Opel Record B

Opel
Opel Rekord (1965–1966)
Record B
Sales designation:	record
Production period:	08 / 1965-07 / 1966
Class :	upper middle class
Body versions :	Limousine , coupé , station wagon , panel van
Engines:	Petrol engines : 1.5-2.6 liters (44-74 kW)
Length:	4529-4551 mm
Width:	1696 mm
Height:	1405-1534 mm
Wheelbase :	2639 mm
Empty weight :	990-1135 kg
Previous model	Opel Rekord A.
successor	Opel Rekord C

The Opel Rekord B is a passenger car model of the upper middle class of Opel's series record . It was presented in August 1965 as the successor to the Opel Rekord A and was built less than a year before July 1966.

The most important innovation was the newly developed four-cylinder engine as a replacement for the design from the Opel Olympia, which was produced from 1937 . Otherwise the technology was only slightly changed. For the first time, the record was also available with a 2-speed automatic transmission ( General Motors Powerglide). Successor was from August 1966, the record C .

Model history

The Rekord B is a transitional model: Opel originally wanted to present a newly developed generation of engines at the same time as a new car, but this was not yet ready for series production. So the Rekord A was stylistically adapted to the not-yet-finished successor (broadband headlights, radiator grille and all-round chrome frames on the front and rear) and the new engines were presented in this model, called Rekord B. The cars were built from August 1965 to July 1966, delivered for just eight months and then replaced by the Rekord C.

The body has been modified slightly compared to the previous record A; Rectangular headlights, a modified radiator grille with an Opel emblem in the middle and round taillights , which later appeared in a similar form on the Opel Manta A and Opel GT , were new . The dashboard , interior fittings and color selection also largely corresponded to the previous model.

The car was available as a two- and four-door sedan , a station wagon ("CarAVan") and a coupé . In contrast to the chassis of the Rekord A, it received a rear axle with a wider track . It was the last rear axle with semi-elliptical leaf springs on Opel vehicles. The front independent suspension on double wishbones has been adopted practically unchanged from the A-model.

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  Rear view

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  Opel Rekord as a two-door sedan

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  Opel Rekord Coupé

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  Opel Rekord CarAVan

The dual-circuit braking system with front disc brakes and rear drum brakes as well as brake booster was standard for all models and thus not only for the 2.6-liter model .

With the Rekord B , a new generation of engines was introduced, which replaced the solid, but technically obsolete and advanced pre-war units that had reached the limit of performance: four-cylinder in - line engines with overhead camshafts , which Opel calls " CIH engines". "CIH" stands for "Camshaft In Head" (camshaft in the cylinder head ). The valves are no longer actuated via long push rods from a lateral camshaft located below, but the camshaft now located in the cylinder head acts on the valves via short tappets and sheet metal rocker arms ; these rocker arms are not rotatably mounted on an axis, but are held by tie rods with a correspondingly designed adjusting nut. The shaft is driven by a duplex chain instead of spur gears . This generation of engines, technically advanced, was part of the Opel range until the end of the 1980s.

The 2.6-liter in-line six-cylinder in the Rekord B L-6 was taken over from its predecessor and was basically still a prewar design, based on the unit from the Opel Super 6 from 1937, but before it was used in the Opel Kapitän P 2, 6 (1959–1963) fundamentally revised and still 100 hp. As with the Rekord A L-6, the engine block of the in-line six-cylinder engine placed a heavy load on the front axle, which made the steering correspondingly difficult to move when stationary and when maneuvering. A power steering was only in the upper-range models of the Opel KAD A Available series.

In connection with the new CIH four-cylinder engines, modern downdraft carburetors from SOLEX / DVG were used, whereby the 1.7 and 1.9 liter S engines with 75 and 90 hp had a comfortable and contemporary, warm water-heated automatic starter.

Only the 1.5 and 2.6 liter engines still had a manually operated starter cable ( manual choke ).

The tried and tested Opel downdraft carburettors (Carter license), which were produced in-house, were initially only to be installed in the 2.6-liter OHV six-cylinder engines in the Rekord B. However, after initial tuning problems with the 1.5-liter CIH engines fitted with Solex carburettors could not be quickly and satisfactorily resolved in the factory, it was decided to use the to equip the tried and tested Opel Carter carburetor.

