Opel (Olympia) Rekord P1
| Opel Olympia Rekord (1957–1959) Opel Rekord (1959–1960) Opel Rekord P1 (in retrospect) |
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| Overview | |
| Manufacturer | Opel (General Motors) |
| Production | 1957–1960 |
| Assembly | Rüsselsheim |
| Body and chassis | |
| Class | Executive car (E) |
| Body style | 2/4-door saloon 3-door station wagon 3-door van |
| Powertrain | |
| Engine | 1,196 cc I4 (Opel 1200) 1,488 cc I4 1,680 cc I4 |
| Transmission | 3-speed manual |
| Chronology | |
| Predecessor | Opel Olympia Rekord |
| Successor | Opel Rekord P2 |
The Opel Rekord P1 (branded for its first two years as the Opel Olympia Rekord P) was an executive car introduced in August 1957, in time for the Frankfurt Motor Show, by Opel as a replacement for the previous year's Opel Olympia Rekord. It was larger than its predecessor and featured a US-style eye-catching wrap-around windscreen and rear window, reminiscent of its General Motors Luton-built cousin, the Vauxhall Victor FA, which had appeared in England a few months earlier.
The Opel Rekord P1 sold very well, consistently achieving second place in the West German sales charts, beaten to the top slot only by the smaller and cheaper Volkswagen Beetle. The manufacturer departed from the habit established with the predecessor model of face-lifting the front grill and other trim details every year, but the P1 nonetheless experienced a relatively short production run. The P1 was replaced in Summer 1960 by the Opel Rekord P2, although the body of the Rekord P1 continued to be offered on the Opel 1200, itself a reduced specification version of the Rekord P1, until 1962.
Unlike the modern bodywork, the 1,488 cc ohv four-cylinder water-cooled engine was very little changed since it had first been offered in the Opel Olympia back in 1937. Claimed power output at launch was unchanged from the previous model's 45 hp (33 kW) at 3900 rpm. However, from July 1959 the compression ratio was increased, so that the 1,488 cc engine now offered a claimed 50 hp (37 kW) of maximum power: also, customers could now specify a larger 1,680 cc engine for which the published maximum power output was 55 hp (40 kW) at 4,000 rpm.
On 13 August 1957 the Opel Chairman presented the Opel Olympia Rekord P in the local town hall at Rüsselsheim. The "P" in the name stood for "Panorama", a reference to the view out of the wrap-around windscreen. However, in 1960 the successor model would appear, branded as the Opel Rekord P2, and at this point the car launched in 1957 became known retrospectively as the Opel Rekord P1. At a time when mid-range incomes were expanding fast on the back of West Germany's so called post-war "Wirtschaftswunder" (economic miracle) the Olympia Rekord targeted the family car market which was also a strength of the mother company in the United States.
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Wikipedia