered that the wings should sit in the front of the car and not on the sides, also a first in the world. Later in 1928 came Opel's top Luxury Car of all time, the REGENT when it was new technically outclassed all other luxury cars in the world, including Bugatti and Rolls Royce. It was the world's first car with a working...! hydraulic servo-assisted brakes. it had a Maybach semi-automatic six-speed gearbox and could lift itself into the air with built-in servo-assisted hydraulic jacks, something others also had, but there you had to crank by hand, in the Opel you just pressed a button. A straight eight-cylinder engine with twin spark plugs from airplanes and a steel frame isolated from the body with countless rubber bushings, And much more, a generator driven by a steel chain in an oil bath... for example. When GM bought Opel in 1930 they were scared... of how superior... the Regent was to Cadillac... so they bought back all the cars and destroyed... them, so that no one would know this, GM even destroyed the design drawings. Nothing like this has happened to any other car in world history… In 1928, Opel also manufactures its famous motorcycle "Motoclub ss", the world's first fully galvanized "vehicle" and it was made from pressed sheet metal profiles, which no other motorcycle was made from, because Opel was a car manufacturer and mastered that technology, for the same reason it also had a fuel gauge, which was completely unique on motorcycles. And suspension for the front wheel, most others had no suspension on the front wheel at the time. It was also available with rocket propulsion and then managed 200 km/h. And all the rubber and all the cables and the tires were original red... the world's first through-colored rubber material. And so it continues…

[@Kavishbudy007]

Wow thanks for the great knowledge

[@minuteman2022]

Glad you liked it, thank you!

[@Kavishbudy007]

@@minuteman2022 you made it with great effort, precise and all points covered 👏👍

[@minuteman2022]

Thank you!