Hobbytemple

The car restoration blog

Peace again

In 1948 GM regained control with Opel again. In 1950 the factory was completely rebuild and the production was quickly up to 100.000 units pr. Year. In 1951 a new test track was ready for use in Rüsselheim and in 1956 the new 286.000 square meters car body factory K40 was ready for production. The production assembly lines where 28 kilometers long. A large amount of

model and variants where launched from the Opel factories. These where the optimistic 50´s. 1953 Rekord CaravanOne of the best-selling models where the Opel Olympia Rekord from 1953, which was presented at the IAA I Frankfurt. The car was very well received by the public because of its American inspired design and spacious interior. The Buick inspired front grill was well appreciated. This car was sold as a station car called CarAVan. Up until 1957 Opel sold 558.452 of these cars. In 1953 the new Kapitän was presented, and it had similar design features as GM’s American counterparts like the Buick’s and Chevy’s.

In 1957 a new big success from Opel was the new Opel Olympia Rekord P1, that in only three years where sold in a total of 850.000 units. Opel had also a big success with their trucks. It was the Opel Blitz 1 ½ ton truck that was the big seller because of its ruggedness and endurance. A 1.75 ton truck was also available and both models (with updates) where available until 1975.

The History of Opel part 4

The History of Opel part 6