From sewing machines to bicycles to automobiles – Opel’s history is rich in treasures. But there are also some products “Made in Rüsselsheim” that have been forgotten. To mark the company’s 160th birthday, we tracked down a dozen “OPEL SECRETS” in the archive.
01 The frosty bestseller
In the 1950s, the refrigerator was the dream of many German housewives. One of the most desirable models is the “Frigidaire” – and this brand shares a history with Opel. Thousands of refrigerators were manufactured in Rüsselsheim. How did this happen? Frigidaire had been building refrigerators since 1916, and in 1918 the company was bought by General Motors. From the mid-1920s, business boomed and demand rose sharply worldwide. And so the GM subsidiary Frigidaire is also expanding to Germany. Frigidaire GmbH was founded in Berlin in 1926, and Opel from Rüsselsheim began supplying components for the Berlin assembly line in 1931. On October 1, 1938, the main plant in Rüsselsheim finally takes over the complete assembly of the devices. From 1949 onwards, refrigerators produced in Hesse bear the words “Product of Adam Opel AG” in their logo. After a design relaunch in 1954, the brand even became the market leader in West Germany. From the mid-1950s, however, Opel wanted to concentrate on the booming automobile production – and so the decision was made to discontinue Frigidaire production in 1959. The refrigerators for the European market will then only come from the plants in Hendon/London and Gennevilliers/Paris. By the way, Frigidaire still exists today, the brand now belongs to a Swedish company.
02 The giant for the field
Huge steel wheels, in front of it a huge engine, behind it a sprawling metal skeleton – what is that, please? A motor plow! In 1911, Opel presented this monumental agricultural machine. At its heart was a newly developed 60 hp engine with a displacement of ten liters. The aggregate was in front of the wheels to counterbalance the driver and the six plowshares behind. With the colossus, Opel wants to offer farmers an alternative to the steam plow. Because the motorized plow can be operated by just one person. The product description promises “to be able to plow ten to twelve hectares a day on medium-heavy soil”. That would have made the farmer’s work much easier. Would. As it turned out, the arable land in the Rhine-Main area was too small for the device to be used sensibly. Production was put on hold, then World War I broke out and the project was not pursued any further. What remains is the historical peculiarity that Opel was one of the first companies in the motor vehicle industry to develop an agricultural vehicle.
03 Take to the skies
In addition to the motor plow, the year 1911 saw another premiere in store – the Opel aircraft engine. The demands on aircraft engines in terms of reliability, smooth running and performance had increased enormously around 1910. A challenge that the Rüsselsheim engine builders were only too happy to take on. The 65 hp water-cooled Opel four-cylinder is extremely light at around 130 kilograms. The basic technical design is based on the engines of the large Opel motor cars of the time. The new unit will make its first major appearance at Darmstadt Airport. The maiden flight of an Opel engine, carried out by aviation pioneer August Euler in a biplane of his own make, was attended not only by 71-year-old Sophie Opel and her five sons, but also by Prince Heinrich of Prussia and Grand Duke Ernst Ludwig of Hesse. Six-cylinder aircraft engines were also later manufactured by Opel. But these are licensed productions during the First World War. The designs of Argus (Type As III O) and BMW (Type IIIa O) betray their Rüsselsheim origin by the suffixed letter “O”. Shortly before the end of the war, the Opel specialists construct a nine-cylinder aircraft engine with 200 hp, which is still being tested on the test bench but never leaves the factory.
04 What winegrowers want
It is no secret that company founder Adam Opel began manufacturing sewing machines in 1862 and that his wife Sophie and his sons only dedicated themselves to automobile construction four years after his death. But only a few know that Opel also produced winery machines for ten years from 1885 and was thus very successful on the German market. At the suggestion of local winegrowers, Adam Opel included “capsulators”, i.e. cork machines, in his production program and thus became the first German supplier of such products. Despite the good demand, a problem soon became apparent: the cork machines were a seasonal business. The sewing machines and bicycles that the company had been producing since 1887, on the other hand, kept the production facilities busy all year round. And so, after Adam Opel’s death in 1895, the sons sold the entire production of winery machines to Opel employees Bloche and Lorenz. They became self-employed and continued to benefit from the good reputation of the “Opel cork machines”.
05 Motor meets two-wheeler
Opel called its first motorcycle Motorzweirad in 1901 – the narrow, long-legged vehicle can hardly deny its descent from the bicycle. But even the premiere model characterized the design that was to prevail in the years that followed – the engine was installed in the frame, the rear wheel was driven by a belt. With an engine power of 1 ¾ hp, the vehicle drove up to 40 km/h. And achieved good success on the market – other models followed. The last Opel motorcycle was the Motoclub 500, which was offered from 1928 to 1930. Although modern prototypes were being tested, General Motors, the new majority shareholder, pushed for the cessation of this Opel production branch in 1930.
06 Hub, Hub, Hooray!
On the initiative of Heinrich Müller, then foreman of the transport department in Rüsselsheim, Opel developed a lifting van in 1936. And it was also available on the open market for 3,750 Reichsmarks. With a payload of three tons and a lifting height of two meters, it was considered groundbreaking at the time. The centerpiece was a 1.5-liter engine with 37 hp/27 kW, as was also used in the Blitz Eintonner and the 1938 Olympia. Its fuel tank held 30 liters. It was actually supposed to be driven at a maximum of 40 km/h, but easily managed more. Around 300 were built. In 1940 Opel sold the production under license to another German vehicle manufacturer. The main customers were the Deutsche Reichsbahn and Deutsche Post. In 1976, around 60 Opel Blitz lift vans were still in use. A copy now has its place in the German Agricultural Museum in Hohenheim near Stuttgart. And Heinrich Müller is still known to vehicle historians today as “Hubmüller”.
