Adam Opel AG (Opel) is a German automobile manufacturer headquartered in Russelsheim, Hesse, Germany, and a subsidiary of General Motors Company. The company designs, engineers, manufactures and distributes Opel
-branded passenger vehicles, light commercial vehicles and vehicle parts for distribution in Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. Opel designed and manufactured vehicles are also sold under the Buick brand in the United States, Canada, Mexico and China, the Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand and the Vauxhall brand in the United Kingdom.
Opel traces its roots to a sewing machine manufacturer founded by Adam Opel in 1862. The company began manufacturing bicycles in 1886 and produced its first automobile in 1899.
Opel became a share-limited company (German: Aktiengesellschaft) in 1929; United States-based General Motors took a majority stake in Opel that same year. General Motors assumed full control in 1931 and today Adam Opel AG is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors Company. Although Adam Opel AG continues to be a share-limited company, shares of the company are not publicly listed. Adam Opel AG is the parent company of General Motors UK Limited, better known as Vauxhall, and various other General Motors subsidiaries.
During the 1970s and 1980s, Opel and Vauxhall ranges were rationalised into one consistent range across Europe.
Adam Opel Wiki
Adam Opel History Heritage
Opel Blitz German for "lightning") was the name given to various German light and middle-weight truck series built by the German Adam Opel AG automobile manufacturer between 1930 and 1975. The original logo for this truck, two stripes arranged loosely like a lightning symbol in the form of a horizontally stretched letter "Z", still appears in the current Opel logo.
Mercedes L701 Da der Mercedes-Benz L 3000 gegenuber dem Opel Blitz 3,6-36 S nicht uberzeugen konnte und dringener Mangel an brauchbaren Lkw herrschte, wurde Mercedes-Benz ab 1943 gezwungen, den Opel Blitz 3,6-36 S in Lizenz zu fertigen. Der L 701, so die Bezeichnung des Fahrzeuges, war jedoch mehr als ein reiner Nachbau. So unterscheidet er sich vor allem durch das Einheitsfahrerhaus, dass von Anbeginn der Produktion Verwendung fand. Die Hinterachse ist die gleiche wie beim Opel Blitz 6700 A und an der Kuhlermaske befindet sich naturlich kein "Opel Blitz"-Schriftzug. Ganz spate Varianten tragen keine Kotflugel an der Hinterachse und Felgen mit nur vier anstelle von acht Offnungen.
Opel Blitz 6700A Even after June 1940 , official connections between Opel and America were not broken and monetary gain continued throughout the war which was controlled by the J.P Morgan firm, the Russelsheim plant was never given a major role in Germany's war preparations. Neither was Ford's plant in Cologne considered trustworthy enough for a big assignment, such as tank manufacture, in view of their earlier foreign associations. Initially, of course, it had appeared that the war would be a short one settled in Germany's favour. Auto plants were shut down, to conserve resources, but not converted to other jobs.
When in 1942 it became clearer that the fighting would go on for a while, car and truck factories were switched to war work in a modest way, Opel taking up the production of aircraft parts and tanks. Only at the Brandenburg plant did truck manufacture roar ahead at full speed. From the end of 1938 onward to big Opel Blitz trucks had been powered by the same basic 3.6 L engine used in the Opel Admiral. To meet the growing demands of wartime, 3 short tons (2.7 t) trucks of Opel design were built under license by Daimler-Benz at the former Benz factory at Mannheim.
Only the strong resistance of the American government within whose zone of occupation Russelsheim was located, prevented the total dismantling of the entire Opel plant as reparations in Russia. GM had no say in these discussions and was not sure just what posture to take toward its subsidiary. GM's Alfred Sloan recalled:
"(Opel) had been seized by the German government soon after the war began. In 1942 our entire investment in Opel amounted to about $35 million, and under a ruling which the Treasury Department had made concerning assets in enemy hands, we were allowed to write off the investment against current taxable income. But this ruling did not end our interest in, or responsibility for, the Opel property. As the end of the war drew near, we were given to understand that we were still considered the owners of the Opel stock; and we were also given to understand that as the owners, we might be obliged to assume responsibility for the property." It was a responsibility that Sloan and his associates weren't at all sure was worth the risk in the chaos of postwar Europe...
Âíåäîðîæíûå òðàíñïîðòíûå ñðåäñòâà (Land Locomotion – Mechanical Vehicle Mobility LL-MVM) Home