Opel Diplomat

The Opel Diplomat was the top model in the luxury class of Adam Opel AG and was built between spring 1964 and summer 1977. It was based on the six-cylinder Kapitän and Admiral vehicles and offered even more equipment.

description

The cars, also known as the "KAD" models after the initials of the captain, admiral and diplomat, were produced in the first series as KAD A from February 1964 to November 1968. As a special feature, the Diplomat was offered as a coupé from February 1965, of which only 347 vehicles were manufactured up to July 1967.

The KAD B series was officially introduced in March 1969 and all models (including the Diplomat) were only available as a notchback sedan. In addition, the master was hired in May 1970, so that strictly speaking, the designation "KAD" no longer applied from this point in time.

The era of the KAD models ended in July 1977 when the Diplomat was the last representative of the series to expire. The first oil crisis in 1973/1974 was far less decisive for the decline of the Opel luxury sedan than the low level of acceptance among potential customers. This preferred the more expensive full size car from Mercedes-Benz W 108 / 109 and W 116 (1972), which technically hardly inferior to the diplomat.

The series

With the Diplomat, Opel brought a passenger car with an eight-cylinder engine to the German market again after 35 years . The last vehicle with a comparably large engine was the Opel Regent , which was only produced in 25 units .

Diplomat A (1964–1968)

In June 1964 the Diplomat A came onto the market as a luxury model of the KAD series. In addition to the classic limousine, the Diplomat (as opposed to the captain and admiral) also produced a coupé version from February 1965, which was to serve as an image carrier. The vehicles were manufactured by the body specialist Karmann . The only engine of the two-door model was a V8 engine with 5354 cm³ displacement and 169 kW (230 hp).

The sedan was initially available with a smaller V8 engine with a displacement of 4.6 liters and 140 kW (190 hp). It was not until September 1966 that the larger V8 engine from the coupé was used at an additional cost.

With a wheelbase of 2845 mm, the sedans were 4948 mm long, 1902 mm wide and 1454 mm high. The curb weight was given as 1590 kg. The coupé was slightly flatter at 1432 mm and weighed 1630 kg.

Sales of the Diplomat Coupé ended in July 1967 after just 347 units, while the sedan was produced until November 1968.

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  Opel Diplomat A (1964–1968)

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  Opel Diplomat A Coupé (1965-1967)

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  Diplomat A, dashboard

Diplomat B (1969–1977)

The KAD B-series diplomat came to dealerships in March 1969, but like its sister models Kapitän and Admiral was only available as a sedan. With a wheelbase of 2845 mm, the vehicle was 4907 to 4920 mm long, 1835 to 1852 mm wide and 1450 mm high. The long version offered from mid-1973 to summer 1977 had 15 cm more wheelbase and accordingly more length. The curb weight was given as 1495 to 1695 kg (long version 1720 kg).

There was a choice of a six-cylinder engine with a displacement of 2784 cm³ and 103 to 107 kW (140–145 hp) with carburetor or 118 to 121 kW (160–165 hp) with intake manifold injection and a V8 engine with a displacement of 5354 cm³ and 169 kW (230 PS).

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  Opel Diplomat B (1969–1977)

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  Opel Diplomat B long version (1973–1977)

literature

• Werner Oswald: German Cars, Volume 3, 1945–1990, Ford, Opel and VW. Motorbuchverlag, Stuttgart 2001, ISBN 3-613-02116-1 , p. 208.
• Christian Steiger: Opel, the casual one. In: Motor Klassik , issue 5/2000, p. 44.

Web links

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

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e f g} Opel Vehicle Chronicle Volume 2: 1952–1990 ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (Last updated 2012) 
2. ↑ 40 years of Opel Diplomat ( Memento of the original from July 14, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.