Opel Rekord Series B

Opel Rekord (1965-1966)

The Opel Rekord B is a car model of the upper middle class of Opel's series of record. He was introduced as the successor to the Opel Rekord A in August 1965, not even built until July 1966, a year.

The most important innovation was newly developed four-cylinder engines as a substitute for the construction of the produced from 1937 Opel Olympia. Otherwise, the technique was only slightly changed. For the first time ever with a 2 -speed automatic transmission ( General Motors Powerglide ) was available. Successor was from August 1966, the record C.

Model history

The record B is a transitional model: Opel originally wanted to present a newly developed generation of engines at the same time with a new car but it was not yet ready for production. So you passed the record A stylistically something. At the unfinished successor ( wide-band headlamps, grille and chrome frame surrounding the front and rear ) and put in this, record B mentioned model, the new engines before The cars were built from July 1965 to June 1966, delivered just eight months and then replaced by the C record.

The body was slightly modified compared to the previous record A; were new rectangular headlights, a revised grille with Opel emblem in the center and round tail lights that appeared in similar form later in the Opel Manta A and the Opel GT. Also, dashboard, interior design and color selection corresponded largely to its predecessor.

The car was available in two - and four-door sedan, station wagon and coupé. In contrast to the chassis of the record A he got a rear axle with a widened track. She was the last rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs at Opel vehicles. The double - wishbone front axle was taken over virtually unchanged from the A - model.

For all models, standard equipment and so now was not only the 2.6-liter model, the dual-circuit brake system with front disc brakes and rear drum brakes and brake booster.

With the record B a new engine generation was introduced, which replaced the solid but technically outdated and that arrived at the power limit further developed pre-war units: Four-cylinder in-line engines with overhead camshaft, designated the Opel as " CIH engines ". " CIH " stands for " Camshaft in Head " ( camshaft in the cylinder head ). The valves are actuated not long bumpers of an underlying lateral camshaft, but now the camshaft located in the cylinder head acts over short pestle and pressed sheet metal rocker arm on the valves; these rocker arms are rotatably mounted on an axis, but are held by tie rods with a correspondingly shaped adjustment. The shaft is driven by a duplex chain instead of spur gears. This engine generation was technically developed until the late 1980s in the Opel program.

The built- in record B L-6 2.6 - liter inline six- cylinder was taken from the previous and was still basically a pre-war design, based on the aggregate of the Opel Super 6 in 1937, but already before use in the Opel Kapitän P 2.6 (1959-1963) radically revised and continue to 100 hP. As was the case record A L -6, the engine block of the inline six cylinder weighed heavily on the front axle, which made the steering at standstill and when maneuvering in accordance stiff. A power steering was available only in the upper-class models of the Opel KAD A- series.

Only the 1.5 -liter engine still had a choke ( manual choke ); the other models in a launch control ( semi-automatic choke) was present. Instead of the self-produced downdraft carburetor (license Carter ) used Opel now Carburetor Solex / Zenith.

Sedan and wagon were equipped with fully synchronized three- or four-speed gearbox and steering wheel gearshift; the coupe had standard four-speed transmission and floor shift. Was for the 1900 model S - for the first time in the record - models - at extra cost, a two-speed fully automatic transmission, called Powerglide, available from GM, which, though soft switched, but the performance somewhat affected.

Optional was for the models with three-speed transmission, the automatic clutch " Olymat " available (similar Saxomat of Fichtel & Sachs). The system, a semi-automatic transmission, consisted of a centrifugal force- controlled clutch 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.

Today, the record B has become a rarity; between August 1965 and July 1966 caused a total of 296,000 copies. Even rarer are those based on the same body shape Opel Olympia - saving models that had only basic equipment and an actuated by means of steering wheel gearshift three-speed gearbox. It was the last Opel models, in which the heating cost an extra cost. The future Opel cars with the lettering Olympics were not saving versions of the record more, but luxuriously upgraded versions of the Kadett B.

Specifications

Swell

• Werner Oswald: German cars from 1945 to 1975. Engine book publishing house, Stuttgart 1975, ISBN 3-87943-391-7, pp. 91-94.