Old man car or not – many wanted this one

Frank Williksen is the veteran in the Broom editorial team. He has worked as a car journalist for over 50 years and has tested a large number of cars at home and abroad.

He remembers some cars better than others. Now Frank shares the memories with all Broom’s readers. This time it is about the Opel Kadett of 1975.

Throughout the 1970s, Opel was one of the major car brands in Norway, and one of the models that contributed greatly to this was the little Kadett. The car could hardly be called technically advanced or innovative in terms of design, but it was an honest little workhorse that many Norwegian car buyers fell for.

At that time, the security of making a good choice was probably more important to most people than fancy details. Thus, cars like the Opel Kadett had good odds. For Opel as a car brand has long been positioned as a bit set and trusty, simply a bit “old man”, or as some also said “man-with-a-hat-car”.

Kadett did not do much to change this perception, it probably rather confirmed the main impression of the brand.

World car

The Kadett model I drove in 1975 was a Kadett C, which was launched in 1973. The car did very well from the start on the Norwegian market, with third place in the model statistics both in 1974 and 1975, with 4,824 and 5,146 cars respectively. Sales also held up well in the following years.

In many ways, the Kadett C was a small world car. It was produced in Japan by Isuzu and in South Korea by Daewoo. In the US it became a smaller cousin in the Chevrolet family, and in the UK it operated under the Chevette name.

Small – but registered for five

How was this little Opel in everyday use? Yes, first of all it was small. With the engine at the front and drive on the rear wheels, among other things, the intermediate axle tunnel made sure to steal a lot of space in the back seat, and even though the luggage compartment was not the smallest I’ve seen, it probably had its limitations when the family planned a holiday trip!

The exterior dimensions of the 1975 model also have a story to tell about how the cars have developed. The Opel Kadett 1975 was a modest 1.57 m wide, while today’s comparable model – the Astra – measures a full 1.86 m wide. This is an increase of just under 30 cm!

The average Norwegian has also become broader

The length has also been increased from 4.12 m to 4.37 m, so something is happening here too. When the car also has front-wheel drive with the large space advantages this entails, it is clear that a space-wise comparison between the 1975 Kadett and today’s Astra is a bit like night and day!

It is particularly the increase in width that is drastic, and although body and door sides are much thicker today than in 1975, there is no doubt that the net width is completely different. It is tempting to add that the net width has probably increased quite a bit also for Ola’s average Norwegian during the period, so we probably need the width increase!

Best in town

This development is of course common, regardless of car make and model. It is enough to look at other interesting comparisons, such as the very first VW Golf and the current model…

To drive, I thought at the time that Kadett 1975 had its strength in the city and on not too long trips. Long drives with several people in the car quickly became tiring, and felt cramped and a little uncomfortable. Some interior noise also contributed to reducing the enjoyment of the trip.

Modestly equipped

However, the seats got a good rating, and so did the driver’s seat. It was simple, clear and functional – there was nothing unnecessary to mess around with; the test car was not even equipped with a radio!

In terms of safety, the Opel Kadett C was about as modestly equipped as most other car models at the time. In practice, this meant that it was about details such as shock-absorbing steering column, anti-glare interior mirror and electrically heated rear window.

The list of standard equipment was generally sparse, but the two-door De Luxe had, among other things, arrangements for front headrests, steering wheel lock, two reversing lights, lights in the engine and boot compartments, electric clock, cigarette lighter, rear ashtray, carpet on the floor, wheel trims and foot-operated window washers/cleaners.

No rocket

In terms of engine, the car was not a memorable experience either. Under the hood was a 1.2-liter inline-four with 52 hp, which was quite common for a car in this class at the time. It wasn’t fast, even though the curb weight was just over 800 kilograms (the test car had an automatic transmission, which added 25 kilograms to the weight). The result was a top speed of 132 km/h – and acceleration from 0-100 km/h stated at 21 seconds, probably even slightly slower with an automatic transmission.

Petrol consumption was stated at 0.86 l/mil.

Opel launched its first Kadett in 1936, and the car was produced until 1940. After the war, production resumed in Russia in 1947, under the name Moskwich.

The first Opel Kadett A was launched in 1962, and later followed Kadett B (1966 – 1973), Kadett C (1973 – 1979) and Kadett D – the first with front wheel drive (1979 -1984) and Kadett E (1984 – 1992). Subsequently, the model in Europe was called Astra.

Once this was one of Norway’s best-selling car brands

This article was first published on Broom.no.