The History Of OPEL Kadett

The Opel Kadett is a small family car produced by the German automaker Opel between 1937 and 1940, then from 1962 to 1992.

Delta in South Africa used the Opel Kadett name until 1999.

In 1929, Adam Opel AG of Rüsselsheim, Germany, was acquired by General Motors. The Opel brand was maintained in various markets.

In 1937, the first Opel Kadett was added to the Opel range. Production was interrupted by World War II.

Production facilities of the Kadett were transported to Russia after the war, and thus this early Kadett formed the basis for the Moskvitch 400/ 420.

The first Opel Kadett after the war appeared in October 1962; 649,512 cars were built until July 1965. It was later called the Kadett A. In addition to the standard saloon there was an L (luxury model), a coupé, and an estate (called Caravan). The new Opel OHV engine was available as 1.0 with 40hp (30 kW) and as 1.0 S with 48hp (36 kW).

British TV presenter Richard Hammond paid £1200 in Botswana, Africa, for a yellowish green 1963 Kadett for use in a 2007 Top Gear challenge (series 10, episode 4). Though it leaked loads of petrol and had only one working front brake, Richard emotionally bonded to the Kadett almost instantly, claimed it was "the happiest car in the world" and named it "Oliver". Oliver ran flawlessly until Hammond sank it in water over the bonnet trying to ford a river; Hammond, refusing to admit defeat, worked all night to get Oliver running again. On the next episode, Richard admitted he loved Oliver so much that he shipped Oliver to the UK, saying: "Oliver loves me so he is coming home." Co-host Jeremy Clarkson quipped, "He only wants a British passport." Finally in England, Oliver makes occasional reappearances in the TV studio including on the November 2nd edition of the show when Hammond had to hill start a lorry in front of Oliver as part of the HGV challenge. Oliver now co-stars in TV show "Richard Hammond's Blast Lab" on kids channel CBBC.

The Opel Kadett B was sold from 1966 to 1973, with two- and four-door saloons (the latter in notchback and, from 1967, also in fastback form), a three-door estate, and two coupés (regular and fastback, or Coupé F). There was a sporting Opel Kadett Rallye, with a 1.9L engine. Additionally, the two-seat Opel GT was heavily based on Kadett B components, its body made by a French contractor, Brissonneau & Lotz.

A "luxury" derivative of the Kadett B was sold as the Opel Olympia A.

The Kadett was sold in the United States through Buick dealers from 1967 till 1972 simply as the Opel. US models were later granted the front end and trim of the new Opel Olympia, introduced in 1966 as an upmarket version of the Kadett. Kadett A and B were technically simple cars whose task was to compete with the market leader, the Volkswagen Beetle. This lack of sophistication caused the USA car magazine Car and Driver to publish a highly critical test of the Kadett in 1968 featuring photos of the car in a junkyard. Reportedly, GM withdrew any ads from that magazine for several months as a consequence.[citation needed]

Variations

The Kadett C appeared in 1973, and was Opel's version of General Motors' "T-Car", also built in Japan by Isuzu and sold as the Isuzu Gemini in Asian markets and Australia and many other names. In South Korea, Daewoo Motors built a version known as the Daewoo Maepsy.

The Kadett C formed the basis of the British Vauxhall Chevette, which had a restyled front end and launched with a hatchback body, in addition to using a 1256cc OHV (over-head valve) Vauxhall engine rather than the 1196cc OHV Opel engine. The Chevette made the Kadett C notable by allowing it to become Opel's first hatchback — a version named City-Kadett was based on the Chevette's hatchback body. Although Kadett C production ended in 1979, the Chevette was produced until January 1984. Unusually for Vauxhall models, the Chevette was imported to Germany starting in 1979 to satisfy the needs of the rear wheel drive traditionalists and was quite a success for a year or two.[citation needed]

The Kadett C today is a cult car in Germany, especially in fastback (coupé) form. The most sought after versions of the Kadett C Coupé are the Rallye and GT/ E models. These models were built first with the Bosch fuel injected 1897cc OHC (over-head cam) Opel engine, and followed by the updated 1998cc OHC engine. Right-hand drive versions of these sports models are now rarely seen.[citation needed]

A very rare version was the Aero-Kadett, an open-top Kadett with targa roll bar, detachable roof insert and a separate convertible top aft of the roll bar (like the contemporary Lancia Beta Spider. This car was built in very limited numbers by Karosserie Baur in Stuttgart.