07 Very close to what is happening in the world
During the Weimar Republic, the film industry was booming, movie theaters were springing up like mushrooms, and millions of people flocked to the cinemas. Not only to watch movies, but also to find out about world events, social, cultural and sporting events in newsreels. From the mid-1920s there was the “Opel-Wochenschau”, a news compilation sponsored by the automobile company from Rüsselsheim. Individual excerpts from the “Opel-Wochenschau” from 1926 and 1927 are archived in the Federal Archives in Koblenz. You can see short film sequences about the opening of the Zugspitzbahn, the 300-year celebrations in New York, but also “The driveway of the award-winning Opel cars” in a flower parade in Frankfurt or daring stunts with vehicles bearing the Opel logo. As was usual with newsreels at the time, the contributions are a silent sequence of films, with information panels displayed in between. What seems unspectacular today was electrifying for viewers back then. For the first time, they were able to take part in events from all over the world with their own eyes.
08 Beware of the predatory fish!
The hidden shark at Opel has become a nice tradition: the animal first appeared in the Corsa in 2006. How did he end up there? At home, Opel designer Dietmar Finger drew a few drafts of the outer slats of the glove compartment. His son looked over his shoulder and asked: “Dad, why don’t you just draw a shark?” So he drew a predatory fish, showed the draft to his superiors and colleagues – and they were thrilled. From then on, the shark spread to all new Opel models. The head interior designer is allowed to place it in the interior at the end of the development and design process – without revealing where. And so the idea has now become a popular “Easter Egg”: A hidden gift that inspires customers when they receive their new Opel and go looking for it.
09 The Olympic-ready bob
Under the project name “LP 13”, Rüsselsheim engineers designed a bobsleigh especially for the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, USA. Where, however, curiously enough, he was not used. The story begins as early as 1977: Opel designers were commissioned to give the bobsleighs of the German Bobsleigh and Sled Association (DBSV) special paintwork. The Rüsselsheim-based company came up with the idea of not only doing cosmetics, but of completely redesigning the sports equipment. The association agrees! Under Opel direction, an innovative shape is worked out in the wind tunnel and a completely new steering system is developed. In addition, the runners are equipped with springs and damping. Initial tests show that the four-man and two-man bobsleighs are 0.65 and 1.35 seconds faster per run than the previous models – in top-class sport that is worlds. But to ensure a level playing field, the federation only lets athletes compete in the old traditional bobsleds during qualification. And that means: The qualified teams first have to familiarize themselves with the futuristic Opel Bob. But there isn’t enough time for that – in particular, the drivers cannot master the innovative steering perfectly in the short term. The risk is too high, the DBSV withdraws the Opel bobs. “These devices were way ahead of their time – too far,” recalls bobsleigh legend André Lange. It is undisputed that the Opel Bob has had a lasting influence on the design of sports equipment up to the present day.
10 The art of lightweight construction
The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) in New York houses one of the world’s most important collections of contemporary art. And since 2008, the “Bone Chair” has belonged to this collection. It was designed by the Dutch artist Joris Laarman – based on data from the Rüsselsheim development center. The aluminum chair was presented in the special exhibition “Design and the Elastic Mind” together with an engine mount from an Opel Vectra. Like the “Bone Chair”, the motor mount was designed according to biological construction principles. Bionics is the name of the scientific discipline that systematically analyzes the construction and growth principles from nature and applies them to technical developments in the vehicle industry. The goal: to reduce the weight of components while increasing strength – a lightweight design based on nature’s example. Rüsselsheim engineers have developed a simulation program that transfers the natural growth rules of trees, for example, to the development of components. The result: Components such as the engine mount are a quarter lighter and at the same time 60 percent more stable.
11 With Opel power in Formula 1
The photo shows Michael Schumacher in 1990 on the way to his first title in the German Formula 3 Championship. In the rear of his Reynard 903: the legendary Opel two-liter 16V engine. From 1990 Opel was not only a sought-after engine supplier in Formula 3 – the 2.0 16V engine from Rüsselsheim became the most successful racing engine of all. Many later Formula 1 stars learned the intricacies of single-seater racing with Opel power behind them: Rubens Barrichello, David Coulthard, Giancarlo Fisichella, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Mika Häkkinen, Nick Heidfeld and Ralf Schumacher. In Germany alone, Opel clinched 164 Formula 3 victories and a further 30 national championship titles around the world. Jos Verstappen (1993), Jarno Trulli (1996) and Nick Heidfeld (1997) won championship honors in the German Formula 3 with Opel engines.
12 Useful Attachments
It was once advertised as “light metal”, the practical Opel car trailer made of aluminum for business, small transport, leisure and holidays. In the associated brochure from 1981, six versions are offered in four sizes each, which makes a proud 24 variants. The largest version was 2.20 meters long and had a payload of one ton. Unfortunately, the single-axle vehicles did not have a lightning bolt emblem, for example on the loading flap. Then the few remaining copies would certainly be very sought-after collector’s items. In 1913, Opel already had a trailer in its range. However, it was a two-ton, two-axle vehicle with a drawbar that was intended for trucks.
November 2022
Texts: Eckhart Bartels, Tina Henze, Leif Rohwedder, Eric Scherer Photos: Opel Classic Archive, Federal Archives, private