Opel Blitz

Opel Blitz
Manufacturer:	Opel
Production period:	1930-1975
Previous model:	none
Successor:	Bedford Blitz

Emblem on the grille

From the 1930s to the 1970s, Opel Blitz was the name for several medium-weight and light truck series of Adam Opel AG . The name of the model series also provided the template for the Opel logo used from the early 1960s, which has been retained in its basic form to this day.

1930 to 1954

1945
Opel Blitz 1.5 ton truck
Production period:	1930-1954
Designs:	Flatbed trucks , panel vans , special bodies
Engines:	Otto engine : 2.5–3.6 liters (40–54 kW)
Length:	from 6070 mm
Width:	2265 mm
Height:	from 2115 mm
Wheelbase:	from 3450 mm
Payload:	1.0-3.5 t

Mercedes-Benz L 701 (Blitz replica 1945-1949)
Technical data (overview)
Engine:	Six cylinders - series , four-stroke - gasoline engine , four-bearing crankshaft
Valve train:	hanging valves ( OHV , bumpers with rocker arms ), side camshaft spur gear drive
Bore × stroke:	90 × 95 mm
Displacement:	3626 cc
Power:	73.5 PS (54 kW) at 3120 rpm
Oil quantity:	4.75 liters
Transmission:	5 forward, 1 reverse gear
Tank:	92 liters (under the seat)
electr. Investment:	12 volts, headlights 35 watts
Length Width:	6070 mm, 2265 mm
Height:	2115 mm (only driver's cab, without body)
Ground clearance:	25 cm
Wheelbase:	3.6 m
Turning circle:	13.1 m
Empty weight:	2495 kg
Payload:	3305 kg
Perm. Total weight:	5800 kg

Assembly in the Opel factory in Brandenburg (1936)

Before the Second World War, Opel was the largest truck manufacturer in the German Reich . Light trucks had already been manufactured by Opel before, albeit under inconsistent names based on the engine and the payload. As a result of an internal competition until October 6, 1930, the name Blitz , which had been used 40 years earlier for Opel bicycles, was chosen for the new truck with three wheelbases and four-cylinder or six-cylinder for 1.5 to 2 tons of payload, which was presented in November 1930 . In 1934 there were four basic versions of the one-tonne model and 14 versions of the larger two- to two-and-a-half-ton trucks. As part of the armament of the Wehrmacht , Opel built the Brandenburg truck plant, designed for a total capacity of 25,000 trucks per year, on the initiative of the Nazi government . The larger type of truck received in 1937 to replace the technically outdated side-valve 68-horsepower gasoline engine of the GM model modeling Buick Marquette a newly constructed OHV engine with 75 hp, which is also in the Opel Admiral was used. From 1940 there was the 3.0 t standard truck Opel Blitz 3,6-36 (3.6 liter displacement ; 3.6 meter wheelbase ) for the Wehrmacht in the versions Blitz S (standard) and Blitz A with all-wheel drive (3rd , 45 meter wheelbase). For commercial use, a model with a standard wood gasifier was put into production in 1943 .

After the American management initially acted passively against the inclusion of Opel in the defense economy of the Nazi regime , General Motors threatened to confiscate the factories as enemy assets. The three-ton Opel Blitz 3.6 to 36 (see. As "unit truck" from 1937 produced the Opel factory in Brandenburg Schell Plan ) was ordered by the defense minister Albert Speer as under license of Daimler-Benz in Mannheim produced from June 1944. A production planned at Borgward was no longer possible after the American air raid on October 12, 1944 on the Bremen- Sebaldsbrück plant . In 1943 alone, Opel built 23,232 vehicles in Brandenburg / Havel . After it was destroyed by a British air raid on August 6, 1944, the Brandenburg plant was rebuilt; however, there was no longer any production. By order of the Soviet military administration in Germany , the dismantled machines were brought to the Soviet Union and all factory buildings were demolished.

