From the spacious car and its space requirements
01/19/2012
The photo shown here is from an Opel advertisement from 1964, printed in the March issue of ADAC Motorwelt. The Opel marketing people used the following headline:
"Seriously, we don't need more space for a roomy car".
The Opel Kadett was 3.92 meters long at the time, and the interior was allotted around two meters. Length had been saved in the engine compartment, i.e. where it didn't hurt the occupants if the centimeters were missing. At least that's what the advertising said.
So a five-seater with a proper trunk, with conventional drive on the rear axle and all this in a length that was only just longer than a modern Mini, not to mention the width. Such a Kadett was of course significantly narrower than all modern cars.
And because every centimetre cost money, the shortness also saved money, which could then be invested in the engine and chassis, the advertisement continued.
DM 5,075 (a few years ago this would have been exchanged for a little more than Euro 2,500) was the price of the Kadett at the time, the Kadett "L" was available for DM 5,525 and the Coupé (with a more powerful engine) cost DM 5,775. Bochum whitewall tires required an extra charge. Those were the days. But how the advertising people had placed the Kadett on the staircase was not revealed to the curious reader even then.
