Opel Kadett D

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Opel
Opel Kadett (1979–1984)
Cadet D.
Production period:	1979-1984
Class :	Compact class
Body versions :	Sedan , hatchback , station wagon , van
Engines:	Otto engines : 1.2–1.8 liters (29–85 kW) Diesel engine : 1.6 liters (40 kW)
Length:	3998-4207 mm
Width:	1636 mm
Height:	1400 mm
Wheelbase :	2514 mm
Empty weight :	815-1060 kg
Previous model	Opel Kadett C.
successor	Opel Kadett E.

The Opel Kadett D is a vehicle model of the compact class the Adam Opel AG and was built from August 1979 to July 1984. It is the successor to the Kadett C and its GM-T platform from 1973 . With this model on the GM-T platform from 1979 , a drive concept with a transverse engine and front-wheel drive was introduced.

From an economic point of view, the Kadett D was one of the most important models of the time for Opel and came closer to the VW Golf , which was very successful in this class, in terms of sales.

From August 1984, he was the successor Opel Kadett E replaced.

Model history

General

With the Kadett D, Opel offered a front-wheel drive car for the first time. The engine was transverse to the direction of travel and driven via a splinted transmission - differential unit to the front wheels.

The Kadett D was offered in three body styles:

• Hatchback with a small tailgate (two or four doors) or a large tailgate (three or five doors)
• Station wagon (caravan) with three or five doors
• Delivery van with three doors and without rear side windows (from September 1983)

• 

  Cadet with a large tailgate

• 

  Cadet with a small tailgate

• 

  Opel Kadett Caravan (1979–1984)

A special feature was that the hatchback models were available with two different tailgate variants: Standard was a small trunk lid, which was recognizable by two external hinges below the rear window. At an additional cost there was a tailgate that was conventionally hinged below the roof and had an integrated larger rear window. This model variant was sold far more frequently.

variants

Equipment variants

Opel Kadett 1,3 DL Luxus (1983)

The Opel Kadett D was offered in the following equipment variants:

• limousine
  • Cadet (standard)
  • Kadett Luxus (up to 8/81 without Luxus lettering)
  • Cadet Berlina
  • Cadet SR
  • Kadett GTE (from 3/83)
• Station wagon
  • Kadett Caravan (Standard)
  • Kadett Caravan Luxus (up to 8/81 without Luxus lettering)
  • Kadett Voyage (from 3/80)
  • Kadett Voyage Berlina (from 3/80, only five-door)
• Special models
  • Kadett Pirsch (from 9/81 as off-road utility combination)
  • Kadett J (from 10/81, from 9/83 also as diesel and caravan)
  • Kadett GLS (from 9/83, also as a five-door caravan)
  • Kadett Corsa (only available in black, red and brown), it was decorated with golden side stripes and the lettering Corsa. This was only sold until Opel launched the smaller Corsa A model . The number was limited to 5000 cars.

Cadet SR

Opel Kadett 1.6 SR (1982)

The Kadett SR was only available with the 1.3S and 1.6S engines. The lower part of the body was covered with matt black foil all around up to the height of the bumpers. Furthermore, black fender flares, front spoilers, light metal rims and from 9/81 side skirts were also installed. From around April 1983 the aluminum rims were subject to a surcharge, from then on 14 "steel sport rims were standard.

In the interior, the SR equipment differed from the other equipment variants with sports seats from Recaro and additional instruments in the instrument cluster. All SR models up to model year 1981 had the door panels of the standard version. From model year 1982 onwards these were replaced by the door panels of the "Luxus" model , which were now enlarged downwards as part of the larger model updates.

The SR was mostly delivered as a three-door model, but it was also available as a two-door model with a small trunk lid until August 1981 and as a five-door model from September 1982. The 1.3S engines with 55 kW / 75 PS, however, had a notorious engine weakness. Defects were regularly found, especially on the camshafts. This problem (insufficient hardening) also occurred on the 1.3N in the first years of construction, but was quickly eliminated as part of revision measures, and owners concerned could also hope for goodwill from Opel.

In 1982 a diesel version of the Kadett SR was offered for the Italian market. This version, called SRD Diesel, was equipped with the 1.6L diesel engine.

Cadet GTE

Opel Kadett D GT / E

Opel Kadett GTE (1983–1984)

At the beginning of 1983 the Kadett GTE with the 85 kW (115 PS ) engine was presented. Its 1.8 liter injection engine belonged to the new OHC engine generation with light alloy cylinder head and hydraulic valve clearance compensation, which was created on the new production lines of the components factory in Kaiserslautern .

