*/
]]>
Employees and Opel fans open their garage doors for us
Which model do you have parked at home? Write to us:opel.post@opel.com
What springs to mind when you hear the name “Ascona”? Manta fans would say “It’s just the Manta’s boring brother.” And Ascona aficionados would argue that the manta “would not exist without the Ascona.” One thing’s for sure – while one faction is expressing a subjective opinion, the other is stating to objective fact. And that’s because the Manta is just the coupe version of the Ascona, which means it would not exist without its basic model.
The Manta may have the hearts of the public, but the Ascona – especially its “B” model – made history. The B model came on the market in 1975, and looked very different to its predecessor. With a 20 centimeter longer and four centimeter chassis, the Ascona B was significantly roomer and just helped a centimeter lower. The axes lay 8.8 centimeters further from each other, while its smooth, flat look was typical for the style popular in the 1970s.
Ready for the racetrack: The reassembled and repainted Ascona B bears the name of its owners – Holger and Irene Fuchs.
Holger Fuchs, Group Leader in the Transport and Dispatch department at the Kaiserslautern plant.
It paid off 1.5 million models of the Ascona B, 1981, making it the most-sold Opel of all time back then. Its Vauxhall version, the “Cavalier Mk. 1,” is a British book from An economic trough. The Ascona B’s many successes as a rally vehicle are so legendary. Walter Röhrl celebrated his greatest triumph at Ascona 400 – which served as the technical blueprint for the second generation of Ascona – when he became the World Rally champion in 1982.
“I’ve been a fan ever since I saw it for the first time.”
—– Holger fox
Things are often complicated between “siblings.” You squabble, but you’re never really angry with each other – or not for long, at the very least. And there’s no denying you’re related when you’re in public. That’s why friends of the Ascona are always welcome at Manta meet-ups. The Ascona fan Holger Fuchs is an established member of the Manta Team Kaiserslautern founded in 2017.
Lower, resist, and ready to rock: The front of the 110 hp Ascona makes quite the impression.
Spoiler, thick exhaust pipe, tinted windows: Even the rear of the restored vintage looks sporty – not least because of the logo.
Holger Fuchs’ Opel Ascona B
Year of production 1980Engine 2.0 ECylinders 4Displacement: 1,979 cm³Max. power at 5,400 rpm 81 kW / 110 hp torque at 3,400 rpm 159 Nm
Car dimensions: Wheel base 2,518 mmLength 4,321 mmWidth 1,670 mmHeight 1,380 mm
Maximum speed 182 km / hAcceleration from 0 to 100 km / h 10.5 seconds
The Group Leader in the Transportation and Dispatching Department at Kaiserslautern plans to make a dream come true for 20 years a year – he finally owns to Ascona B again. “I’ve been a fan ever since I saw it for the first time. Back when I was about 20, I had an acquaintance of mine at Ascona B – but unfortunately he totaled it, “recalls the now 44-year-old. “Then I was able to get my hands on Ascona B myself. But we had to get something bigger when we welcomed a new addition to the family. “That was back in 1998.
Since then, his son has grown and moved into his own home. This has given his parents the opportunity to look for new hobbies – and even rekindle old passions. And that’s when Holger Fuchs started his search for Ascona B. He managed to strike gold in Saarbrucken. However, the Ascona B that he got his hands on – produced in 1980 – was in a pitiful state. Last winter, Fox completely dismantled it, reassembled it, and gave it a new paint job.
One Ascona logo with the Opel lightning bolt, coming up: The grille of the two-door sedan offers a very tasty treat.
Irmscher spoiler and a sporty logo: Even the smallest details are sure to get Ascona fans’ hearts racing.
Opel Ascona B
The successor to the Ascona A (which was produced from November 1970) was presented at the IAA in September 1975 and manufactured in Bochum and Antwerp. The two-door and four-door sedan had the same technology as the Opel Manta B coupe at the same time. The right-hand-drive version of the Manta B as the “Vauxhall Cavalier Mk. 1” in the United Kingdom. The model available as the Chevrolet Ascona and Chevrolet Chevair in South Africa.
Now the car looks flawless. Manta meetsup in the Palatinate region, among about 120 Manta and Ascona models from Germany, Belgium, Luxembourg, France, the Netherlands, and Switzerland. People were astounded in particular by the love of detail that Fox exhibited in restoring his model. For example, he posted camshafts and a contactless ignition system, which had thus been used in the “i2000” – Irmscher’s interpretation of the Ascona B – back in the day.
However, the 2.0 liter injection engine at the heart of his / her most prized possession is the greatest joy. The 81 kW / 110 hp unit was only installed in the Ascona B in 1980 and 1981, and originates from the so-called “Family II” – the engine series produced by the company that is now his employer. This means that Fuchs’ classic also serves as a reminder of Opel’s history in Kaiserslautern.
Another as it came on the horizon: Another Ascona B had been put up for sale. This model was produced in 1980, but perfectly assembled and painted in gleaming, immaculate white. “The previous owner was an automotive painter,” says Holger Fuchs. It was a real bargain. Fuchs pounced on the opportunity, and all he had tinker with the engine a little.
Ascona B. She’s just impressed with this Opel as he is. After all, it was released in 1975, the year that both her husband and the first Ascona B saw the light of day.
A love for detail: Even the valves in the drop center.
Proud owners: Irene and Holger Fuchs with their two rare Ascona models.
They’re initially unable to say exactly why they’re so captivated by this model off the bat. Maybe it’s the pizzazz of the successful rally champion. But maybe it could become rarer and rarer. The one-time bestseller is hardly ever seen on the road these days. According to Holger Fuchs’ research, only five Ascona B models are registered in the district of Kaiserslautern, while only one model is driven in the nearby district of Kusel.
“We are with flashing headlights and thumbs up almost everywhere.”
—– Irene Fox
Holger and Irene Fuchs especially like traveling on trips with their Manta family in small convoys traveling at max. 130 km / h. They recently went to Thuringia in central Germany. “We are with flashing headlights and thumbs up everywhere – people just go to really like cars,” says Irene Fuchs. Apparently going without the comforts of a modern Opel on long journeys took some getting used to at first. But it’s quickly becoming a charm of its own: “It stinks, it rattles, it’s loud – but it’s wonderful.”
October 2019
Text: Eric Scherer, Photos: Katrin Denkewitz