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OPEL
OPEL
Car Design History - Automobile manufacturer
For the first year of the new
century Opel, with chief designer Hans Seer, has announced
no fewer than 26 new models, a real "product offensive" from
this traditional marquee. The company started originally as a manufacturer
of sewing machines and bicycles, but it soon developed into one of the
most progressive automobile manufacturers in Germany, causing a sensation
with its fiery Raketenwagen ("rocket cars"). It was
bought by General Motors in 1929. The models produced in the 1930s were
reminiscent of those developed in the United States, but they had names
inspired by the German navy: Kadett, Kapitan, and Admiral, a series of
models which continued to be produced well after World War II. In 1951,
the Kapitan was given large wings and a Cadillac-like radiator
grille; it became one of the most popular German "dream cars"
of the postwar years, and its elongated, slightly smaller successor was
to become a surprising sales success. The Rekord launched in
1960 was the first model with a European design and it already had a characteristic
boxy shape. The new Kadett, launched at the beginning of the
1960s, was a smaller version of the Rekord, and it made a further
step in that direction with its straight lines and sparse ornamentation.
The functional design of the 1960s epitomized by the Kadett was
also applied to the Kapitan and Admiral models. New
sectors of the market were targeted with the super-flat GT, the
first sports car developed by the company which immediately drew the public's
attention with its pup-upo headlights and its bold advertising slogan:
"Only flying is more beautiful." Opel was excellent at developing
marketing techniques that targeted the right sectors; avant garde design
was therefore the exception, a rare example being the Kadett-Coupe
designed by Bertone in the 1980s. The Calibra was a model designed
by Seer with a high waistline and flat, arch-shaped windows that already
anticipated the emotional style of the 1990s.
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OPEL
Car History
Adam
Opel AG, Russelsheim |
| 1862 |
Founded
by Adam Opel as sewing machine factory, later bicycle, motorcycles,
and automobiles (1898) |
| 1919 |
Opel
race track in Russelsheim |
| 1924 |
introduction
of assembly line |
| 1929 |
taken
over by General Motors Corporation |
| 1939 |
largest
automobile manufacturer in Europe |
| 1997 |
"product
offensive" with 26 modeld and variations launched by 2001 |
OPEL
Car Models History |
| 1909 |
Doktorwagen
small car |
| 1924 |
Laufrosch
small car |
| 1928 |
RAK
I and II racing cars |
| 1939 |
Kapitan
sedan |
| 1960 |
Rekord
sedan |
| 1962 |
Kadett
small car |
| 1968 |
GT
sports car (1970Manta) |
| 1991 |
Astra
(1998 new model range) |
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