Tuesday, February 1, 2011

1959 Opel Kapitan


While Detroit was obsessed with showy flashy cars in the late 1950s, UK and European manufacturers were mostly concerned with practicality more than design.  These publicity pictures of the 1959 Opel Kapitan are interesting for the environments shown.

The Opel company was founded by Adam Opel in 1862 and has been building cars since 1899. It is headquartered in Rüsselsheim, Germany, and has been a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors since 1929.

For those into specifications, here they are for this model:

Doors : 4
Cylinders : Inline 6
Displacement : 2.6 litre (2605 cc) (158.967 cu in)
Type : OHV
Compression ratio : 7.80:1
Fuel system : 1 Opel carb
Maximum power : 91.3 hp (90 bhp) (67.1 kW) @ 4100 rpm
Specific output : 34.5 bhp/litre (0.57 bhp/cu in)
Maximum torque : 186.0 Nm (137 ft·lb) (19 kgm) @ 1300 rpm
Wheelbase : 2800 mm (110.2 in)
Track front : 1378 mm (54.3 in), rear : 1374 mm (54.1 in)
Length : 4831 mm (190.2 in)
Width : 1812 mm (71.3 in)
Height : 1512 mm (59.5 in)
Length to wheelbase ratio : 1.73
Kerb weight : 1258 kg (2773 lb)
Top speed : 151 km/h (94 mph)
0-100 km/h : 16.90 seconds

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