In the end, this carburettor was also used in the entire subsequent Rekord-C series on all 1.5-liter and 1.7-liter N engines (60 hp).

The basic version of the Rekord B sedan and station wagon was equipped with a fully synchronized three-speed gearbox and steering wheel gearshift; the coupé had a four-speed gearbox with center shift as standard, which was optionally available for sedan and station wagon and in conjunction with steering wheel shift for an extra charge. For the model 1900S 90 HP, one was for the first time at Opel's four-cylinder models against appropriate surcharge GM - Powerglide -Zweigang- converter transmission available.

A three-speed gearbox with automatic clutch " Olymat " was available as an option for the 17S models (identical to the Saxomat from Fichtel & Sachs ). The system consisted of a centrifugal force-controlled starting clutch, combined with a second clutch for changing gears, which meant that the clutch pedal could be omitted. The second clutch, activated by the negative pressure of the engine, was activated by an electrical contact on the gearshift lever.

Today the Rekord B has become a real rarity; A total of around 296,000 copies were built in just under a year. Even rarer are the Opel Olympia economy models based on the body of the two-door record-breaking B sedan , which were only supplied in the basic version with a 1.5-liter engine and a three-speed gearbox operated manually using the steering wheel.

All Opel Olympia models produced after the Rekord B series was discontinued, however, were no longer inexpensive versions of the Opel Rekord.

Opel used the name Olympia from now on exclusively for a luxuriously upgraded model variant of the Kadett B , which was equipped with the CIH four-cylinder engines of the record series, with a displacement of 1.7 and 1.9 liters and 75 or 90 hp.

Technical specifications

Technical data Opel Rekord B 1965/66
Opel record:	1500	1700 p	1900 p	L-6
Engine:	4-cylinder in-line engine (four-stroke)			6-cylinder in-line engine (four-stroke)
Displacement:	1492 cc	1698 cc	1897 cc	2605 cc
Bore × stroke:	82.5 x 69.8 mm	88 x 69.8 mm	93 x 69.8 mm	85 x 76.5 mm
Performance at 1 / min:	44 kW (60 hp) at 4800	55 kW (75 PS) at 5200	66 kW (90 PS) at 5100	74 kW (100 PS) at 4600
Max. Torque at 1 / min:	103 Nm at 2800-3600	127 Nm at 2500-2900	146 Nm at 2500–3100	181 Nm at 2400
Compression:	8.2: 1	8.8: 1	9.0: 1	8.2: 1
Mixture preparation:	1 downdraft carburetor		1 register downdraft carburetor	1 downdraft carburetor
Valve control:	Overhead valves, short tappets and rocker arms (overhead camshaft, duplex chain)			Overhead valves, bumpers and rocker arms (side camshaft, spur gears)
Cooling:	Water cooling
Transmission:	3- or 4-speed manual transmission (L-6 only 4-speed transmission), steering wheel or center shift (on request for 1900 S Powerglide two-speed automatic (GM))
Front suspension:	Independent suspension on double wishbones , coil springs, recirculating ball steering
Rear suspension:	Rigid axle on 2 semi-elliptical leaf springs with 3 (Caravan 4) spring layers
Brakes:	Front disc brakes, Ø 238 mm, rear drums, Ø 230 mm
Body:	Sheet steel, self-supporting
Track width front / rear:	1321/1276 mm (L-6: 1325/1279 mm)
Wheelbase:	2639 mm
Length:	4529-4551 mm
Empty weight:	990-1135 kg
Top speed:	133 km / h	146-150 km / h	154-162 km / h	163-168 km / h
0-100 km / h:	22-24 p	17-24.5 s	13.5-17 s	13-14 p
Consumption (liters / 100 kilometers):	11.0 N	12.0-12.5 S.	12.0-13.0 S.	12.0 S.

literature

• Werner Oswald : German Cars 1945–1975 . Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1975, ISBN 3-87943-391-7 , pp. 91-94.

Web links

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

• Opel Rekord B: stopgap and trailblazer - article at Spiegel Online

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b} Eckhart Bartels, Rainer Manthey: Opel: Vehicle Chronicle Volume 2: 1952–1990. Podszun, Brilon 2012, ISBN 978-3861336204 , pp. 8/9, 29 and 37.