The Blitz S with a payload of three tons was only manufactured at the Daimler-Benz plant in Mannheim from August 1944 until the end of the war. By the end of the war it was not able to produce more than around 2,500 "Blitz" trucks; the investment in production was therefore an economic failure for Daimler-Benz. From June 1945 the Mannheim plant built the trucks under the designation L 701 without any manufacturer designation - initially with a driver's cab made of hardboard . From August 1948, the vehicle was given a sheet metal cab supplied by Opel .

The trucks were sold under the name Opel as well as Mercedes-Benz . Opel manufactured the last 467 vehicles in Rüsselsheim from 1950 to 1954 from prefabricated parts after production of the Blitz at Daimler-Benz in Mannheim ended on June 10, 1949. Opel did not have a successor model in this size class (3 t payload). Mercedes produced the L 311 as a successor.

A smaller Blitz model with a payload of 1.5 t was built in 16,410 units from January 1938 to November 1942 in Rüsselsheim , where production started again in 1946. The car was powered by the 2.5 l or 55 hp six-cylinder petrol engine from the Opel Kapitän .

During the Second World War, the mule half-track vehicle was also built on the basis of components from the Blitz .

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  Fire engine from 1938

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  Blitz A of the Wehrmacht 1944

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  Opel Blitz Maultier (half-track vehicle)

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  Opel Blitz of the Kronach fire brigade from 1951 with Mayer body, Hagen

1952 to 1960

1952
Opel Blitz minibus (1952–1960)
Production period:	1952-1960
Designs:	Flatbed trucks , box vans , minibuses , special bodies
Engines:	Otto engine : 2.5 liters (43 kW)
Length:	5670 mm
Width:	1940 mm
Wheelbase:	3300 mm
Payload:	1.88-2.07 t
Perm. Total weight:	3.6-3.8 t

Opel Blitz 1.75 t (1952–1960)
Technical data (overview)
Engine:	Four-stroke gasoline engine six-cylinder in line
Displacement:	2473 cc
Power:	58 hp (43 kW) at 3070 rpm
Transmission:	4 forward, 1 reverse gear
electr. Investment:	6 V system
Length Width:	5670 mm, 1940 mm
Wheelbase:	3300 mm
Tires:	6.00-18.00 extra
Empty weight:	1720 kg (from 1955 1735 kg)
Payload:	1880 kg (from 1955 2065 kg)
Perm. Total weight:	3600 kg (from 1955 3800 kg)

truck

In 1952 the smaller Opel Blitz , the former 1.5-tonne truck, was given a much more modern driver's cab. The design was based on the then trendy American pickups . At the same time, there were also similarly designed light trucks from Borgward ( B 1500 ) and Hanomag ( Hanomag L 28 ). The redesigned Opel Blitz was available as a panel van and a flatbed truck . The new model was now designed for a payload of initially 1.75 tons (later 2 tons), but was technically almost unchanged from the predecessor, the drive continued to be exclusively from gasoline engines with six cylinders. Due to its rounded design, the car was popularly known as the soft flash . Although the competition was already growing significantly - Daimler-Benz in particular took numerous customers from Opel with the Mercedes-Benz L 319 released in 1955 - the Opel Blitz remained the market leader for light trucks during the 1950s. LF-8 vehicles for small fire brigades were also frequently used .

Panorama bus

As a contractor, Kässbohrer Fahrzeugwerke built the superstructures for lightning “panorama buses” on Opel chassis, which could accommodate 17 people. Between 1953 and 1956, Kässbohrer manufactured 67 bus bodies . The six-cylinder in-line engine had 58 hp and a displacement of 2,473 cc. The top speed was 95 km / h.

