Kapitän, 1951
As the 1951 Olympia the 1951 Kapitän was just a face lifted
pre-war Kapitän. It was the first 6-cylinder built in Germany after
WW-2.
Kapitän, 1956
The 1956 Kapitän was a face lifted version of the first ponton
body Kapitän.
Kapitän P I, 1958
Although the Kapitän P I is one of the best looking Kapitäns ever
built, it was the "Edsel" of this model. With looks being more
important than practicality the rear doors were too narrow, which
was the kiss of death for a car often used by people with a
Chauffeur. They didn't like to have a hard time to crawl in and
out of the car's rear doors.
Kapitän P II, 1959
If the P I was the Edsel, the P II was the most successful Kapitän
ever. With this Kapitän Opel also introduced it's first automatic
transmission.
The car with the 6-cylinder's displacement increased to 2.6 liter
it had only 90 HP. The reason for this is that it was a torque
optimized engine with the maximum of 190 Nm available from
1300 to 2500 RPM. The car could be accelerated from a standstill
to 150 km/h (93 mph) top speed in highest gear.
Kapitän / Admiral / Diplomat A, 1964
Although great cars, the K.A.D.-A series couldn't continue the P II's
success. The phrase "bigger is not always better" applies to these
Opels more than to any other Opel.
The CIH engine was introduced for the first time as a 2.8 liter
125 HP version in the Admiral. It would make it all the way into
the 90s with the most powerful version being the 4.0 liter
24 valve 272 HP Irmscher engine. The Diplomat was available with
a 4.6 liter 190 HP V8, the Diplomat Coupé even had a 5.4 liter 230 HP
V8 and a top speed of 205 km/h (127 mph).
This car competed with the BMW V8 (nicknamed "Baroque Angel") - 140 HP
and the Mercedes 300 SE, a
3 liter 160 HP straight six. It seems by
dwarfing the competition Opel had done too much.
The Coupés are highly desirable collector cars today. The one existing
Cabriolet has recently been restored.
Kapitän / Admiral / Diplomat B, 1969
Finally with the K.A.D.-B series the cars got an independent
rear wheel suspension. Opel gave them a De-Dion rear axle.
Although visibly smaller and much more European in design the
cars were unable to make up the ground lost by the A models.
The name Kapitän was dropped some time around 1970 and only
Admiral and Diplomat remained.
Senator / Monza A, 1978
With the introduction of the Senator and Monza Opel - although not
admitting it - retired from the "big-car" market. The most powerful
engine available now was a 3.0 E with 180 HP that accelerated the
Monza in 8.5 seconds to 100 km/h (62 mph) and gave it a top speed
of 215 km/h (133 mph). Back then this was Porsche 928 territory!!!
Still the cars were considered luxury Rekords by some people, which
was not totally wrong. The body was lengthened in the front and the
back, a third side window was added to the Senator, but the front
doors were the same as in the Rekord, while the rear doors were
the same as in the Rekord wagon and the cars had the same width and
wheelbase.
The cars sold reasonably well, but still could not regain the
ground lost after the Kapitän P II was discontinued.
Senator / Monza A, 1982
The Senator and Monza A got a face lift in 1982 after the looks
of the cars became quickly outdated. It was the time when chrome
almost completely vanished from cars and although looking very modern
in 1978 the changing taste of the time made them look oldfashioned very
quickly.
The Monza, which sort of carried on the heritage of the original
Commodore also revived the GS/E designation as the top-of-the-line
Monza. Unfortunately the planned and tested 200 HP engine didn't
become available. This was the last Monza.
Senator B, 1987
As the Senator A and the Rekord E were close relatives, the Omega A
and the Senator B were even closer related. Although it came with
the great 3.0 i 24 valve engine with 204 HP and even with a
4.0 i 272 HP engine made by Irmscher, the car didn't sell very well.
Certainly the "icecube tray" grille and the rather boring design
didn't help.
As with the Commodore C the Senator's niche had become
too small. Not being a real "big car" because it had the same
wheelbase as the Omega A, Opel finally stopped competing in a
market segment that it had once dominated, when the Kapitän sold
third after the VW Beetle and the Opel Rekord.