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Opel Rekord A - The empire strikes back

Name: Opel Rekord A 1963
Brand: Opel

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Created on February 11, 2025

Text:

Paul Krüger

Photos:

Bruno von Rotz

Adam Opel AG

Opel/GM

Archiv Reinhard / Max Pichler

Archiv

Bruno von Rotz

Adam Opel AG

Opel/GM

Archiv Reinhard / Max Pichler

Archiv

Opel Rekord (1964) - Family resemblance: The Rekord A is unmistakably the little brother of the Chevrolet Chevy II

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Opel Rekord (1964) - two-door sedan in the color combination Alaska grey/slate grey

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Opel Rekord (1964) - The rear emphasizes the horizontal. Only the vertical fender edges, which are pulled slightly backwards, are reminiscent of the predecessor

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Opel Rekord (1964) - Where the predecessor still had a trim strip, the Rekord A only has a horizontal fold in the sheet metal

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Opel Rekord (1964) - Spring-like, bright colors are in the minority. Muted tones dominate the palette

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Opel Rekord (1964) - Radiator grille and headlights form a single unit enclosed by a trim strip for the first time

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Opel Rekord (1964) - Rear: very short overhang at the front, but all the longer at the rear

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Opel Rekord (1964) - It could be almost 140 km/h fast, but of course it isn't in this photo

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Opel Rekord (1964) - Cornering fun in an Opel? Contemporary testers found the handling surprisingly sporty

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Opel Rekord (1964) - The good road holding was bought with a hard suspension

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Opel Rekord (1964) - The narrow rear track makes it look more fragile than it is

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Opel Rekord (1964) - Opel advertised it as "The great driving pleasure". The expressions on the faces of the occupants show: That wasn't a lie

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Opel Rekord (1964) - The stepped roof keeps a respectful distance to the side windows, creating the impression of a convertible sedan with a closed top

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Opel Rekord (1964) - Farewell, googly eyes: The Rekord A was the last Opel Rekord with round headlights

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Opel Rekord (1964) - lettering in the radiator grille, emblem on the hood. On the predecessor it was the other way around

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Opel Rekord (1964) - Slim three-chamber light with integrated reflector. Reversing lights cost 15 marks extra

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Opel Rekord (1964) - No more trim strips: the lettering has to suffice as flank decoration

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Opel Rekord (1964) - Whitewall tires cost 72.50 marks, 65 francs or 500 shillings extra.

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Opel Rekord (1964) - Unlike the rest of the car, the lettering on the fender looks more old-fashioned than before

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Opel Rekord (1964) - All cars assembled in Biel receive the badge with the stylized Alpine ridge as a seal of quality

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Opel Rekord (1964) - Opel advertises its General Motors affiliation in other European countries, here with a sticker in the rear window

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Opel Rekord (1964) - Rear-view mirror on the fender instead of the door

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Opel Rekord (1964) - Dashboard made of painted sheet metal, but with a padded upper edge. For the first time, there are small air vents for heating air

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Opel Rekord (1964) - The slippery rubber mat in the footwell is typical Opel. Carpet only in the rear

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Opel Rekord (1964) - Dark times: Steering wheel and steering column are now black instead of light alabaster gray

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Opel Rekord (1964) - The cockpit with the tape speedometer flanked by a remote thermometer and fuel gauge is only a cautious further development. Biggest change: Rocker switch instead of pull switch

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Opel Rekord (1964) - The luxury of the middle class: electric clock and Blaupunkt Frankfurt

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Opel Rekord (1964) - Although no longer part of the model name since model year 1960, the lettering "Olympia" is still emblazoned on the glove compartment

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Opel Rekord (1964) - German is spoken: fuel gauge with markings for "empty" and "full"

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Opel Rekord (1964) - In the green zone: water thermometer without concrete figures. Only the six-cylinder engine can make full use of the speedometer up to 160 km/h

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Opel Rekord (1964) - The heating is now no longer controlled vertically, but horizontally

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Opel Rekord (1964) - Curiosity in the trunk: the rear track is so narrow that there is a gap between the wheel arch and the body wall

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Opel Rekord (1964) - The 1.7-liter engine is the entry-level engine in Switzerland. In the version for normal gasoline, it delivers 60 hp at 4300 rpm

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Opel Rekord (1964) - The crankcase ventilation leads into the carburetor and no longer into the open air. Equally remarkable: the routing of the windshield washer lines

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Opel Rekord (1964) - The OHV four-cylinder engine dates back to pre-war days. The oil filler neck with air scoop is typical

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Opel Rekord (1964) - While the six-cylinder engines already had 12-volt electrics, the four-cylinder engines still had to make do with 6 volts

