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From cow shed to tree frog - the origins of Opel On January 21st 1863, Adam Opel, the son of a local locksmith, opened a sewing machine business in a disused cow shed in Rüsselsheim. Joined by his brothers Wilhelm and Georg, by 1867 the business was going so well that they built a new two-storey factory near the railway station. This included a house, to which Adam brought his new wife, Sophie, in 1868. She had brought a large dowry which helped the brothers expand the business and in honour of Adam’s new bride they named their latest range of sewing machines the “Sophia”. By 1899 half a million of the machines had been made and with more new models coming on stream they reached the magic million in 1911, at which point a catastrophic fire destroyed the part of the factory where they were made. Deciding not to continue with manufacturing sewing machines, they found they were actually a few units short of the one million mark, so had the required number hand made to satisfy the record book! But by this time the Opel family had taken wholeheartedly to wheels. And it really was a family business as Sophie had born Adam five sons between 1869 and 1880. The fascination with wheeled transport had started in 1884 when Adam ordered the parts for a “penny farthing” bicycle from England.  By 1886 they were producing their own machines and eldest son Carl went to England to bring back samples of the latest designs. The company now entered into full bicycle production using the expertise acquired in the volume manufacture of sewing machines. The brothers were very aware of the value of sporting success to their growing business and ensured that all the top racing cyclists carried the Opel name on their jerseys. They even had a unique “works” team, the five Opel brothers themselves, who were all top class competition cyclists. For publicity photos they made a special five seat machine. By the mid twenties Opel was the World’s largest producer of bikes, turning out 4000 a day using advanced equipment housed in pressurised assembly halls to ensure absolute cleanliness. In 1936, pressure on space required to increase car manufacture meant that the bicycle business was sold to NSU. Long before that, Adam fell ill with typhus after a business trip to the Low Countries and died before he could see any of the products that were to carry his name in the world of motoring. In 1885 Karl Benz and Gotlieb Daimler had become the pioneers of the automobile, spurring other Germans to try their hand as well. One such early adopter was Friedrich Lutzmann who built some 60 cars under his own name. The senior Opel brothers went to Berlin to see if Lutzmann would consider an association with the, by now, successful Opel company. Lutzmann duly moved to Rüsselsheim where a special Motorcar Department was established. An improved model was designed and the prototype Opel-Patent-Motorwagen was completed in 1898, with the first cars on sale the following year. Given the Opel brothers love of cycle racing it wasn’t long before Opel cars were entered in hill climbs and trials. However, they relied on Lutzmann for the car engineering and by 1900 it was obvious that he was unable to keep up with the new models coming out of France, where Renault and Panhard & Levassor were forging ahead with new ideas. The Opel brothers decided to close down the car manufacturing part of the business as it was proving a drain on their resources, particularly as they had a new motorcycle on the drawing board. A visit to Paris in 1902 saw Opel become the Renault agent for part of Germany but Renault was unable to supply sufficient cars, so another agreement was made with French manufacturer Darracq which gave Opel the scope to build their own bodies on Daracq chassis and even complete vehicles to Darraq designs. By 1904 Opel was doing both, producing Opel-Daracqs and Opel cars. Fritz Opel regularly competed in the speed events of the day and the Opel name was soon established in the automobile business. By 1912 annual production had reached 3202 and trucks, aero engines, tractors and ploughs had been added to the product line-up. The factory was continually expanded and motor sport remained the key promotional activity. Fritz received a personal prize from the hands of Kaiser Wilhelm II for being the first German cars to finish in the prestigious Kaiserpreis International race (3rd & 4th). Grand prix racing was the next sporting venture with team entries for the 1913 & 1914 French event. In 1914 the GP Opels were in the UK for the August Brooklands meeting when war broke out between Britain and Germany. The cars stayed in Britain and were raced after the war by Sir Henry Seagrave. For the duration of the war, production concentrated on aero engines and trucks, although a prototype six-cylinder car was constructed with the post-war market in mind. However defeat for Germany dashed all thoughts of post-war prosperity and in 1918 the Opelwerke were occupied by French troops and much of the