Opel Kadett A - 64

The Opel Kadett is a small family car produced by the

German automobile manufacturer Opel between 1937 and

1940, and then again from 1962 until 1991 (the Cabrio

continued until 1993), when it was replaced by the Opel

Astra.

History

The first Opel car to carry the Kadett name was presented to the public in December 1936 by Opel's Commercial-Technical director, Heinrich Nordhoff, who would in later decades become known for his leadership role in building up the Volkswagen company. The new Kadett followed the innovative Opel Olympia in adopting a chassis-less monocoque  construction, suggesting that like the Vauxhall 10 introduced in 1937 by Opel's English sister-  company, the Opel Kadett was designed for high volume low cost production.

Kadett series 11 234 (1937)

For 1937 the Kadett was offered as a small and unpretentious two door "Limousine"  (sedan/saloon) or, at the same list price of 2,100 Marks, as a soft top "Cabrio-Limousine". The  body resembled that of the existing larger Opel Olympia and its silhouette reflected the  "streamlining" tendencies of the time. The 1,074cc side-valve engine came from the 1935  Opel P4 and came with the same listed maximum power output of 23 PS (17 kW; 23 hp) at  3,400 rpm.  The brakes were now controlled using a hydraulic mechanism. The suspension featured  synchromous springing, a suspension configuration already seen on the manufacturer's larger  models and based on the Dubonnet system for which General Motors in France had purchased the license. The General Motors version, which had been further developed by Opel’s North  American parent, was intended to provide a soft ride, but there was some criticism that  handling and road-holding were compromised, especially when the system was applied to  small light-weight cars such as the Kadett. By the end of 1937 33,402 of these first  generation Kadetts had been produced.

Kadett "KJ38" and "K38 Spezial" (1938-1940)

From December 1937 a modified front grill signalled an upgrade. However, the 1,074cc Opel  23 PS (17 kW; 23 hp) engine and the 2,337 mm (92.0 in) wheelbase were unchanged, and it  would have taken a keen eyed observer to spot the difference between the cars for 1937 and those for 1938.  The manufacturer now offered two versions of the Kadett, designated the "Kadett KJ38 and  the "Kadett K38" the latter also being sold as the "Kadett Spezial". Mechanically and in terms  of published performance there was little to differentiate the two, but the "Spezial" had a  chrome stripe below the window line, and extra external body trim in other areas such as on  the front grill. The interior of the "Spezial" was also better equipped. To the extent that the  300 Mark saving for buyers of the car reflected reduced production costs, the major  difference was that the more basic "KJ38" lost the synchromous springing with which the car  had been launched, and which continued to be fitted on the "Spezial". The base car instead  reverted to traditional rigid axle based suspension similar to that fitted on the old Opel P4.  The base car was available only as a two door "Limousine" (sedan/saloon). Customers looking  for a soft-top "Cabrio-limousine" would need to specify a "Kadett Spezial". For the first time  Kadett buyers, provided they were prepared to choose a "Kadett Spezial" could also specify a  four-door "Limousine" (sedan/saloon) bodied car, priced at 2,350 Marks as against 2,150 Marks  for a "Spezial Cabrio-Limousine" and 2,100 Marks for a two-door "Spezial Limousine"  In marketing terms the "Kadett KJ38" was intended to fill the niche that Opel had recently  vacated with the departure of the Opel P4, but the KJ38, priced at 1,800 Marks, was more  expensive than the P4 and its reduced specification left it with the image of a car for poor  people (..Image des Arme-Leute-Autos..) at a time when economic growth in Germany was  finally fostering a less minimalist approach to car buying. The "Kadett K38 Spezial" fared  better in the market place: in 1938 and again in 1939 it was Germany's the top selling small  car. By May 1941 the company had produced 17,871 "Kadett KJ38"s and 56,335 "Kadett K38  Spezial"s. 

Commercial

Competitive pricing led to commercial success, and Kadetts continued to be produced during the early months of the war: by the time production ended in May 1940, following  intensification of World War II, 106,608 of these Opel Kadetts had come off the assembly line  at Opel's Rüsselsheim plant, which had been the first major car plant in Germany to apply  the assembly-line production techniques pioneered by Henry Ford.

Soviet afterlife

After the war, Opel production facilities from Brandenburg an der Havel (trucks) were crated  up together with the production line plant and tooling from the Ruesslesheim (cars) plant  and transported to the Soviet Union, along with the drawings and plans for the Kadett, as  part of a larger reparations package agreed upon by the victorious powers. From 1948, the  prewar Kadett was manufactured as the Moskvitch 400/420 and continued to be produced,  very little changed, on the edge of Moscow until 1956.

1964

Engine 993 cc 4 cylinders Power 40 HP Top Speed 120 km/h Weight 700 kg The collections Kadett is restored to as new condition. During the time of restoration the importer Metro-Auto sold out last spares for this model. That made a full engine and technical restoration a breeze.