Opel

Opel, originally and more correctly known as Adam Opel AG is an automobile maker in Germany. It opened for business on January 21, 1863 and at first made household goods, like sewing machines. The founder died in 1895, with his company the leader in European sewing machines sales and producing over 2,000 bicycles yearly. Then by 1899 as the Opel company started to build cars. However, two years later, following the dissolution of his partnership, Opel's son signed a licensing agreement with Automobiles Darracq S.A. of France to manufacture vehicles under the brand name "Opel-Darracq." The vehicles were Opel bodies mounted on a Darracq chassis, powered by a 2-cylinder engine.

Since 1929, Opel has been part of General Motors. Many cars sold by General Motors worldwide are Opel designs, including such models as the Corsa, Astra, Vectra and Omega. Opel models are also sold under other GM brand names, such as Vauxhall in the UK, Holden in Australasia, and Chevrolet in Latin America. Its Zafira people carrier was sold in Japan badged as a Subaru Traviq, while the Omega was briefly sold in the US as the Cadillac Catera. Other models sold in the U.S., but slightly modified, include the Saturn L-series, Chevrolet Malibu and Cobalt, and the upcoming Saturn Aura. The Pontiac LeMans (1989-1994), which was the first cars produced by Daewoo in South Korea for export to North America, were based on the Opel Kadett (now Astra) and larger Rekord (now Omega). Opels appeared under their own name in the US in the late Sixties, when they were sold through Buick dealers as captive imports.

Opel is the main GM brand name in Europe except in the UK, where GM's other European subsidiary, Vauxhall Motors, still uses its own brand name. Vauxhall's models were completely different designs from those of Opel, until the 1970s. The Opel name largely disappeared from the UK in 1981 after Vauxhall and Opel dealerships were merged, with only the Manta and the Monza (the coupe version of the Senator) being sold as Opels, until they were discontinued in 1988 and 1987 respectively.