Externally, the GTE variant differed in its body-colored flares, side skirts, front spoiler and exterior mirrors, a black film around the rear window, white indicator lights and the silver-colored light-alloy wheels of the Ascona C SR from the Kadett SR , which appeared a year earlier .

The GTE was only produced for a little more than a year. Around 36,300 units were produced in the Bochum plant and in the Antwerp plant (Belgium), about two thirds of which were left-hand drive vehicles.

The interior of the GTE was equipped with Recaro sports seats in gray fine velor, a sports steering wheel with the GTE emblem on the horn button and additional displays in the instrument cluster. Furthermore, a speedometer with a scale of up to 220 km / h was reserved exclusively for the GTE. All other models had a speedometer scale of up to 200 km / h.

Example of a tuned GTE

The Kadett GTE still had a steering damper , a lowered body, gas pressure dampers and internally ventilated disc brakes at the front. Like the SR models, it was offered with three and five doors.

As a customer, you could choose between the colors polar white, carmine red, silver and black, while all other models had the full range of colors available. When painted white, the bumpers were made of white plastic and the alloy wheels were painted in the same color as the car. All other GTE models had black bumpers and silver alloy wheels.

Due to its susceptibility to rust and the tuning orgies of the 1980s and 1990s, the Kadett D GTE is rarely found in good and original condition today. Well-preserved GTEs with the status grade 1–2 are extremely rarely offered and are traded much higher than the youngtimer rating lists suggest.

technology

General

The built-in engines of the Kadett D were newly developed and were already in use in the Ascona B from February 1979 . With Alloy - cross-flow cylinder head and an overhead camshaft (OHC) they reached the port at that technical standard in passenger car engines. The result of these two technological advances were sales figures that came closer to those of the VW Golf , which had been on the market with this concept since 1974.

A Kadett D with the new OHC engine was also available with a 3-speed automatic transmission as an option from May 1981. The automatic transmission for the diesel was available from September 1982.

Petrol engines

The Opel Kadett D was offered with the following engines:

• 1.0 N , 29 kW / 40 PS ( OHV ) up to 8/81, very low production number (10 pieces)
• 1.0 S , 37 kW / 50 PS (OHV) up to 8/81, only for export, e.g. B. to Italy
• 1.2 N , 39 kW / 53 PS (OHV) up to 8/82
• 1.2 S , 44 kW / 60 PS (OHV) from 11/79
• 1.2 S , 40 kW / 55 PS ( OHC ) from 1982, small number of units
• 1.3 N , 44 kW / 60 PS (OHC) series for Voyage and Voyage Berlina
• 1.3 S , 55 kW / 75 PS (OHC) series for SR
• 1.6 S , 66 kW / 90 PS (OHC) from 8/81, not for Kadett Pirsch
• 1.8 E , 85 kW / 115 PS (OHC) only for GTE

Diesel engine

• 1.6 liter displacement, 40 kW / 54 PS (1.6D OHC) from 2/82, not for "Pirsch" and SR. This swirl chamber engine was developed from the 1.6 S gasoline engine.

Technical specifications

Technical data Opel Kadett D 1979–1984
Opel Kadett:	1200	1200 p	1300	1300 p	1600 p	GTE	1600 diesel
Engine:	4-cylinder in-line engine (four-stroke)
Displacement:	1196 cc		1297 cc		1598 cc	1796 cc	1598 cc
Bore × stroke:	79 × 61 mm		75 x 73.4 mm		80 x 79.5 mm	84.8 x 79.5 mm	80 x 79.5 mm
Power (PS) at 1 / min:	39 kW (53 PS) 5400	44 kW (60 hp) 5800	44 kW (60 hp) 5800	55 kW (75 PS) 5800	66 kW (90 PS) 5800	85 kW (115 PS) 5800	40 kW (55 PS) 4600
Max. Torque at 1 / min:	80 Nm 3600	86 Nm 3300	92 Nm 3600	99 Nm 4200	123 Nm 4000	148 Nm 4800	94 Nm 2400
Compression:	7.8: 1	9.0: 1	8.2: 1	9.2: 1	9.2: 1	9.5: 1	23: 1
Mixture preparation:	1 downdraft carburetor			1 register downdraft carburetor		electronic injection (Bosch LE-Jetronic)	Swirl chamber injection
Valve control:	OHV valve control, side camshaft, single roller chain bumpers, rocker arms		OHC valve control overhead camshaft, timing belt hydraulic valve lifters , rocker arms
Cooling:	Water cooling
Transmission:	4-speed gearbox, stick shift (on request for 1600 S and diesel 5-speed gearbox, series with GTE; on request for 1300 / S, 1600 S and diesel three-speed automatic (Opel))
Front suspension:	MacPherson struts , wishbones
Rear suspension:	Twist beam axle with coil springs
Body:	Sheet steel, self-supporting
Track width front / rear:	1406/1406 mm
Wheelbase:	2514 mm
Length:	3998 mm (caravan: 4207 mm)
Empty weight:	815-1060 kg
Top speed:	140 km / h	145 km / h	147 km / h	158 km / h	173 km / h	185 km / h	143 km / h
0-100 km / h:	18.5 s	16.5 s	15.5 s	13.5 s	12.0 s	10.0 s	18 s
Consumption (liters / 100 kilometers):	10.5 N	10.0 S.	10.5 N	10.0 S.	11.0 S.	11.0 S.	6.0 D