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  Blitz pickup truck (1952–1960)

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  Blitz fire engine (1952–1960)

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  Lightning "Panorama Bus" (1953–1956)

1960 to 1965

1960
Opel Blitz fire engine (1960–1965)
Production period:	1960-1965
Designs:	Flatbed trucks , box vans , minibuses , special bodies
Engines:	Otto engine : 2.6 liters (51 kW)
Length:	5170 mm
Width:	2110 mm
Wheelbase:	3000-3300 mm
Payload:	1.985 t
Perm. Total weight:	3.8 t

Opel Blitz 1.9 t (1960-1965)
Technical data (overview)
Engine:	Four-stroke gasoline engine six-cylinder in line
Displacement:	2.6 l
Power:	70 hp
Transmission:	4 forward, 1 reverse gear
Length Width:	5170 mm, 2110 mm
Wheelbase:	3000 or 3300 mm
Tires:	6.00-18.00 extra
Empty weight:	1815 kg
Payload:	1985 kg
Perm. Total weight:	3800 kg

From 1960 a further developed Opel Blitz was produced and offered, which replaced the old model and was now designed for a payload of 1.9 tons. The hood had become much shorter, and gasoline engines from the passenger car range ( Opel Kapitän ) continued to serve as the drive , a diesel engine was still not available. As a result, Opel subsequently lost further market shares because customers increasingly asked for the more economical diesel engines, which the competition also got.

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  Opel Blitz fire engine

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  Opel A-Blitz tow truck (body manufacturer Kaufmann)

1965 to 1975

1965
Opel Blitz with towing body (1965–1975)
Production period:	1965-1975
Designs:	Flatbed trucks , box vans , minibuses , special bodies
Engines:	Petrol engine : 2.6 liters (51 kW) Diesel engine : 2.1 liters

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  Opel Blitz fire engine

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  Opel Blitz in the museum depot of the Museum for Communication with the construction of Voll, Würzburg

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  Opel Blitz vehicle of Circus Knie

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  Blitz-Bus from 1965, 2009 in Eberswalde as a historic vehicle

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  Opel Blitz tow truck in the early 1980s (body manufacturer Kaufmann Zweibrücken)

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  Opel Blitz double cabin low loader early 1980s (body manufacturer Kaufmann Zweibrücken)

The last generation of the Opel Blitz came on the market in 1965 ; it was a revision of the previous variant, especially in the area of ​​the front end. Furthermore, only petrol engines were installed. The customer's request for diesel vehicles was ignored until 1968, as a result of which sales figures continued to decline. From 1968 the Blitz was finally available with a diesel engine, this 2.1-liter four-cylinder engine came from the Peugeot passenger car range . This brought the production numbers a short-term improvement, but the lightning had lost too much ground in the meantime. The manufacturer, whose car business was doing well at the time, decided not to develop a successor. Sales continued to lag at a low level and slowly continued to crumble. Commercial vehicle production at Opel was discontinued in 1975 without replacement.

Further development

The parent company of Opel , General Motors , decided in the early 1970s to distribute the tasks of its European subsidiary brands more clearly. The British Bedford plant was given responsibility for commercial vehicles, from now on Opel was only to build passenger cars. Therefore, from 1973 to 1987 was small van from British production in Germany under the name Bedford Blitz sold. However, the success of the Bedford Blitz remained modest, so that this series also expired at the end of the 1980s.

It was not until 1998 that a new van followed with the Opel Movano and Vauxhall Movano, which were built together with Renault in France .

Market classification

The Opel trucks had had a very good reputation since the 1920s, and the new Blitz quickly gained it. Among the numerous competitors from the prewar period, Mercedes with the types L or LO 1500 and L or LO 2500 as well as the light commercial vehicles from the Borgward group under the name Hansa-Lloyd are mentioned.

Rivals for the Opel Blitz in the 1950s and 1960s were mainly

• the Ford Transit and the Ford FK trucks , the latter until 1961
• the Mercedes-Benz L 319 and the Mercedes-Benz T 2
• the corresponding models from Hanomag or Hanomag-Henschel ( Hanomag L 28 ; Kurier , Garant and Markant series ; Harburger Transporter ; F series )
• the corresponding Borgward trucks such as the B 611

literature

Opel Blitz: 1931–1975 . Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 2012, ISBN 978-3-613-03391-7 .

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A name becomes a trademark - 75 years of Opel Blitz . Adam Opel AG. November 28, 2005.
2. ↑ USAAF Combat Operations (at aircrewremembered.com), accessed April 14, 2019
3. ↑ Motor Klassik issue 9/1985

Web links

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

• Opel Museum Hueckelhoven
• Opel Blitz of the Danish Army