Opel 4 hp

Opel Tree Frog: "The same in green"

Opel tree frog open

Opel 4PS: "The same in red"

Opel 4 PS , popularly known as the Opel Tree Frog , were passenger cars made by the German manufacturer Adam Opel KG (from 1929 AG), which were produced in Rüsselsheim between May 1924 and June 1931.

The Opel 4/12 PS, the basic model, was the first automobile to be built on an assembly line in Germany and was produced until 1926. Other “tree frogs” were the 4/14 HP between 1924 and 1925, the 4/16 HP between 1925 and 1926, the 4/16 (4/18) HP between 1926 and 1930, and the 4/20 HP, also known as “1 , Called 1 liter “, between 1929 and 1931.

In May 1924 the first Opel 4/12 PS rolled off the assembly line. In contrast to the automobiles customary at the time, it was small and green instead of big and black and was therefore popularly known as the “ tree frog ”. The one-liter engine brought the car to a top speed of 60 km / h.

As a body variant, Opel only offered an open two-seater with a so-called "boat tail" and canvas top for the 4/12 PS. The later tree frog models came with other variants:

• Two-seater luxury version: open model with modified rear (from 1925)
• Three-seater: open 3-seater vehicle (from November 1924)
• Four-seater: open 4-seater vehicle (from 1925)
• Limousine: closed vehicle with three (from November 1924) or four (from 1925) seats
• Delivery van: closed vehicle with rear door (from November 1924)

The "car for everyone" cost 4500 Rentenmarks to start production. Although little in contrast to other automobiles, this was still the equivalent of a home. After 100,000 copies were sold in 1930, the simple version of the Opel was available from 1930 Reichsmark .

The assembly line production of the Opel Laubfrosch is considered to be the hour of birth of the “little man's car” in Germany.

The tree frog was a plagiarism of the French Citroën 5CV or 5HP. In lawsuits that were sought by Citroën at the time, the plagiarism allegation was rejected by German courts because of a different form of the radiator grille. The most noticeable change was the green paintwork - Citroën painted the car lemon yellow. This plagiarism case is a possible attempt to interpret the phrase same in green . In Automobile Museum Aspang in Aspang-Markt in Lower Austria are comparing an Opel from 1927 and a Citroën from the year 1922nd

After a total of 119,484 cars of all versions, the successor Opel 1.2 liter came on the market in July 1931 , predecessor of the Opel P4 and the Opel Kadett .

Web links

Commons : Opel Laubfrosch  - Collection of images, videos and audio files