Identical models

Vauxhall Astra MK1 (1979-1986)

Vauxhall Astra GTE MK1 (from 1983)

In Great Britain the Kadett D was offered under the name Vauxhall Astra (delivery van: Bedford Astravan).

The main difference between the Astra and the Kadett was its right-hand drive and other emblems. This model was not available in continental Europe. The Vauxhall was initially also produced in Bochum. Production was relocated to Ellesmere Port in 1981 and continued there until August 1986 - two years longer than the Kadett D on the continent.

But there were some differences. The Vauxhall Astra D was offered parallel to the Vauxhall Chevette until 1982, which was available in Germany as the Opel Chevette . When it was launched in August, like in the Kadett D, the 1.3-S-OHC was the most powerful engine that was produced until September 1984. The 1.2-N-OHV with 53 PS (39 kW) as well as the 1.2-S-OHV with 60 PS (44 kW) and the 1.3-N-OHC engine were also installed in the Astra, but these models got a Solex instead -Gasers a Dell'Orto .

The body variants were the same. In September 1981 the 1.6 S engine followed, which was also introduced in parallel in the Kadett D and was the first engine in the OHC “big block” series. This developed 90 PS (66 kW) and the modifications to the chassis and the brakes were the basis for the later GTE models. At the same time as the production of the Chevette was discontinued, new engine variants were added to the Astra D program.

These included the 1.2-S-OHC engine with 60 HP (44 kW), which like the 1.3 S was produced until September 1984 and the 1-6-D-OHC engine, which also appeared in the Kadett D, but until the end remained in the series. In accordance with the modular principle of Vauxhall / Opel, many components of the 1.6-S-OHC were adopted in the development of the diesel engine.

In March 1983 the sports version of the Astra called GTE was presented on the island, at the same time as the Kadett GTE on the continent. There were similarities such as the 18E engine with Bosch LE Jetronic injection and small differences in the equipment. The Astra GTE were delivered as standard with headlight cleaning systems, two rear fog lights and side opening windows, but had standard exterior mirrors. With the Kadett GTE, these extras were subject to a surcharge, but the sport exterior mirrors, as with the SR variants, were standard.

From September 1984 you could only choose between three OHC "big block" engines, the 1.6 S petrol engine with 90 PS (66 kW), the 1.6 D diesel with 54 PS (40 kW) and the 115 PS ( 85 kW) powerful GTE.

Conversions to convertible

Opel Kadett Aero

The Opel Kadett D was also converted into a convertible by smaller body shops . Probably the most frequently built convertible comes from the Bieber company, which was based in Borken and no longer exists. A complete kit for self-assembly could be purchased. The Bieber company also took on the shell conversion for an additional charge. The conversion kit with convertible top cost 3,450 DM. An additional charge of 500 DM had to be paid for the shell conversion. Around 260 Kadett D vehicles were converted from 1985 to 1992.

The Baumgärtner company also produced Opel Kadett D convertibles, albeit far less often. Different sources name 9-14 vehicles. Unlike the Bieber Cabrio, which had a foldable top, the Baumgärtner's top solution was cumbersome and more of a provisional nature, but in no case was it really suitable for everyday use. After attaching the hangers, the hood had to be pulled up very laboriously. The otherwise high-quality conversion with many different reinforcements and stiffeners not only drove up the weight, but also the price. A complete renovation by Baumgärtner could easily cost 8,000 to 10,000 DM, and significantly more for special requests. Despite its beautiful and elegant lines (without hood), the vehicle or the conversion to a convertible hardly sold due to the high price and the limited suitability for everyday use (hood).

The Kadett D Aero, which an Opel dealer in Mayen commissioned to the Mayen-based body shop Welsch, is also very rare . It should build on the success of the Kadett C Aero, but was only sold nine times. The conversion costs were 8,500 DM, a complete vehicle cost over 20,000 DM. First five copies were made, later another four.

Web links

Commons : Opel Kadett D  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• spiegel.de: Cheap oldtimers: Opel Kadett D The bargain sledge
• autoservicepraxis: Opel Kadett D 40 years