Opel
Opel Automobile GmbH, usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since January 16, 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Group prior to its merger with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles to form Stellantis in 2021. Most of the Opel lineup is marketed under the Vauxhall brand in the United Kingdom since the 1980s. Some Opel vehicles were badge-engineered in Australia under the Holden brand until 2020, in North America and China under the Buick, Saturn, and Cadillac brands, and in South America under the Chevrolet brand.
Opel traces its roots to a sewing machine manufacturer founded by Adam Opel in 1862 in Rüsselsheim am Main. The company began manufacturing bicycles in 1886 and produced its first automobile in 1899. With the Opel RAK program, the world's first rocket program, under the leadership of Fritz von Opel, the company played an important role in the history of aviation and spaceflight: Various land speed records were achieved, and the world's first rocket-powered flights were performed in 1928 and 1929. After listing on the stock market in 1929, General Motors took a majority stake in Opel and then full control in 1931, making the automaker a wholly owned subsidiary, establishing an American ownership of the German automaker for nearly 90 years. Together with British manufacturer Vauxhall Motors, which GM had acquired in 1925, the two companies formed the backbone of GM's European operations – later merged formally in the 1980s as General Motors Europe.
In March 2017, PSA Peugeot Citroën agreed to acquire Opel, the British twin sister brand Vauxhall and the European auto lending business from General Motors for €2 billion, making the French automaker the second biggest in Europe, after Volkswagen.
Opel is still headquartered in Rüsselsheim am Main. The company designs, engineers, manufactures, and distributes Opel-branded passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles, and vehicle parts; together with its British sister marque Vauxhall, they are present in over 60 countries around the world.
History
1862–1898
The company was founded in Rüsselsheim, Hesse, Germany, on 21 January 1862, by Adam Opel. In the beginning, Opel produced sewing machines. Opel launched a new product in 1886: he began to sell high-wheel bicycles, also known as penny-farthings. Opel's two sons participated in high-wheel bicycle races, thus promoting this means of transportation. In 1888, production was relocated from a cowshed to a more spacious building in Rüsselsheim. The production of high-wheel bicycles soon exceeded the production of sewing machines. At the time of Opel's death in 1895, he was the leader in both markets.1898–1920
The first cars were designed in 1898 after Opel's widow Sophie and their two eldest sons entered into a partnership with Friedrich Lutzmann, a locksmith at the court in Dessau in Saxony-Anhalt, who had been working on automobile designs for some time. The first Opel production Patent Motor Car was built in Rüsselsheim early 1899, although these cars were not very successful and the partnership was dissolved after two years, following which Opel signed a licensing agreement in 1901 with the French Automobiles Darracq France to manufacture vehicles under the brand name Opel Darracq. These cars consisted of Opel bodies mounted on Darracq chassis, powered by two-cylinder engines.The company first showed cars of its design at the 1902 Hamburg Motor Show. Production began in 1906, with the licensed Opel Darracq version discontinued in 1907.
In 1909, the Opel 4/8 PS model, known as the Doktorwagen was produced. Its reliability and robustness were appreciated by physicians, who drove long distances to see their patients back when hard-surfaced roads were still rare. The Doktorwagen sold for only 3,950 marks, about half as much as the luxury models of its day.
The company's factory was destroyed by fire in 1911, and a new facility was built with more up-to-date machinery.
Opel's cars were initially tested on public roads, leading to complaints about noise and road damage. Under public pressure, Opel began construction of a test oval in 1917. The track was completed in 1919, but not open to the public until 24 October 1920 under the official name of Opel-Rennbahn.
1920–1939
In the early 1920s, Opel became the first German car manufacturer to build automobiles with a mass-production assembly line. In 1924, they used their assembly line to produce a new open two-seater called the Laubfrosch. The Laubfrosch was finished exclusively in green lacquer. The car sold for an expensive 3,900 marks, but by the 1930s, this type of vehicle would cost a mere 1,930 marks – due in part to the assembly line, but also due to the skyrocketing demand for cars. Adam Opel led the way for motorised transportation to become not just a means for the rich, but also a reliable way for people of all classes to travel.Opel had a 37.5% market share in Germany and was the country's largest automobile exporter in 1928. The "Regent" – Opel's first eight-cylinder car – was offered. The RAK 1 and RAK 2 rocket-propelled cars made sensational record-breaking runs.
