Opel (Olympia) Rekord P1
Opel Rekord P1 ( 1957-1960 )
The Opel Rekord P1 (originally Opel Olympia Rekord P ) is a car model of the upper middle class, the Opel introduced in the summer of 1957 as successor to the Opel Olympia Rekord. The characteristic feature of this model are the panoramic windows for which the P is in the model name.
Successor of this very successful model was the summer of 1960, the Opel Rekord P2.
Model history
On August 13, 1957, Edward W. Zdunek, CEO of Adam Opel AG, in the city hall Rüsselsheim the Opel Olympia Rekord "P" ( "P " stood for Panorama, and with the appearance of the successor model P2, the car was subsequently as " P1" referred to ) before. It was a new model of the middle class as a successor to the previous Opel Olympia Rekord. Equipped with a fashionable body found the new car immediately well received in the market. two Tone paint and two-tone fabric interiors adorned the model.
Many details - including in particular the drawn around the corner, large panoramic windows in the front and rear, the curved side trim with the bend in front of the rear axle, bumper and taillights - were copied from the models Special and Roadmaster of GM 's Buick brand, which the car quickly nicknamed " farmer's Buick " earned. Chief Designers Hans Mersheimer particular had a European compact edition of Chevrolet Bel Air 1955 in mind.
The newly designed front suspension with negative camber and different length double wishbones mediated with the new fully synchronized three-speed transmission with column shift and the 45 -horsepower engine with 1.5 liter displacement ( the predecessor Olympia Rekord 40 PS), a new driving experience.
The vehicle was a two - or four-door sedan, from the beginning of 1958 as a station wagon to have ( CarAVan ) or fast- van ( Caravan without rear side windows ). The Americans said: "It is a Car And A Van ", a car and a van. The CarAVan was bought mainly by artisans because it offered the optimum combination of private cars and company cars with a correspondingly high payload. That was also the reason why only a few of these suits have been preserved until today. In general, it was frowned upon at that time to go with a craftsman car.
There was also a two-door version Olympic base (also known as Olympic P1). This model had no side trim, otherwise many chrome parts were painted, and the interior was easier. This Olympics was how the CarAVan and the van was not the word " record " on the front fenders.
Overall, it was attested by the press " that knowledge and experience especially from the transport practice largely taken into account in the development of the new 1.5-liter Opel models and practical practical application have been supplied. " Among other things, the speedometer was meant, the bar always shone red with increasing speed.
There were further innovations in the spring of 1958 with a four-door sedan and the Opel 1200 ( also known as Opel P1200 ) as new base version. The 1200 had 40 hp from 1.2 liters of displacement, the side instead of the large wing mounted a narrow, slightly curved trim, was placed above the on the front fenders of the word " 1200". This model also was missing like with the previous base model and Olympic CarAVan and vans the word " record " on the front fenders. The 1200 replaced the Olympia from as a base model, its equipment was not quite as spartan as in Olympia. It should bridge the time until the new "small" Opel Kadett A, however, did not sell as well as expected and was still further built until 1962 - longer than the more powerful versions.
At the vacation in the summer of 1958 came the first corrections: the interior mirror was mounted on the dashboard instead of on the upper edge of the disk and for the first time in this series gave an electric, two-stage windshield wiper tray. By 1957 the engine camshaft drive the windshield wiper of a flexible shaft to mechanically; a solution that was used for the first time in 1937 Opel Super 6.
In the summer of 1959, a new 1.5 -liter engine was introduced, which now made instead of the previous 45 hp ( the old Olympic record only 40 hp ) 50 hp. This performance increase was primarily driven by changes to the manifold, cylinder head and the exhaust manifold. Otherwise, the in-line four -cylinder engine with OHV valve control based on the nearly indestructible pre-war construction of the Olympic Motors in 1937.
In the last model year 1959/1960 there was the Olympia Rekord P1 on request with " Olymat ", an automatic clutch of Fichtel & Sachs (similar Saxomat ), but was only moderately popular. The system, a semi-automatic transmission, consisted of a centrifugal clutch for the start and a second clutch to change gears, causing the clutch pedal was omitted. The actuated by engine vacuum second clutch was activated when switching an electrical contact on the gear lever. In addition, a more powerful version of the 1.7 - liter engine with 55 hp was added to the program in this model year.
On request, there were coupe and convertible conversions from the body shop Autenrieth in Darmstadt, but always remained a rarity. Overall, only 25 convertibles to have incurred, of which 4 are still known today. Of the only three built coupes are only 2 be obtained.
In addition, the end of 1959 appeared to be even a special model that was manufactured at GM Suisse in Biel in smaller quantities and only available in Switzerland was. This Opel Ascona record, named after the town of Ascona in the Ticino by the Great Lake or Lake Maggiore ( Lago Maggiore). It gave him only with the 1.7 -liter engine with 55 hp and had a two-tone paint with always white roof, two-tone interior with leather upholstery, a chrome strip at a 45 ° angle to the front fender of both hues separated below the waistline and a ' Ascona' lettering on the rear side panels at the rear. From this rare special model should exist only 10 pieces.
The Rekord P1 built (as well as later his successor ) also at GM South Africa, but here as a right hand drive. Another special version of the Rekord P1, which was built here in Port Elizabeth in South Africa for the domestic market, was a pick-up version. This technique, known as Opel model pickup carried the Olympic logo on the fenders and came in very small numbers as left-hand drive to Europe.
The Rekord P1 was a huge sales success both domestically and in export. Opel sold of this model series between August 1957 and July 1960 509 110 copies, of which 394 692 sedans, station wagons and 109282 15136 vans were. In addition there were 67 952 units of Opel 1200.
The Olympia Rekord P1 was replaced in August 1960 by the Rekord P2. The basic version of 1200 was unchanged until December 1962 on.
Basic version: Opel 1200 (1958-1962)
Specifications
Olympia A
Between August 1967 and July 1970, there were an Opel Olympia A, but unlike the old Opel Olympia P1 ( without record lettering ) was not an economy version of the record, but a luxuriously upgraded variant of the Opel Kadett B.