Opel GT Walkaround

Above is a 1969 Opel GT 1900 listed for sale
Back in 2015 I posted "Opel's Corvette-Like GT."  Since then, better images have appeared on the Internet, so this might be a good time for a Walkaround post about the design.

Opel GT's Wikipedia entry is here.  And its link to Clare M. "Mac" MacKichan, who was in charge of Opel styling when the GT project was launched, is here.  It mentions: "Based on Opel Kadett mechanicals, and with a body designed by Erhard Schnell, MacKichan was the driving force behind creation of the GT."

Also mentioned is that MacKichan worked on Corvette styling before being assigned to Opel in 1962. That included work on the redesigned 1963 C2 Corvette, some of whose prorportions are echoed in the GT design.  However, the main Corvette influence was the C3 Corvette that entered production in 1968.

C3 Corvette, probably a car-for-sale photo. Opel GT production also began in 1968, so there surely was communication between General Motors styling staffs in the USA and Germany during development of styling.  Main similarities are the front end and fender designs.

The walkaround car below is a 1970 Opel GT 1900, photos via Gallery Aaldering.

Gallery

Another front-quarter view: compare to the Corvette image above.

Headlight assemblies rotated to exposed position.

Proportionally long hood with the driver's head positioned abaft of the wheelbase center.

No attempt made to relate the shapes of the backlight and rear-quarter windows.

Aft sculpting, bumpers and tail lights are similar to those of C3 Corvettes.

Simple shapes and no chrome trim aside from window framing.

Body is that of a coupe and not a B-pillarless hardtop.

An attractive design, very much in the 1960s General Motors idiom set by styling honcho Bill Mitchell.

As noted, quite similar in concept to the C3's front end.

Opels with Panoramic Windshields

The fashion (fad?) of panoramic ("wraparound") windshields was launched in the 1954 model year on General Motors' Oldsmobile, Buick and Cadillac brands.  High-priced special convertible model Oldsmobiles and Cadillacs had such windshields in 1953, but fewer than a thousand of those cars were made.

General Motors' Opel brand in Germany finally got panoramic windshields several years later.  Opel's Rekord P1 was introduced in August of 1957 and the Kapitän P1 the following June.  A redesigned P2 was marketed starting August of 1959.  Panoramic windshields were eliminated on subsequent models.

Elsewhere in Europe the only significantly numerous cars with panoramic windshields were Vauxhalls, from GM's British subsidiary.

Images below are either factory publicity photos or are of cars listed for sale.

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On the left is an Opel Olympia Rekord, and on the right is an entry-level Opel Olympia.

Opel Rekord P1 (1957-59)
Most Rekords were two-door models such as this.  The grille and side trim are suggestive of similar features on Buicks.  Buick sold Opels in North America at that time, so similar brand identity features were considered useful marketing tools.

The A-pillar leans forward, similar to GM B-body Oldsmobiles and Buicks.  The C-pillar leans backwards, yielding a backlight window whose shape echoes, but does not quite match the windshield.  The chrome strip the fender is Buick's Sweepspear style.

The sharp tail light assemblies-cum-fender-tips added to the car's visual and actual length.

Side view of a four-door Opel Rekord P1.

Opel Kapitän P1 (2.5), 1958-59
This model was in production for only one year due to lack of market acceptance perhaps caused in part by the narrow rear door and possibly cramped rear seating.  Features including the front forward of the B-pillar and the backlight window seem similar to those of the Rekord.  As of the time this post was drafted, I do not know if there was true commonality.

The rounded crown of the passenger compartment is typical of mid-1950s General Motors styling.

As with the Rekord, the fenderline is lengthened by the tail lights.

Opel Kapitän P2 (2.6), 1959-63
The new P2 2.6-litre Kapitän's wheelbase is the same as the P1's, but the body is slightly longer.

The roof and the body abaft of the B-pillar are different, though it's possible that frontal components were shared with the P1.  Again, I don't know for sure.  But the front half has rounded features while the back half of the car is flatter, more angular.

Rear fenderline length is increased by mini-tailfins instead of tail lights.  Practicality matters aside, I prefer the design of the P1 Kapitän to the P2s.

Postwar East German Horch Designs

Germany's luxury Horch brand, Wikipedia entry here, was based in Zwickau, Saxony.  At the end of World War 2 Zwickau was part of the Russian occupation zone that in 1949 became the DDR (Deutsche Demokratische Republik), commonly called East Germany.

I posted about some magnificent prewar Horch's here and here.  Marxist ideology required "equality," so Communist bloc countries built very few luxury cars, and only for top leadership use.  Therefore, Horch ceased to be a luxury brand, being reduced to something like lower-midlevel Western makes.

This present post presents the Horch (later Sachsenring) P240 produced during the second half of the 1950s.  Also shown is the prototype of a luxury model that never saw production.

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1938 Horch 930 Limousine
An example of a prewar luxury Horch.

Horch P240 - photo via Autobilder
The Horch P240 was launched in 1955.  This is an early model with vertical grille bars.  (By the way, Autobilder translates as "car pictures.")

Horch P240 - photo via Autobilder
Styling was slightly awkward, but in line with similar size Western European cars.  Included was a curved windshield and wraparound backlight, both probably imported from West Germany.  The two-tone paint scheme was in line with current USA fashion.  Note the side chrome trim, as something similar will be seen below.

1958c Horch-Sachsenring P240
The design lookes better in monochrome.  The restyled grille design seems to have been inspired by ...