Opel as a company and its co-owner Fritz von Opel, grandson of Adam Opel, were instrumental in popularizing rocket propulsion for vehicles and have an important place in the history of spaceflight and rocket technology. In the 1920s, Fritz von Opel initiated together with Max Valier, co-founder of the "Verein für Raumschiffahrt", the world's first rocket program, Opel-RAK, leading to speed records for automobiles, rail vehicles and the first manned rocket-powered flight in September 1929. Months earlier in 1928, one of his rocket-powered prototypes, the Opel RAK2, piloted by von Opel himself at the AVUS speedway in Berlin, reached a record speed of in front of 3,000 spectators and world media representatives, including Fritz Lang, director of Metropolis and Woman in the Moon, world boxing champion Max Schmeling, and many other sports and show business celebrities. A world speed record for rail vehicles was reached with RAK3 at a top speed of. After these successes, von Opel piloted the world's first public rocket-powered flight using Opel RAK.1, a rocket plane designed by Julius Hatry. World media reported these events, including Universal Newsreel in the US, causing "Raketen-Rummel" or "Rocket Rumble" immense global public excitement, particularly in Germany, where, among others, Wernher von Braun was highly influenced.
Opel RAK became enthralled with liquid propulsion, building and testing them in the late 1920s in Rüsselsheim. According to Max Valier's account, Opel RAK rocket designer, Friedrich Wilhelm Sander launched two liquid-fuel rockets at Opel Rennbahn in Rüsselsheim on 10 and 12 April 1929. These Opel RAK rockets were the first European, and after Goddard, the world's second, liquid-fuel rockets in history. In his book Raketenfahrt Valier describes the size of the rockets as of in diameter and with a length of, weighing empty and with fuel. The maximum thrust was 45 to 50 kp, with a total burning time of 132 seconds. These properties indicate a gas pressure pumping. The first missile rose so quickly that Sander lost sight of it. Two days later, a second unit was ready to go, Sander tied a -long rope to the rocket. After of rope had been unwound, the line broke, and this rocket also disappeared in the area, probably near the Opel proving ground and racetrack in Rüsselsheim, the "Rennbahn". Sander and Opel also worked on an innovative liquid-propellant rocket engine for an anticipated flight across the English Channel. By May 1929, the engine produced a thrust of 200 kg "for longer than fifteen minutes, and in July 1929, the Opel RAK collaborators were able to attain powered phases of more than thirty minutes for thrusts of 300 kg at Opel's works in Rüsselsheim," again according to Max Valier's account.
The Great Depression led to an end of the Opel-RAK program, but Max Valier continued the efforts. After switching from solid-fuel to liquid-fuel rockets, he died while testing and is considered the first fatality of the dawning space age. Sander's technology was confiscated by the German military in 1935. He was forced to sell his company and was imprisoned for treason. He died in 1938.
In March 1929, General Motors, impressed by Opel's modern production facilities, bought 80% of the company. The Opel family gained $33.3 million from the transaction. Subsequently, during 1935, a second factory was built at Brandenburg for the production of "Blitz" light trucks. In 1929 Opel licensed the design of the radical Neander motorcycle and produced it as the Opel Motoclub in 1929 and 1930, using Küchen, J.A.P., and Motosacoche engines. Fritz von Opel attached solid-fuel rockets to his Motoclub in a publicity stunt, riding the rocket-boosted motorcycle at the Avus racetrack.
After acquiring the remaining shares in 1931, General Motors had full ownership of Adam Opel AG and organized it as a wholly owned subsidiary. In 1935, Opel became the first German car manufacturer to produce over 100,000 vehicles annually. This was because of the popularity of the Opel P4 model. The sales price was 1,650 marks and the car had a 1.1 L four-cylinder engine achieving a top speed of.
File:Bundesarchiv Bild 183-2007-0910-500, Brandenburg, Lkw-Produktion.jpg|thumb|upright|Opel Blitz assembly at the Brandenburg plant, 1936
Opel also produced the first mass-production vehicle in Germany with a self-supporting all-steel body, closely following the 1934 Citroën Traction Avant. This was one of the most important innovations in automotive history. Launched in 1935, the Olympia was light and its aerodynamics enhanced performance and fuel economy.
The 1930s was a decade of growth, and by 1937, with 130,267 cars produced. Opel's Rüsselsheim facility was Europe's top in terms of vehicle production, and ranking seventh worldwide.
1938 saw the presentation of the highly successful Kapitän. With a 2.5 L six-cylinder engine, all-steel body, front independent suspension, hydraulic shock absorbers, hot-water heating, and central speedometer. 25,374 Kapitäns were made before the intensification of World War II brought automotive manufacturing to a temporary stop in the autumn of 1940, by order of the government.