Opel Ascona

The Opel Ascona was a midsized car produced by Opel, the German subsidiary of General Motors. It had three generations produced from 1970 to 1989.

Ascona A

In the fall of 1970, Opel presented its completely new vehicle range in Rüsselsheim (internal project code 1.450). The Opel Manta coupé was launched on September 9, followed by the Opel Ascona on October 28 in two and four-door sedan forms, plus a three-door station wagon, called the Caravan or Voyage. These models were positioned between the existing Opel Kadett and the Opel Rekord.

The Opel Ascona was developed to as a competitor to the successful Ford midsized car, the Taunus). The Opel Ascona A stayed in production until 1975. At that time, almost 692,000 vehicles of the first series were produced.

The range featured petrol engines from 1.2L to 1.9L, with power between 60PS (44kW) and 90PS (66kW). The 1.2L had an OHV head, while the 1.6L and 1.9L adopted SOHC. All used a single barrel carburettor. Even with this simple design, the Ascona 1.9 SR had a successful career in motorsports, with Walter Rohrl winning the European Rally Championship in 1974. Tuner Steinmetz developed a special version of the Ascona SR, with two single-barrel Solex carburettors, lifting power to 125PS (92kW).

A small number were exported as the "Opel 1900" to the United States, sold through Buick dealerships as the Buick-Opel. They were eventually replaced by versions of the smaller Opel Kadett.

Range:

• 1.2 S - 1196cc, 60PS (44kW)
• 1.6 N - 1584cc, 60-68PS (44-50kW)
• 1.6 S - 1584cc, 75-80PS (55-59kW)
• 1.9 S - 1897cc, 88-90PS (65-66kW)

Ascona B

The second generation Opel Ascona B was presented in the 1975 Frankfurt Motor Show. It was available as a two or four-door sedan. There were related two and three-door coupé models in the Opel Manta range. There was no estate body.

The Ascona B retained the same engine range as its predecessor, although the 1.9L was increased to 2.0L in 1978, and versions with higher compression ratio and needing 98 octane gas, dubbed S, were available alongside the 90 octane models. The 2.0 SR and model had standard fuel injection, and a diesel motor was added to the Ascona B range in 1978.