Eckhart Bartels was struck by lightning when he saw offer number 1082 in the lists of the Automobilia Ladenburg auction house: there are not many people who, looking at the eight inconspicuous black-and-white photos, would have recognized the sensation behind them. But the Opel expert immediately notified Opel Classic boss Leif Rohwedder, who bought the photos at auction a little later. The eight shots – they show a small van designed as a forward control vehicle.
The project name is noted in pencil on the back next to the stamp of the Opel photo department at the time: 1.5-23 COE. A sketch of it had been known to Eckhart Bartels for years. “I would never have dreamed that a roadworthy test vehicle of the model already existed,” says the automobile historian, who is also responsible for the Opel yearbooks. For Opel Classic boss Leif Rohwedder, the discovery is nothing more and nothing less than a “bang in the automotive history”. Various media have even described the find as a sensation. Why?
1 The rear-hinged car door, called the suicide door, makes getting in and out very convenient.
2 The windscreen wiper is attached to the top of the windscreen frame. The side mirror is wide.
3 Vans and trucks carried the Opel Blitz name from the 1930s. Art Deco elements adorn the front.
4 The bumper protrudes, behind which there are steps for the driver and front passenger.
5 The hubcaps painted in the vehicle color bear Opel lettering. The tires are from Continental, type Aero.
6 The brake light and the lighting for the number plate are located above the number plate holder.
7 The spare wheel is stored in a separate compartment under the loading area.
“I would never have dreamed that a test vehicle that could be driven would exist.”
– Eckhart Bartels –
First of all, because the concept on which this Opel Blitz variant is based was revolutionary for the time – the mid-1930s: a transporter without a bonnet, equipped with a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine that hummed under the passenger compartment – hence the abbreviation COE, “Cab over Engine”. Before the outbreak of the Second World War, such vans were only available in small numbers in the USA, Germany and France. And although it was called a “transporter”, the vehicle weighed just a thousand kilos and had a wheelbase of just 2.40 metres. This made it compact and manoeuvrable, and yet it offered maximum space for passengers and cargo within its dimensions.
On hidden paths
As is usual with such auctions, the seller remained anonymous. It will therefore never be possible to trace back how the recordings left the technical documentation in Rüsselsheim and which route they then took. In the turmoil of war, in which the prototype was probably also destroyed, the pictures could have ended up in private hands. Until she discovered a descendant – “or even the cleaning lady, I’ve already experienced everything,” says Bartels.
The inner values: The 1.5-liter four-cylinder comes from the Opel Olympia.
However, the search for clues did not end there. With the photos in their hands, the Opel Classic team in Rüsselsheim turned the company archive inside out to see if there was anything there that pointed to the existence of the lost Opel model. And indeed: there was a board record from October 1937 in which the project was mentioned. And an English-language information brochure from the same period, which states that there should even be another variant of the vehicle: a 1.5-ton truck with a six-cylinder engine and twin tires.
progressive concept
Discoverer Eckhart Bartels enjoys the many details revealed by the recordings. The engineers and designers designed the body of the front handlebar Blitz to be straightforward and functional. A basically streamlined design and the large smooth surfaces underline the modernity of the concept. The black fenders are a reference to the existing Opel commercial vehicles and ensure a visually homogeneous appearance of the model range. The car gets its progressive character from the striking front with art deco decorative elements. Without exception, they emphasize the horizontal and give the commercial vehicle a modern and friendly face. “A delivery van with sympathy factor – a completely unusual sight at the time,” says the discoverer of the recordings.
Straightforward and functional: the streamlined design and the large, smooth surfaces underscore the modernity of the concept.
IN SCALE 1:43 Those responsible at Opel Classic had a miniature model made of the prototype of the early pickup truck – true to scale and in the colors of the time. In this way, the mini-van is intended to be a very vivid reminder of what it actually is – the ancestor of modern commercial vehicles, with which everything began. The 1:43 scale model is now also available in the online shop of the model car provider “Autopioneer”.
The inner values of the transporter are based on Opel’s many years of experience. At the time, the Rüsselsheim engineers were able to use components from other models – such as the brand-new 1.5-liter four-cylinder from the Olympia or the axles from the tried-and-tested Blitz-Eintonner. Apart from the bulkhead, loading floor and part of the roof, the body is an advanced all-steel construction passenger compartment,” explains Bartels. Unfortunately, test reports no longer exist. However, intensive test drives must have been undertaken with the prototype, because the photos show clear signs of wear, such as a bend in the bumper or scratches on the fender, although they have been retouched.
It stays with the prototype
Why was the project never realised? On this one can only speculate. The most plausible: German war preparations in the second half of the 1930s prevented it. Light commercial vehicles were classified as not essential to the war effort, and Opel had to reckon with the vehicle being forced to stop. The Blitz-Eintonner with a hood, which had been on the market since 1933, was then taken off the market in 1940 on instruction. Vehicle production resumed in the second half of the 1940s with the only slightly modified pre-war models Olympia, Kapitän and Blitz 1.5-tonner. And from the 1950s, Opel then successfully concentrated on the development of passenger cars and initially set the entrepreneurial focus here.
The eight historical photos that have now surfaced show a groundbreakingly designed compact Opel Blitz transporter that is fully developed and ready to drive. After an intensive search, another document was found in the Opel archive that mentions the vehicle: an English-language information brochure for the 1937 model year.
Compact, modern – electric
At the same time, Opel was also continuously developing the range of delivery vans, which ultimately culminated in today’s successful commercial vehicle trio of the compact Opel Combo, the all-rounder Opel Vivaro and the biggest of the bunch, the Opel Movano. Here Opel is once again a pioneer. Because the entire range of commercial vehicles with the Blitz is already available as battery-electric. Not only that: With the Vivaro-e HYDROGEN, the engineers have developed a hydrogen fuel cell transporter that can be refueled in just three minutes.
October 2022
Text: Eric Scherer, photos: Opel