Opel Kapitän


The Opel Kapitan is an executive car made in several different generations by the German car manufacturer Opel from 1938 to 1970.

Kapitän (1938–1940)

The Kapitan was the last new Opel model to appear before the outbreak of the Second World War, developed during 1938 and launched in the spring of 1939 at the Geneva motor show. The first Kapitan was available in many different body styles, the most popular one being the 4-door saloon. 2-door coupe cabriolets were also built. The pre-war Kapitan featured a unitary body, an innovative feature for its time; it was studied by the Soviet engineers and heavily influenced the design of the GAZ-M20 Pobeda. The Kapitan inherited its 2.5-litre engine from its predecessor: in this application a maximum speed of 118 km/h was reported.
Civilian automobile production by Opel ceased in the fall of 1940, by which time 25,371 Kapitans had been produced: a further three were assembled during 1943, giving a total production volume for the version launched in 1939 of 25,374. In addition, 2 were assembled in 1946, and one in 1947, but these were not officially recorded in the statistics.
Included in the production total were 248 of the two-seater cabriolets built for Opel by independent coach builders :de:Gläser-Karosserie GmbH|Gläser of Dresden and Hebmüller of Wülfrath in Wuppertal. There would, however, be no resurrection for the cabriolet Kapitans in 1948 when the sedan version was reintroduced.

Kapitän (1948–1950)

In October 1948, the Kapitan was reintroduced as Germany's first post-war six-cylinder automobile. It would have made sense to start building the Kapitan a year earlier, as the engine was also used in the Opel Blitz trucks at the time, but the occupation regulations prohibited civilian sales of passenger cars of over 1.5 liters' displacement. Initial production was reserved for the occupying powers, but sales to private customers started in 1949. There was no sign of the wide range of coupé and cabriolet bodies that had broadened the model's appeal in the 1930s: the 1948 Kapitan was offered only as a saloon/sedan, based on the 1939 version.
The main differences from the pre-war model were round headlights as opposed to hexagonal ones, as well as improved leaf springs and dampers. From May 1950 the dashboard was redesigned and the shifter was relocated from the floor to the steering column. With, the first post-war Kapitän could reach a top speed of, needed 29 seconds to reach, and consumed in the process.
Up to February 1951, 30,431 Kapitans were built.

Kapitän (1951–1953)

The 1951 Kapitan, introduced in March 1951, was a stylistically slightly modernized version of the old model; technically it was much the same. The engine's compression ratio rose from 6.0:1 to 6.25 to 1, its output from to.
From the outside the car was readily distinguished from the first post-war Kapitans, thanks to an abundance of chrome and a US style grill at the front. This was the most modern large mass-produced car in Europe during the immediate pre-and postwar years. Competitive Mercedes models with flat, upright, one piece windshield and external headlights seemed from another age in spite of their greater prestige value. The result was that this solidly built and comfortable car lost rapidly in value and maintenance effort, with few second-hand buyers being able to afford to tax and insure a 2.5-litre engine at the time. Power later increased to, as better petrol quality allowed manufacturers to increase compression ratios.
From March 1951 up to July 1953, Opel built 48,562 cars of this series.

Kapitän (1953–1958)

In November 1953, Opel launched a completely new Kapitan that was longer and wider than its predecessor. Carried over was the six-cylinder engine, though its compression ratio was raised to 7.0:1, giving initially. For 1955, output rose to and it was further enhanced to for 1956. The ´54 featured a revised rear live axle, a rear stabilizing bar and slightly enlarged drum brakes.
Model year 1956 saw a mild facelift with a more up-to-date grille, bezeled headlights, larger front indicator lights and revised side trim. The ´56 reached a top speed of and consumed.
From May 1957, a semi-automatic three-speed overdrive transmission with an additional fourth gear became available on request.
From November 1953 to February 1958, 154,098 Kapitans were built. In its time, this generation was the third-most popular car in Germany behind Volkswagen´s Beetle and Opel's own Rekord.

Kapitän P1

The 1958 Kapitan, introduced in June 1958, was both wider and lower than its predecessor, and featured panoramic windows. It won some plaudits for its American-inspired "dream-car" styling, but there were also critics who pointed out that the extent of the wrap-around front and rear windows, along with the slope of the rear roof-line, restricted the driver's view out unnecessarily and made the rear doors very narrow: many back seat passengers, once they had negotiated their way onto the back seat had headroom issues.
This time, the 2,473 cc six cylinder engine had its maximum output raised to at 4,100 rpm. Wheelbase, track widths, length and width were all slightly increased, while a flatter roof made the car some lower.
The P1 was built only for one year. From June 1958 to June 1959, 34,282 were produced, which was fewer cars than the annualized output of either its direct predecessor or of its direct successor.

Kapitän P2 (1959–1963)

The P2 Kapitan came to market in August 1959 and while it still had the panoramic windshield, it gained a new grille and a redone body with a more angular roof and a new rear. It was driven by a stronger new, over square 2.6-liter-inline six, still of OHV and pushrod design. Carried over were the 3-speed and 4-speed overdrive transmission; the latter was replaced from December 1960 by a version of GM´s 3-speed Turbo-Hydramatic automatic.
The P2 climbed to a top speed of, reached in 16 seconds and consumed.
From August 1959 to December 1963, Opel built 145,618 units of this Kapitan series. No other Opel Kapitan model, before or subsequently, achieved such a high production level.
The large Opels were never dominating players in their market segment on the same scale as the smaller Rekord and Kadett models, possibly due to the strength of Mercedes-Benz in the big car sector. Nevertheless, the highpoint for the big Opels was 1960 when together the Kapitan and Admiral were Europe's top-selling six-cylinder saloons, with nearly 48,000 sold.

Kapitän A (1964–1968)

In 1964, Opel introduced the completely new KAD models; the Kapitän served as the base model of this three-tier model range.
It was powered by the same engines as the contemporary Opel Admiral, namely a 2.6 l-inline six or a 2.8 l-six; a few Kapitäns even received the Chevrolet-sourced 4.6-liter V8. For the Austrian market, 580 Kapitän and Admiral models received a 2.5-liter six with an output of in 1966 and 1967.
Like its more expensive brethren, the Kapitän was reworked in late 1967 and received rub strips, a new ZF steering and a collapsible steering column. At the same time, a new HL version of the 2.8-liter six became available that put out.
Sales of the Kapitän A fell sharply off; up to its discontinuation in November 1968, a total of 24,249 cars left the factory.

Kapitän B (1969–1970)

The Kapitän B was introduced in 1969 and was the last car bearing the Kapitän name. Engine options included a 1-bbl 2.8-liter inline-six or a 2-bbl version of same, coupled with a 4-speed manual or Opel's 3-speed automatic transmission.
Production ended in May 1970. The Admiral and Diplomat lived on for another seven years until they were replaced by the Senator in 1978.
Only 4,976 Kapitän B models were built in 15 months.

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