1952 Delahaye MS Coupé by Henri Chapron - Bonhams photo
Delahaye was a French luxury brand in its last legs in the early 1950s.

1954 Opel Kapitän
A roughly equivalent West German car was General Motors' Opel Kapitän.  This appeared while the P240 was under development.

1956 Opel Kapitän
Here is the Kapitän's 1956 facelift that appeared the model year after the P240 was launched, but perhaps its design was frozen in the spring of 1955 when the P240 was first displayed.  Its side chrome trim is not identical to that of the Horch, but quite similar in concept.

1950c Horch 920S prototype
An evolution of the prewar Horch 930S Stromlinie design.

1950c Horch 920S prototype
The tall windows and low hood reduce what otherwise would be considerable visual bulk related to the slab sides.

General Motors Conceptual Twins: Opel Kapitän vs. Vauxhall Velox and Cresta

For many years General Motors rotated some American stylists through its European subsidiaries Opel (in Germany) and Vauxhall (in England).  Therefore, it isn't surprising that some Opel and Vauxhall models had similar apprearances that include more than a dash of Detroit automobile fashion.

The subjects of today's post are the short-lived (1958-59) Opel Kapitän P1 and the 1957-1959 versions of the Vauxhall Cresta PA and Vauxhall Velox PA.  Also included are images of similar Chevrolet and Buick features.

Unless noted, images below are factory-sourced or are of for-sale cars.

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1958 Opel Kapitän P1
Significant features include panoramic (wraparound) windshields and backlight windows, along with C-pillars that blend into the beltline.

1959 Vauxhall Velox PA - Vauxhall Heritage photo
The slightly smaller Vauxhall has similar windows, but the C-pillar is narrower and fails to blend.  That said, it appears that the cars might have shared some structural elements.

1958 Opel Kapitän P1, for-rent photo
The Kapitän's backlight is a one-piece affair.

1959 Vauxhall Cresta PA
Whereas Vauxhall's had three-segment backlights.

1957 Oldsmobile
Note the similarity to this American GM design's backlight.

1962 Vauxhall Cresta PA - for sale in Australia
Later Vauxhall PAs received one-piece backlights.

1958 Opel Kapitän P1, image via Autobild
Now for some comparative side views.  The Kapitän's wide C-pillar is similar to that of ...

1957 Buick Roadmaster Hardtop Sedan
Buick Super and Roadmaster hardtop sedans of the 1957 model year had this window design, also some Cadillacs.

1959 Vauxhall Velox PA
Whereas the Vauxhalls' C-pillars are similar to those on ...

1958 Chevrolet Biscayne Sedan
1958 Chevrolet and Pontiac four-door sedans had this window treatment.

Some Opel Kapitän Facelifts

German automobile maker Opel (Wikipedia entry here) was purchased by General Motors around 1930, eventually selling it in 2017.

In the late 1930s GM sent Frank Hershey and other stylists, including Strother MacMinn, to Opel.  The first "Americanized" design was that of the new Opel Kapitän line, launched in the spring of 1939.  (Kapitän zur See was a German naval rank, corresponding to a US Navy or Royal Navy rank of Captain, not the lesser army Captain rank.  By the way, a German army captain is called a Hauptmann.)

Kapitän production ended in 1940 due to World War 2, and did not resume until 1947 using the prewar body.  There was a major facelift for the 1951 model year followed by a 1954 redesign and its 1956 facelift.  These are discussed below.  Images are either factory sourced, of cars listed for sale, or from sources I could not identify for certain.

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Opel Kapitän Modell 1939
Seen from this angle, the car has a strong American appearance.  The passenger compartment seems very late-1930s, as is the grille.  The most advanced feature is the front fenders extending over the front doors, something GM did not introduce in the USA until the 1941 Cadillac Sixty Special and then for most of its 1942 line.

On the other hand, the rear had a European character.  Note the backlight windows and the spare tire mounted on the trunk lid.

Opel Kapitän Modell 1947
1947 Kapitäns were nearly identical to prewar cars.  The main difference was use of standardized sealed-beam headlights that required modest reshaping of the front fender faces.

From this perspective the Kapitän could easily be confused with a USA 1942 General Motors car.  Its rear end was essentially unchanged, however.

Opel Kapitän Modell 1951
A facelifted 1951 Kapitän seen from a similar angle.  The grille and hood have been redesigned, the former using bold chromed shapes in the contemporary American vein.

Closer view of the revised front end.

Side view.  Chrome trim was added along the beltline and over the rear fender.  But the major change was a new, longer rear end.  No more fastback with a spare tire cover.  Instead a bustle back similar to American practice.

Rear quarter view showing the new design.

1947 Chevrolet Fleetmaster
An example of 1940s General Motors' American styling: Note the similarity of the passenger compartments.

Opel Kapitän Modell 1954
Here is a retouched publicity image of the redesigned 1954 Kapitän.  The body is of the postwar "envelope" ilk, but poorly shaped.  Perhaps unavoidable from a packaging standpoint is the high roof crown.

The oddest features are the after curve of the fender combined with the beltline extension aft to the projecting tail light assemblies.  There is a certain logic to that feature, though the result strikes me as being especially awkward.

Side view of the 1954 design.

Opel Kapitän Modell 1956
Side view of the 1956 facelift.  The main charge is the addition of more chrome.

The front got a new grille, hood and "frenched" headlight bezels that provided a more contemporary style.

Tail light assemblies were restyled, but the result was little or no improvement.  The three-piece backlight is now one-piece.  The 1958 model year saw another redesign.