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Opel Rekord (1964) - The wide whitewall tires were a bit old-fashioned, but not unusual

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Opel Rekord (1963) - with the optional fog lights, although one of them is a little cross-eyed

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Opel Rekord (1963) - Geneva Motor Show 1963: Angular raised fenders characterize the face

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Opel Rekord (1963) - Geneva Motor Show 1963: the new line of the mid-range Opel with enlarged glass surfaces

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Opel Rekord (1965) - a complete departure from the lines of its predecessor, the P2

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Opel Rekord (1963) - longer wheelbase and wider body than its predecessor

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Opel Rekord (1963) - accentuated sloping position of the windshield with better upward visibility

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Opel Rekord (1963) - in the steep bend on the Dudenhofen test site

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Opel Rekord (1964) - four-door from Swiss assembly (Montage Suisse in Biel)

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Opel Rekord L (1964) - chrome trim and upscale equipment make the four-door sedan luxurious - and expensive

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Opel Rekord Coupé L-6 (1965) - Geneva Motor Show 1965: with the engine from the Kapitän

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Opel Rekord Coupé V8 (1964) - Interesting hermaphrodite with the roof structure of the Kadett Coupé. Service and test car of head of engineering Hans Mersheimer, equipped with the 3.5-liter V8 of the Oldsmobile F-85 Cutlass

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Opel Rekord (1964) - two- and four-door sedan, "L", coupé and caravan

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Opel Rekord (1963) - final assembly at the Rüsselsheim plant: two-door sedans in lapis blue, monza red, black, caramel beige, mala red and sea green

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Opel Rekord (1963) - Elegant and spacious

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Opel Rekord (1963) - Sales argument number 1: the huge trunk

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Opel Rekord Coupé (1965) - Illustration from the sales brochure. It is to be hoped that the lady in the back seat did not have to sit there for the entire trip to the port

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Opel Rekord (1963) - Illustration from the sales brochure

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Opel Rekord (1963) - The tried and tested short-stroke four-cylinder engine

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Opel Rekord (1963) - the larger wheelbase mainly benefits the passengers

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Opel Rekord (1963) - The see-through drawing reveals the carefully developed technology

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Opel Rekord Coupé (1964) - for 8015 or 9310 Marks

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Opel CarAVan (1963) - available from June 1963, not officially named "Rekord"

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Opel Rekord (1963) - the four-door sedan appears in August 1963, five months after the two-door model

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Opel Rekord (1963) - It doesn't always have to be a BMW

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Opel Rekord Coupé (1964) - in the exclusive metallic color "Laplata silver"

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Opel CarAVan (1963) - The Astra F later also had the raised roof above the load compartment

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Opel CarAVan (1963) - with roof rack and fog lights. But the view seems to be more exciting than the new station wagon

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Opel Schnell-Lieferwagen (1963) - After the end of the Olympia, it too was ennobled to a record

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Opel Rekord (1963) - Vehicles from foreign assembly production (such as Antwerp) sometimes had windshield wheels in body color. In Germany they were always black

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Opel Rekord (1963) - Monzarot/black was one of 15 possible two-tone combinations

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Opel Rekord (1963) - European edition of the Chevrolet Chevy II

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Summary

At the beginning of 1963, Opel is no longer the undisputed market leader in the mid-range segment. The competition from Cologne had clearly caught up. With a completely new body and up to 100 hp, the Rekord A was to regain lost ground. Our article explains how it succeeded.

This article contains the following chapters

Longer, wider - and yet shrunken
Narrow-gauge sports car
Old acquaintance
Luxury and performance
Popular down-to-earthness

Estimated reading time: 7min

Preview (beginning of the article)

"How does Opel manage to build such a beautiful car?" Ford salespeople are desperate. Ever since the new Opel Rekord was presented at the Geneva Motor Show in 1963, the Taunus 17 M has weighed like lead. Next to the straight-lined, angular Opel, the rounded, flat Ford suddenly looks chubby and outdated. Two years ago, things were quite different: The Taunus with its sleek streamlined shape made the Rekord look old-fashioned and overloaded, and the Cologne-based brand caught up significantly with its main competitor in terms of sales figures. However, the Rüsselsheim model chronicle shows just how quickly car fashion changed in those years, even without a comparison with the competition. At its debut, the Rekord P for the 1958 model year was still perceived as deadly chic and elegant in its American-inspired street cruiser style. Just five years later, it and its contemporaries were already regarded as "nightmares overloaded with chrome and panoramic windows". Its successor was only slightly more moderate. It is clear that the development work on the new model focused mainly on a new body.

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