Opel

dam Opel (1837-1895) started a small sewing machine factory at Rüsselsheim near Frankfurt in 1862. He had five sons, Karl, Wilhelm, Heinrich, Friedrich (Fritz) and Ludwig who were all working at the factory. Pressured by his sons Adam Opel began manufacturing bicycles in June 1886. All the sons were successful competition cyclists which naturally improved the bicycle sales. Opel produced bicycles until 1937 and also motorcycles for a while.
Adam Opel died of typhoid fever in 1895 but the company remained with the family. His widow Sophie and the five sons became the share holders. Adam Opel's brother George was elected the president of the board.

Adam Opel-Signet The first insignia of the Adam Opel
sewing machine factory

In 1898 at the Berlin Auto-Revue show the Opel brothers met with Friedrich Lutzmann (1859-1930), whose company since 1894, Anhaltische Motorwagenfabrik, manufactured primitive vehicles. Fritz and Wilhelm Opel visited soon thereafter Lutzmann's little factory at Dessau and decided to buy it lock, stock and barrel. The deal included all the finished vehicles, parts, tools and machinery, client listings and workers including Lutzmann himself.

Opel 1906 Art Nouveau influenced
the Opel insignia in 1906

The first "Opel Patent-Motorwagen, System Lutzmann" was finished in the spring of 1899. It was, like the following constructions by Lutzmann, behind the times. The brothers were seeking for a partner in France and after negotiating with Renault they agreed to terms concerning importation and licensed manufacturing of Darracq. The sales of "Opel System Darracq" automobiles commenced in January 1902. Despite the great success - or perhaps because of it - the cooperation with the French firm was severed in 1907. From this moment on Opel designed their own cars. Excursions to the US were made to gain a better insight into automobile manufacturing first by Wilhelm in 1909 followed by Fritz in 1922.

lthough Opel was successful - it was the largest automobile producer in Germany since 1914 - the move to merge with GM originated from Opel, in stages and in great secrecy at first in 1926. When the four remaining Opel brothers lost two brothers in 1927, the survivors wanted to sell the enterprise. The transaction was speeded up in the mid-1928's by the fact that the imported cars and car parts faced severe increases in customs payments. General Motors had an assembly plant in Berlin but the high customs charges made the operations non-profitable. To remain on the German market GM needed a German enterprise. The Opel brothers and the GM director of the board Alfred P. Sloan signed an agreement which transformed the family company Opel-Werke into a corporation by the name of Adam Opel AG in December 1928.

In March 1929 it was announced that GM had bought 80% of the Opel stock for 26 million dollars and that it also held an option for the rest of the shares. The deal involved retaining the Opel name and that the German company would hold an autonomous position within the GM concern, that no GM cars will be assembled in Rüsselsheim and that GM will not assemble rival models in Germany.

Opel_eye The "Opel eye" was designed in 1910 by the Grand Duke of Hesse, an acquaintance of Wilhelm von Opel. The logo remained in use until 1935.

The 1935 Opel Olympia was introduced a year before the Olympic games of Berlin and the emblem was dominated by a discus thrower.

fficially the Americans took the helm of Opel in October 18, 1929. Just a week later the Wall Street stock market collapsed. Opel family had made an excellent deal at the last moment possible. The rest of the Opel shares were bought by General Motors in 1931.
When the Nazis claimed power in Germany, the American ownership proved to be a great hindrance to Opel. The matters hardly were soothed by the fact that Opel was the country's largest exporter of goods and that during the end of the 1930's Opel introduced many militaristic model names such as Kadett, Kapit„n and Admiral. The situation became even more controversial during the Second World War when Opel produced war equipment for the German Army and paid dividends to the US and in return the Allied bombed a half of the Rsselsheim factory to the ground.
After the war the Opel truck factory in Brandenburg remained on the Russian occupation zone and the Opel Kadett production facilities - the surviving part of the factory - was handed over as a part of war indemnity and transferred to Moscow giving birth to the first Moskvitsh a year later.

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During the early years Opel used many different insignias - they changed almost every year. In 1910 all the Opel products and the company itself got an insignia which featured the "Opel eye" which was originally sketched by Wilhelm, the grand duke of Hesse, when Wilhelm von Opel visited him. The new shuttle-shaped Opel symbol got its shape originally from a dirigible and was used for the first time on the P4 model in 1935. At the end of the 1960's the shuttle changed to a lightning which already was displayed by the Opel Blitz (= lightning) trucks of the 1930's.