Opel Olympia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||
The Opel Olympia is a small family car produced by the German automaker Opel from 1935 to 1940, from 1947 to 1953 and again from 1967 to 1970.
In 1935, the Olympia was the first mass-produced car with a chassis-less all-steel body. Before the war it was made in two versions. From 1935 to 1937 the Olympia had a 1.3 litre engine. For the OL38 version made from 1937 to 1940 this was replaced by a 1.5 litre overhead valve unit.
Between 1935 and the 1940 over 168.000 units were built.
The name Olympia was revived in 1967 for a luxury version of the Opel Kadett B.
Contents |
[edit] Opel Olympia (1935-1937)
At 2500 Reichsmark it offered a true four-seater with 1.3 liter, 4 cylinder, side valve, 24 hp (18 kW) engine capable of 95 km/h (60 mph). Drive was to the rear wheels through a three speed gearbox but a four speed unit became available in 1937. The car had independent front suspension with alive axle at the rear and half elliptic springs.
The car was made available in two versions, as a two door saloon and as a two-door soft-top convertible:
- LZ 2-door 4-light saloon. 2500 Reichsmark
- CL 2-door 4-light cabriolet
[edit] Opel Olympia OL38 (1937-1940) (1947-1949)
A new engine was introduced in 1937 with a capacity of 1488 cc and overhead valves. It produced 37 hp (27 kW) and the top speed of the car was 112 km/h (70 mph). The car's body received a facelift.
It was available in the same versions as its predecessor with the addition of the 6 light LV:
- LZ 2-door 4-light saloon 2675 Reichsmark
- LV 4-door 6-light saloon 2950 Reichsmark
- CL 2-door 4-light cabriolet 2750 Reichsmark
Due to the war, production came to a halt in late 1940. During the war, the Opel plant in Rüsselsheim was severely damaged by allied bomb attacks. After reconstruction, production of the Olympia restarted in late 1947. The OL 38 was unchanged to the prewar car but only the two door sedan was produced. Until the end of 1949, 25.952 of them were made.
[edit] Opel Olympia 1950 (1950-1953)
In January 1950, the Olympia got a modernized body. But the car was still based on the prewar Olympia. The following bodies were offered:
- 2-door sedan 6400 Deutsche Mark
- 2-door convertible sedan 6600 Deutsche Mark
- 2-door station wagon 7350 Deutsche Mark
In three years of production, about 160.000 cars were made.
[edit] Interim: Opel Olympia Rekord (1953-1957), Opel Rekord (1957-1986)
In March 1953, the 18 year old design of the Olympia was finally replaced by a completely new car. It was called Opel Olympia Rekord and it had a modern pontoon body. This car and its successors are described at the Opel Rekord site.
[edit] Opel Olympia A (1967-1970)
The Olympia name was revived in 1967. This time it was only a luxury version of the contemporate Opel Kadett B. Engines were a 1100 cc unit with 60 hp (44 kW) taken from the Kadett and two larger units with 1700 cc and 75 hp (55 KW) and 1900 cc and 90 hp (66 kW) which were normally used in the Opel Rekord. Body styles were
- 2-door sedan
- 4-door sedan
- 2-door coupé
As the Olympia A was not really successful, it was replaced in 1970 by the all new Opel Ascona.
[edit] External references
| Opel, a subsidiary of General Motors, road car timeline, 1947-1979 | Next -> | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Type | 1940s | 1950s | 1960s | 1970s | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | |
| Small family car | Kadett A | Kadett B | Kadett C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Olympia | Olympia Rekord | Olympia | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Large family car | Rekord PI | Rekord PII | Ascona A | Ascona B | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Executive car | Rekord A | Rekord B | Rekord C | Rekord D | Rekord E | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Kapitän | Kapitän | Kapitän PI/PII | Commodore A | Commodore B | Comdr C | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Luxury car | Kapitän A/ Admiral A/ Diplomat A |
Kapitän B/ Admiral B/ Diplomat B |
Senator/ Monza |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coupé/ Roadster |
GT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Manta I | Manta II | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
