Gregor von Opel thought about it for a while, but apart from the bicycle he couldn’t think of anything that would have had a comparably spectacular renaissance. From invention to obscurity to rediscovery: This is how the career of the two-wheeler can be summed up. That applies in general, but also to the bicycles of the Opel family. In both cases, the disappearance and return have to do with the car.
Adam Opel initially built sewing machines in the 19th century. When the Rüsselsheim entrepreneur brought a penny-farthing onto the market in 1886, Opel was one of the very first bicycle brands on German roads. The sons expand the factory and also race themselves. Sometimes they ride the quintuplet, a tandem for five. But just before the Second World War, the family business stopped producing bicycles. The car, which the sons only started to manufacture after the death of the founder, is simply too successful. “At that time, only those who couldn’t afford a car rode a bike,” says Gregor von Opel, Adam Opel’s great-grandson. The bike only becomes a device for sport and leisure when the car has made people comfortable.