Opel 1.2 liters

Opel
Opel 1.2 liter sedan (1932)
Opel 1.2 liters
Sales designation:	Opel 1.2 liters
Production period:	1931-1935
Class :	Lower middle class
Body versions :	Sedan , convertible sedan , convertible
Engines:	Petrol engines : 1.2 liters (16-17 kW)
Length:	3215-3500 mm
Width:	1425 mm
Height:	1625 mm
Wheelbase :	2286-2337 mm
Empty weight :	750 kg
Previous model	Opel 4/12 PS "Tree Frog"
successor	Opel P4

Opel 1.2 liter convertible sedan from 1932

Rear with case

The Opel 1.2 liter was a car model from Adam Opel AG , which was produced from July 1931 to September 1935 as the successor to the Opel 4/12 PS ("Laubfrosch"). After earlier Opel cars still included the tax horsepower in the model designation, after the takeover of Opel by General Motors, the vehicle that was newly developed in the USA together with GM was only named after the displacement .

101,563 Opel 1.2 liter vehicles were built in Rüsselsheim until the successor Opel P4 appeared in September 1935. Under the influence of the global economic crisis , the Opel 1 liter came on the market in November 1932 with the same body and a smaller engine , but it disappeared from the Opel range after just under a year.

History and technology

Six months after the presentation of the larger six-cylinder Opel 1.8-liter model , the 1.2-liter four-cylinder was introduced as the second new Opel model under the direction of General Motors in mid-1931. The technology of both vehicles was conventional: rear-wheel drive , side-controlled in- line engine , ladder frame made of pressed U-profiles, rigid axles at the front and rear and cable-operated drum brakes . Both rigid axles were attached to semi-elliptical leaf springs and had hydraulic shock absorbers . The latter was new at Opel in this class.

Chassis and body

The Opel 1.2 liters was equipped with three different body constructions available as a two-door sedan , convertible and convertible saloon , wherein as a chassis two versions with 2286 mm (90  inches as US development) or 2337 mm (92 inches) wheelbase available stood. The Opel internal type numbers were accordingly: 1290 and 1292, i.e. H. 1.2 liter engine and 90 or 92 inch wheelbase. There was also the LL chassis (long chassis delivery van) with a 2445 mm wheelbase.

engine and gears

The four-cylinder engine was a further development of the 1.1-liter engine in the previous model "Laubfrosch" (Opel 4/12 PS) and had a displacement of 1186 cm³ instead of 1018 cm³ ( bore × stroke : 65 mm × 90 mm). As before, it was "side-controlled" ( standing valves ) and was fed by a single carburetor . With an output of 22 hp (16.2 kW) at 3200 rpm, it was able to accelerate the car up to 80 km / h, with only 9.0 liters of fuel being consumed per 100 km - a low figure for the time.

In 1933 the model received some detail improvements. The engine output was slightly higher at 23 hp (16.9 kW). The three-speed transmission was replaced by one with four speeds. The top speed increased to 85 km / h. At the end of 1932, the 1.2 liter was replaced by the smaller 1 liter model with an 18 hp engine, which was discontinued at the end of 1933.

The power was transmitted to the rear wheels via a single-disk dry clutch , an unsynchronized three-speed manual transmission , a cardan shaft and a differential gear .

Opel 1.3 liters

In January 1934, the Opel 1.3 liter also appeared with a new, more torsion-resistant frame made of closed box sections with crossbars, a more aerodynamic body with an externally accessible trunk and hydraulically operated brakes. The previous front axle gave way to an independent wheel suspension with " Dubonnet suspension ": This construction consisted of a rigid tube, at both ends of which a round housing with a horizontally positioned helical spring and a telescopic shock absorber was horizontally rotatable. Each of the two housings, which pivoted to the left or right with the steering, carried a pushed short swing arm (similar to motorcycles), which acted on the spring when it was compressed.

According to Opel, the vibrations of this front independent wheel suspension and the rear axle, which is guided by leaf springs, were the same, which is why the advertising spoke of "synchronous suspension".

The 1.2 liter remained in production until autumn 1935 and was replaced by the Opel P4 .

literature

• Hans-Jürgen Schneider: 125 years of Opel - cars and technology . Verlag Schneider + Repschläger, Weilerswist 1987, OCLC 75001475 .
• Werner Oswald : German Cars 1920–1945. 9th edition. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1990, ISBN 3-87943-519-7 .
• Karl Ludvigsen, Paul Frère: Opel - wheels for the world. Princeton Publishing, Princeton NJ (USA) 1975, ISBN 0-915038-17-X , p. 49.

Web links

Commons : Opel 1.2 liter  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Opel 1.2 L (1931-1935) . Histomobile (English)

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Independent suspension in Google Books . Figure 12.2, p. 343. Retrieved March 10, 2018.