Opel 4 PS "Laubfrosch" - The centenarian who fell out of the frame

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Opel 4 PS "Laubfrosch" - The centenarian who fell out of the frame

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Created on September 24, 2024

Text:

Paul Krüger

Photos:

Bruno von Rotz

35

Adam Opel AG

8

General Motors / Opel

3

Opel Automobile GmbH

1

Archiv

7

54

The first German car produced on an assembly line

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For Fritz B. Busch, the Opel 4 PS was "the epitome of joie de vivre"

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The first German car produced on an assembly line

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The driver also has to get in on the left. The spare wheel is in the way on the right

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Camouflage color: Although closer to the eponymous animal, the green of the body is significantly lighter than the original color

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Camouflage color: Although closer to the eponymous animal, the green of the body is significantly lighter than the original color

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Smaller inclines can also be climbed easily with 12 hp

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Better slow around the corner: the contemporary press wrote of a "remarkably poor road holding"

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It demands full concentration from beginners for the first few (kilo)meters

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It demands full concentration from beginners for the first few (kilo)meters

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100 years ago, people traveled up to 500 km a day on roads like this one

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100 years ago, people traveled up to 500 km a day on roads like this one

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Suitable for touring: there is a small luggage rack on the pointed rear and even a small trunk underneath

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Long before Zeppelin and Blitz: The "Opel eye" first adorned a radiator in 1910

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Makes identification easier, but is not original: the nickname and year of manufacture were only added to the radiator at a later date

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The diffusing lens had already been invented, but here the light is still shone through clear glass.

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Modernity was not quite trusted: in addition to the electric starter, there is a crank handle. Behind it is almost like a front apron

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You never know: even if the low-density tree frog doesn't hit back so brutally, it's better not to get your thumb around the crank

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Like a racing car: outlets in the side walls of the hoods are also necessary in small cars to prevent the warm air from building up. There is no cooling fan

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Retrofitted electric horn on the side of the body, from Bosch of course

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Pretty detail: leather door pocket with embossed Opel eye and metal clasp

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Human motor: The individual windshield wiper is operated by hand using a small crank handle

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Fuel filler neck in front of the windshield. The tank holds 26 liters

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Steering in its simplest form: Axle tube, steering knuckle, track lever, track rod - finished

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Running board with additional mudguard below the entrance

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Dashboard made of unpainted sheet metal. The large round box on the left is the "ignition lock"

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Three-spoke wooden steering wheel with horn button in the center. The square rotary knob behind it regulates the idle speed

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Simple: handlebar as straight tube, termosiphon cooling without water pump

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Tidy: neatly laid cables and four spare spark plugs on the shelf

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Instead of bag cylinders: All four cylinders in one block and a removable cylinder head on top

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Solex carburetor without air filter between handlebar and exhaust

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Better safe than sorry: disclaimer in brass next to oil pressure gauge

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The accelerator pedal is in the center. On the left in the picture is the "three-way valve" for the fuel supply, which is never completely tight

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Opel 4/12 PS Laubfrosch (1924) - Parade of a daily production of 125 Laubfrosches on the Opel racetrack, 1924

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Opel 4/12 PS Laubfrosch (1924) - Parade of a daily production of 125 Laubfrosches on the Opel racetrack, 1924

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Production line of the Opel 4/16 PS in Rüsselsheim 1926

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Opel 4/16 PS sedan (1926) - assembly line assembly at the Rüsselsheim plant

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Opel 4/12 PS "Laubfrosch" (1924) - new price DM 4000, top speed 70 km/h

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Opel 4/12 PS "Laubfrosch" (1924) - compact and inexpensive car

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Opel 4 PS "Laubfrosch" (1924) - finally an affordable car, even for young people

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Opel 4/12 PS "Laubfrosch" (1924) - shown at the IAA in Frankfurt in 1961

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Opel 4/12 PS "Laubfrosch" (1924) - photographed at the International Nostalgia Car Show in Bern in 1986

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Opel 4/16 PS four-seater (1928) - the 50,000th example of the series with "silver-plated" wheels, built on October 7, 1927

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Opel 4/16 PS (1928) - Sedan with the new Packard-style radiator

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Opel 4/20 PS Cabriolet (1929) - thanks to the "mother-in-law's seat", four people can drive into the countryside

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Opel 4/20 PS (1929) - Chassis of a late variant

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Opel 4/16 PS (1927) - From October 1926, all four wheels were finally allowed to decelerate

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Opel 4/14 PS (1925) - Pug fidelity in the Laubfrosch: the price has been reduced to 3900 marks

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Opel 4 HP (1925) - English-language advertisement for the Opel 4/14 HP. As many as 612 units were exported that year

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Opel 4/20 PS (1929) - Prices are lowered once again. The two-seater now costs only half as much as at its debut

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Opel 4/12 PS "Laubfrosch" (1924) - on the historic and now derelict Opel test site in Rüsselsheim

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Summary

At first glance, everything seems the same as always. But on closer inspection, many things are different. The Opel 4 PS was conventionally built and yet contained many innovations. The first examples rolled off the production line 100 years ago - the very first cars in Germany. A driving and history lesson in the "Laubfrosch" from 1924.

This article contains the following chapters

Cars every five minutes
Acrobatics for frequent riders
Model upgrade and price reduction
From plagiarism to record

Estimated reading time: 7min

Preview (beginning of the article)

After 14 years, I have to learn to drive again. Right-hand drive is no problem. Even an unsynchronized gearbox doesn't present me with an impossible task. A mirrored gearshift diagram is internalized relatively quickly. And you get used to the swapped positions of the accelerator and brake pedals the longer you drive. But everything together makes you a novice driver again. Because really every movement deviates from what you have learned so far and you can no longer rely on any automatism. After all, you accelerate with your foot and shift gears by hand. This was not a matter of course in the early years of the automobile. However, when the Opel 4 PS - named after its tax class as usual - was launched in May 1924, this division of tasks, which is still common today, had already largely become established. The same applies to the gearshift in the middle of the car, which follows an H. Even an electric starter was already on board as standard.

Welcome to Zwischengas!

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