Opel Rekord P1

Opel Olympia Rekord (1957–1959)
Opel Rekord (1959–1960)
Opel Rekord P1 (in retrospect)
Overview
ManufacturerOpel
Production1957–1960
AssemblyGermany: Rüsselsheim
South Africa: Port Elizabeth
Body and chassis
ClassLarge family car (D)
Body style2/4-door saloon
3-door estate
3-door van
2-door pickup (South Africa)
Powertrain
Engine1,205 cc I4 (Opel 1200)
1,488 cc I4
1,680 cc I4
Transmission3-speed manual
Chronology
PredecessorOpel Olympia Rekord
SuccessorOpel Rekord P2
The estate version was branded as the Opel Rekord Caravan.
The Opel Rekord P1 cabriolet and coupé conversions were always extremely rare.
Although the Rekord was now available with four doors, the two-door sedan continued to be a strong seller.
The stripped down Opel 1200 appeared at the end of 1959 and was offered until 1962, two years after the Rekord on which it was based had been replaced.
Chief designer Hans Mersheimer was thought to have taken particular inspiration for the Rekord P1 from the 1956 Chevrolet Bel Air.

The Opel Rekord P1 (branded for its first two years as the Opel Olympia Rekord P) was a large family 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 an eye-catching US-style wrap-around windscreen and rear window, reminiscent of its General Motors Luton-built cousin, the Vauxhall Victor F, 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 facelifting the front grill and other trim details every year, but the P1 nevertheless experienced a relatively short production run. The P1 was replaced in mid-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 PS (33 kW) at 3900 rpm. However, from July 1959 the compression ratio was increased, so that the 1,488 cc engine offered a claimed 50 PS (37 kW) of maximum power. Customers could also specify a larger 1,680 cc engine for which the published maximum power output was 55 PS (40 kW) at 4,000 rpm.