General Motors is part of the heart and soul of the American automotive industry. Yet, GM has had an impressive automotive presence outside the U.S. for over a century that most Americans never got to experience nor know about. One of the most curious examples of GM’s global expansion efforts was the 1960s German flagship luxury car, the Opel Diplomat.
Opel had been GM’s German subsidiary since the 1920s, but the Opel Diplomat model would serve as Europe’s first taste of the small-block Chevy V-8 platform. The Diplomat would be a primary contender in the following battle that ensued during this formative era for the dominant German luxury car between Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Opel. Yet, why and how did GM find themselves going toe-to-toe in Germany as a German brand among other German brands? To explain, let’s break down GM’s methods of global outreach and the influence of the small-block Chevy V-8 worldwide.
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Opel Was The Star Of GM’s Umbrella Of Global Brands
With Opel in Germany, Vauxhall in the U.K., and Holden in Australia, GM has a wider global reach than you might expect from the American manufacturer. Yet, back in 1925, Opel and Vauxhall were some of GM’s earliest global acquisitions, and in the 1980s, the two brands would later combine and form General Motors Europe. Yet, how did Opel, one of Germany’s oldest automakers, come into the possession of GM in the first place?
Opel Was The Leading German Brand In The 1920s
Opel found early success in the 1920s by being the first German automaker with a mass-production assembly line. Opel’s production efficiency would be revolutionary, and their cost-cutting methods would allow for the production of the first “economical” cars in Germany. By 1928, Opel was both the largest domestic automaker in Germany and the largest automotive exporter, riding the success of the Opel 4 PS two-seater, known as the Laubfrosch.
GM Was Impressed By Opel’s Operations
Opel’s success by the end of the 1920s had not gone unnoticed by other key players in the automotive space. After seeing the efficiency of Opel’s manufacturing process, GM went all out and bought 80 percent of Opel. By 1931, GM had bought out the company as a whole, and the German brand became a full GM subsidiary. This new ownership allowed Opel to continue to flourish because, in 1935, they would become the first German automaker to produce 100,000 vehicles per year.
Opel was the pioneer in breakthroughs during this era, as they would also design and manufacture Germany’s first mass-produced unibody vehicle. Unfortunately, World War II would make things very awkward for the American-owned German brand, and the halt of automotive production in 1940 put a pause on Opel’s momentum. Yet, Opel’s story was far from over at this point, and the 1960s were a breath of fresh air that brought forth new ideas and vehicles.
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The 1960s Opel Diplomat Was An S-Class Competitor
Nowadays, German luxury consists of a tight-knit battle between Mercedes, BMW, Audi, and Porsche. Yet, back in the 1960s Germany, it would have been Mercedes, BMW, and Opel fighting for dominance. Audi wasn’t a thing back then, Porsche was focusing on sports cars (the 911 model launched in 1964), and Volkswagen was busy with the smashing success of the economical Volkswagen Beetle.
At the time, Mercedes was the clear leader in the German luxury market following the success of the W111 and W112 generation “fintail” sedans. In 1965, Mercedes would introduce its successor to the W111 and W112 generations, dubbed the W108 and W109. The W108/W109 would be the predecessor to the W116 generation, which would be the first official S-Class generation. Yet, at the time, there was no real competitor to the Mercedes flagship sedan, and this is where Opel saw its opportunity to strike with the Diplomat.
The Diplomat A (1964-1968)
|
Engine & Tranmission |
Output |
Driveline |
Performance Figures |
|---|---|---|---|
|
5.4-liter V-8 2-speed automatic |
230 horsepower |
RWD |
10 seconds 130 mph |
1966 Opel Diplomat Performance Specifications
1964 was a landmark year for Opel as they debuted a new trio of flagship models, including new generations of the brand’s icons, the Kapitan and Admiral, along with the brand-new Diplomat model. The detail that set the Diplomat apart from these two other established Opel models was that it was only available with the 4.6-liter small-block Chevy V-8 at debut (later updated to the 5.4-liter variant).
The first-generation Diplomat A was not cheap, and it was never intended to be. Yet, utilizing Chevy’s proven small-block V-8 platform was the smartest decision Opel could have made with the justification of cost-saving measures. The Diplomat model was about establishing the top of Opel’s totem pole to challenge Mercedes, and to achieve this, their flagship vehicle needed a powerful V-8 engine at its helm. You could say that the small-block Chevy was exactly the engine that Opel needed, and it would serve as the foundation of Opel’s luxury aspirations.
The Diplomat B (1969-1977)
Although the Opel Diplomat was a niche vehicle in a niche market, it served as a unique alternative to the established German norm. Its large-displacement V-8 engine was more powerful and smoother than the German inline-six options of the same generation, and this performance allowed Opel to introduce a new generation known as the Diplomat B. The Diplomat B differed from its predecessor as it expanded the model variants to include a fuel-injected 2.8-liter inline-six (Diplomat E) in addition to the existing 5.4-liter V-8 (Diplomat V8).
Despite the Diplomat B’s increased versatility, sales were still lukewarm across the entire generation, and the Diplomat’s life cycle came to a close in 1977. After ending production, GM found themselves in an extended limbo where a true successor to the Diplomat wouldn’t come about until 1978 with the Opel Senator. The Opel Senator would be a complete departure from the big-bodied Diplomat, and, sadly, the small-block Chevy V-8 would not return to the Opel lineup ever again.
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GM And Opel’s Legacy Among German Luxury
Why is it that BMW and Mercedes’ luxury vehicles took off and became household brands, but Opel’s luxury division never saw the same level of success? Well, Opel realized that with the tightening of emissions regulations in the 1970s, low-production luxury cars with big V-8 engines were not going to be sustainable. Their initiative instead changed to focus on a more home-grown European-focused product with more widespread appeal.
Opel And Vauxhall Merge And Find Success
In the 1970s, Opel was the stronger of GM’s two European brands, yet GM believed they could further brighten the future of both brands by merging them. The craziest thing about this is that they were right. By the 1980s, Opel and Vauxhall became unified, and by the 90s, they were turning a profit and selling over a million vehicles a year in their prime. When GM’s North American operations had their rough patches during this era, Opel was comparatively booming and supplementing the American brand’s global expansion endeavors.
The End Of GM and Opel’s Relationship
After 2000, this reality changed very quickly for Opel, where they didn’t manage to turn a profit ever again and instead cost GM billions in their nearly two-decade effort to revive the peaks the brand once experienced. Yet, when Opel died, so did GM’s ambitions of becoming the world’s largest automaker as the European brand was unceremoniously sold in 2017 for $2.2 billion to PSA Group, the owners of French staples Peugeot and Citroën.
Just like that, GM and Opel’s nearly century-long legacy together came to an end. When looking back, it is clear to see that the Opel Diplomat, the most expensive Opel model ever produced, remains a timeless snapshot of a bygone era that demonstrates the complex underpinnings of global automakers throughout the decades.