> OPEL HISTORY
Adam Opel never lived to see the automobiles that bore his name. A tireless innovator and salesman, Opel made his fortune in sewing machines.
Founded in 1862, his company produced more than half a million sewing machines by the turn of the century while his five sons tinkered with bicycles, which they built and raced.
Papa Opel died in 1895 at the age of 58.
The company would become the world’s largest bicycle maker, but the brothers had already turned their attention to another wheeled conveyance.
Opel’s foray into auto production was initially undertaken jointly with others, but in 1902, Opel showed off its first in-house design, a 12-hp carriage whose two-cylinder engine incorporated a water pump and could propel the vehicle to 45 km/h.
By 1914, Opel had become Germany’s largest automobile maker. It began employing women in production, and even set a standard work week and minimum wage through collective bargaining.
Mired in a recession in 1929, Opel found a strong partner in America’s General Motors. GM bought a majority stake, then purchased the remainder two years later. By 1936, Opel had become the largest automaker in Europe, but the Nazis commandeered its plants for war production, which were consequently destroyed by British bombers during the Second World War.
Modest production restarted in 1946 with the 1.5-tonne Blitz truck, which was desperately needed in war-ravaged Europe. GM regained control of Opel in 1948. Production grew in the 1950s as plants reopened and its new compact cars found a receptive audience. By 1972, Opel was again the largest car manufacturer in Germany.
Opels appeared under their own name in North America from 1958 to 1975, when the captive imports were sold through Buick dealers. Memorable models included the iconic Opel GT and Manta coupe, a rival of Ford’s popular Capri.
In the 1980s, Opel led an industrywide campaign to adopt more environmentally sustainable practices, specifying water-based paints, asbestos-free clutch linings and lowemission gas and diesel engines.
GM increasingly tapped into Opel’s formidable research and engineering programs, relying on new German products to fill gaps in its own model lines. Opels were sold under other GM brands, including Vauxhall in Britain, Holden in Australia, Saturn in North America and even as Subaru in Japan.
With GM courting bankruptcy in 2009, it agreed to sell a majority stake in Opel to Canada’s Magna Group, but the deal was later scrubbed. GM wisely elected to hold onto its German subsidiary, which has become the source of the General’s smaller platforms, underpinning the Chevrolet Cruze, Buick Regal and other models.