A family car with an "American" look. Here there were panoramic windows and color choices that made it look like the big beautiful cars from the USA.
Opel has an exciting history all the way back to 1869. Then Adam Opel started a factory for the production of sewing machines. Later, production was expanded to include bicycles, and Opel became one of the world's largest bicycle manufacturers. But at the end of the 1800th century, Opel decided to expand its production to also include cars. The first models were called Opel-Lutzmann and came in 1899. To get started quickly, Opel had bought the car factory of Friedrich Lutzmann with equipment and finished constructions. Opel came up with a number of models in the following years, both family and sports cars. One of the most talked about sports cars was the rocket car which was powered by 12 rockets. In 1929, the car drove on the Bjerkebanen in Oslo in front of 10 spectators. But Opel became best known for its family cars, and the brand is still there.
1957 Opel Rekord
The popular Opel Rekord got a proper upgrade this year. Now European car buyers could get a family car with an "American" look. Here there were panoramic windows and color choices that made it look like the big beautiful cars from the USA. In advertisements for the Opel Rekord, headlines such as: "...totally changed" were used. If it didn't say Opel on the hood - and Rekord on the side, they would never have guessed it was that one - so completely different is the new Rekord". Here in Norway, the model came high on the sales lists and the station wagon model became very popular as a company car. In Germany, the car was delivered both as a Coupe and Cabriolet from independent body factories.
Technical specifications
Length 444 cm
width 162 cm
height 149 cm
Engine 1488 ccm, 52 hp
top speed 120 km/h
See
Anders de Lange
Anders de Lange writes about car history. He has written about cars and car history for over 30 years, published his own books and written for the Norwegian car press.
For those of us who also lived when these cars were a common sight along the road, we remember cars that were built before the concept of driving characteristics had in any way been invented. You had to herd the Opels all the time. They poked here and there. During a turn, it was as if the entire bodywork twisted. In return, everyone could tell that it was an Opel because the valve ticking was unmistakable. Only when the Ascona arrived did Opel get a model with decent driving characteristics.
Pictures of a 1959 Opel Rekord 1500 that visited the Norwegian Vehicle History Museum at Hunderfossen in 2020.