Olympia, 1951
In 1951 Opel gave the Olympia a face lift. Otherwise it was
basically still the pre-war Olympia.
Olympia Rekord, 1953
Opel switched to the so called "Ponton body style" in 1953. The car
was very successful. It's most prominent feature was the grille
which was nick named "Shark's-Jaw-Grille" by the public.
The name "Rekord" appeared for the first time and would stay with
the model until it was replaced by the Omega A in 1986.
Olympia Rekord, 1955
For 1955 the car was slightly face lifted and the Cabrio-Limousine
was introduced. The whole roof could be rolled back very much like
in Citroen's 2CV. The body however was later strengthened with
additional frame rails, since at the early models the doors
couldn't be opened anymore after a certain time.
Rekord P I, 1957
Together with the Rekord D many people consider the P I the best
looking Rekord ever. The bodyline had stretched and the simpler
lines were appreciated.
Rekord P II, 1960
Once again the lines of the Rekord were simplified with the
Rekord P II in 1961 although Opel started loading them with more
and more chrome ornamentation.
The Coupé version of the P II was nicknamed "The Speeding Trunk",
(Der rasende Kofferraum) by the public, because the less than
balanced design let the car appear as if half of it's bodylength
was trunk.
Rekord A, 1963
With the Rekord A the era of razor sharp straight body edges began.
The car's design supposedly was heavily influenced by a Chevrolet model
which - except for engine and size of course - only differs from the Rekord A
by having four rather than two headlights.
The Rekord A also is essentially the first Commodore. The car
was fitted with the Kapitän 6-cylinder engine and sold as a
Rekord 6.
Not calling it Commodore lead later on to the strange offset of
model names. The Rekord C would have the same body as the Commodore A
and so on until both names disappeared after the Rekord E / Commodore C
model.
Rekord B, 1965
The Rekord B was a short lived model, that was not much more than
a modernized Rekord A. Except for the new grille, head- and taillights
it is basically a Rekord A.
In one respect it was new, as it marked the appearance of a new
type of engine (CIH) that would have an extremely long lifespan.
Although heavily modified the basic engine design last saw action
in a 2.4 liter 125 HP version in the Opel Frontera in 1996.
Rekord C, 1966
Only the Rekord E (in two versions) exceeded the Rekord C's production
time. It was an extremely popular car with power ranging from a
58 HP 1.5 liter up to the top-of-the-line 109 HP 1.9 liter Rekord
Sprint. Also a 2.2 liter 95 HP 6 cylinder was available. The 2.2
as well as the Sprint however had disappointing sales figures.
The best looking version definitely was the Coupé that had no
B-pillar.
Commodore A, 1967
With this model the Rekord 6 got it's own name - Commodore.
As the Rekord 6 got it's engine from the larger Kapitän, the
Commodore shared the engine with the "Big Three" as Kapitän,
Admiral and Diplomat were called. This was the 6 cylinder version
of the new CIH (camshaft in head) engine.
The most powerful engine available in the Commodore was the
2.5 liter 150 HP fuel injection engine. On the Autobahn, a
GS/E Coupé was as fast as anybody out there except for certain
Porsche's and the
Mercedes 300 SEL 6.3 Liter.
The "E" in GS/E stands for "Einspritzung" - injection.
Rekord D, 1972
When this Rekord appeared, it made the Ford Consul / Granada as
well as the Mercedes /8 and the first
5 series BMW look old.
It's clean straightforward design was a sensation especially
coming from Opel.
The engines were increased in power. The basic engine now was
a 1.7 liter 66 HP engine, the 1.9 liter had
97 HP.
Commodore B, 1972
In the second generation the 2.8 liter 160 HP engine became the
standard GS/E engine. The GS continued with the dual carburettor
130 HP engine.
Because of the higher weight of the car the GS
performance fell behind the Commodore A GS model. Therefore after
about a year it was replaced by the GS/2.8 with 140 HP.
Rekord E, 1977 / Rekord E, 1982
Chrome ornamentation mostly disappeared with the Rekord E. So did
the looks. Certainly not one of the prettiest Rekords, this car combined
good performance with fuel efficiency due to extensive wind tunnel
testing.
The engines on both ends of the power spectrum, the 1.7 liter 60 HP as
well as the 2.0 E, 110 HP didn't sell too good. The "typical" engine
for this Rekord was the 100 HP 2.0 S engine that was introduced
in the late Rekord D models.
After the face lift in 1982 the Rekord went into it's final lap and
was replaced by the Omega A in 1986.
Commodore C, 1978
The Commodore C marked the end of the Commodore as a performance
oriented car. In the beginning only the 115 HP 2.5 was available and
later the 130 HP 2.5 E was added to the option list.
Being a hybrid between Rekord and Senator - Senator front end combined
with a Rekord body - and by definition ranking between Rekord and
Senator it's niche had become too small to justify continuing the
model all together.
Omega B, 1986
With the Omega A Opel tried to get rid of the Rekord's grandfather
image. It finally got it's overdue independent rear wheel suspension
from the Senator / Monza. The top-of-the-line Omega 3000 had the
156 HP, later
177 HP 3.0 i engine from the Senator. Unfortunately
it was only available in 80s style carneval float looks with lots
of spoilers and other "goodies" of the time.
The most serious problem of the car was the simply desastrous quality
of the first model year. It never fully recovered from the early problems.
The Lotus Omega - although with 380 HP Germany's fastest production
sedan - remained a niche car.
Omega B, 1994
The Omega B marked both, the end of the CIH 6-cylinder engine as
well as the Senator model. With it's 4-cylinder engines it was
supposed to keep Rekord / Omega A customers. The 6-cylinder versions
were made to keep the former Senator drivers with Opel.
This also is the first Opel for a long time to be sold in the
US. Although rebadged as a Cadillac Catera and - once again -
watered down and heavily loaded with chrome ornamention it still
is recognizable as an Omega.