production machinery destroyed. Out of this destruction came a new works and a new way of producing and selling cars. The Opel brothers were respected senior industrialists who were honoured by the State and allowed to adopt the aristocratic “von” as part of their family name. The only exception was Fritz, who was presumably considered unworthy because of his racing activities! The next generation of the Opel family was now active in the business and new buildings were prepared for the start of peacetime car production in 1919. Concentrating on small side valve models, Opel gradually increased production and the first dealer network was appointed. All did not run smoothly though as Rüsselsheim suffered in the twenties with communist inspired labour insurrection and the location of the plant within the 31 mile wide “demilitarised  zone“ to the east of the Rhine made getting raw materials and even money near impossible. In 1923 only 910 cars left the plant. Incredibly the Opel name was kept alive on the track by Fritz von Opel (the grandson of Adam) and Carl Jörns who raced Opel single seaters in local and national events. In 1924 the senior brothers decided on a strategy that would transform the company. Wilhelm von Opel had travelled to the USA where he had marvelled at the model T Ford production line. It was fashionable in Europe at the time to dismiss the work of Ford, Ransom Olds and Henry Leland who were pioneering what was to become known as mass production. It was felt that it would not appeal in the more sophisticated European market, but Wilhelm thought otherwise and he carried the rest of the family. Once the decision was made they moved with speed and precision. All the old belt driven machinery was torn out of the works and a new moving line installed. A single model strategy was decided upon, the car in question being a 4-cylinder design purchased from Andre Citroen and known in France as the type C or 5CV. Thus was born Germany’s first mass produced car. Painted mainly in green, the car soon earned the nickname of “Laubfrosch“(tree frog). The success of this venture can be judged by Opel production figures, which leapt to 43,000 by 1928 and to six figures by 1935. Gradually new versions of the Laubfrosch appeared (precipitating a law suite with Citroen) and then larger Opel designed cars adopting contemporary American design features. The zenith of this policy was the Regent six litre straight-eight which used Packard styling cues and although only 25 were made, projected Opel into the world of state occasions and fashionable social gatherings. Opel also found the time to indulge in one of the most bizarre experiments ever carried out by a motor manufacturer. In conjunction with young engineer Max Valier, they embarked on a series of RAK (rakete or rocket) rocket propelled cars which proved to be of enormous publicity value to Opel, if of dubious value to the progress of the automobile. In 1928 the brothers felt it was time to secure the future of the company by seeking a purchaser. By now Opel had a network of 736 dealer outlets and was unchallenged in Germany as the foremost producer of low-priced cars. The German car industry was important, but in global terms it was not able to compete with the US giants and neither did it have the significant empire that allowed the UK manufacturers to thrive. The brothers were very aware that General Motors had bought Vauxhall in 1925, a miniscule manufacture by Opel standards. GM had also opened an assembly plant for US cars in Berlin in 1927, so the von Opels decided to write to GM. GM President, Alfred P Sloan, liked the idea of affiliation with established overseas producers and pushed the Opel case forward. After a relatively swift courtship, which involved Opel forming Adam Opel AG, GM bought Opel in 1929 for just over 33 million dollars, valuing Opel at thirteen times that of Vauxhall. The history of Opel now follows the familiar path outlined in A-Type to Zafira-a Short History of Vauxhall Motors Limited. Opel and GM engineers combined to design a new range for launch in 1931, paralleling the UK Cadet.  Throughout the thirties Opel continued to expand, the Kadett, Olympia, Kapitan and Admiral models mirroring the  H,J and G models at Vauxhall, albeit with completely separate mechanicals but something of a family resemblance, due no doubt to the common US influence on design. This pattern was repeated after the Second World War when products with a family resemblance to the L, E and F Vauxhalls once more propelled Opel up the sales leagues. A strong design department was established as the Technical Design Centre in Rüsselsheim. Strong export markets were developed, new plants opened and gradually GM began to focus its European car engineering activities in Rüsselsheim and its truck and van activities in Luton. The UK eventually became an export market for Opel. This period and the models now familiar to us from this time are covered in From Olympia to Monza - Opel in the UK. © Ian Coomber 2006 All photographs from Adam Opel AG