The Kadett C reached the United States as the Buick–Opel. In reality, however, this was an Isuzu Gemini; an updated version of this car was marketed in the USA as the Isuzu I-Mark in the early 1980s.

In Brazil, the Kadett C was released six months before its European release, as Chevrolet Chevette. It was available with a choice of three petrol engines, in 1.4L, 1.6L, and 1.0L displacements (the latter available only for the 1992/ 3 model year); 1.4L and 1.6L versions were also available running on ethanol. This Chevette went through several redesigns — first front and rear panels similar to the Opel version, then a look similar to the British Vauxhall Chevette, and finally a design reminiscent of the updated USA Chevrolet Chevette version. It was available in several different bodies: hatchback (1979–87), estate (called Chevrolet Marajó, 1980-89), pickup (Chevy 500, 1984–95) and saloon (1973–93). The Chevette sold over 1.6 million units in Brazil, being replaced by the Chevrolet Corsa.

The fourth generation car, introduced in 1979 and known as the Kadett D. The British version of the Kadett D was known as the Vauxhall Astra Mark 1, and was launched in April 1980, though the Opel version had gone on sale in Britain on 14 November 1979. All models were designed as three or five door hatchbacks and estates or station wagons. There were also two and four-door sedans, which used the same bodyshells as the hatchbacks, but these were soon dropped. That means that this car came in 2-3-4 or 5 door versions - utilizing an identical side body profile.

Technologically, the Kadett D was a major departure, as it was Opel and Vauxhall's first front wheel drive car. It also introduced the Family II engine design with an single overhead camshaft, aluminium alloy cylinder head, hydraulic valve lifters, with capacities of 1300 and 1600cc, and had a unique transaxle design which allowed the clutch to be replaced without removing the transmission unit. Later, an 1800cc version was introduced for the Kadett/ Astra GTE model. This range of engines was also used for later models of the Corsa/ Nova, and the mid-sized Cavalier/ Ascona. The Kadett D was also equipped with a 1600 cc diesel engine that was possible to drive as cheap as 5.0 L/ 100 km.

The Kadett E was introduced in 1984, and was voted Car of the Year in 1985, largely due to its advanced aerodynamic body styling. The 1984 model was also developed into a more conventional "three box" design with a boot (trunk), badged as the Vauxhall Belmont in the UK and the Opel Monza in South Africa. A convertible version was also available, for the first time in 1987, built by Bertone of Torino/ Italy. For the 1988 model, capacities were raised to 1400, 1800 and a new 2000cc engine, again used on the GSi and Vauxhall Astra GTE. In 1988, a 16-valve twin-cam version was developed for a high performance GSi/ GTE model, yielding 156hp (115kW) in manufactured form.

The Kadett E has been seen as a grey import in the UK, however it is not as popular as the Vauxhall Astra. It was never officially sold in Britain, and by 1989 General Motors was only marketing the Vauxhall brand in the UK, however the Opel brand is sold in Ireland.

In the late 1980s and early 1990s, South African Kadett GSi's were upgraded for touring car competitions and around 500 were built for homoligation purposes. They featured more aggressive cams, a locally developed limited slip differential and special 15" wheels, they were nicknamed the Superboss, produced 125kW (168hp).

The Kadett E was introduced in Brazil as the Chevrolet Kadett, but the three-door station wagon was called the Chevrolet Ipanema.

It formed the basis of the Daewoo LeMans (later known as the Daewoo Cielo, Racer and Nexia) in South Korea, and also as Heaven in Chile (Nexia being the HB version), which was sold in the United States and New Zealand as the Pontiac LeMans, and in Canada (initially) as the Passport Optima. LeMans sales ended in 1993. The Nexia is still being produced at UzDaewoo plant in Asaka, Uzbekistan. The Cielo was last being produced at a semi-independent (from GM) plant in Craiova, Romania (the license expired in fall 2006).

In 1992, GM Europe decided to standardise model names across its two brands, and Opel adopted sister company Vauxhall's name for the Kadett, Astra, for the replacement car which débuted that year, for Europe. Only in South Africa did the Kadett name continue on the first Opel Astra hatchback, until 1999, when all models took the Astra name.