Opel Kadett has reached a special milestone. The German model is celebrating its 80th birthday. Yes, the name has changed to Astra in the recent years, but the lines are the same. The first generation appeared in 1936 and it was a quit advanced car for that era. It features unitary body, independent front suspension, faired-in headlight and much more other special accessories.
The production was stopped in 1940 and over 100.000 units have been built. The war was to blame. But the Kadett reappeared in 1962 when the Kadett A was borne.
The mode had a 1.0 liter 40 horsepower engine and a large trunk. 650.000 units were produced in ten years. Kadett B was the successor of the A model and it was a very popular car. 2.6 million units were sold in the eight-year life.
The Kadett C that followed marked the start of General Motors’ platform-sharing era. The revolution came in 1979 with the Kadett D which featured a hatchback body and was a front wheel drive car. The Kadett E was the last of its kind because in 1991 Astra was borne.
The new generations of Astra came in 1998, 2004, 2009 and 2015. After all these years, Opel deliver 24 million Kadetts and Astras. And this is a good figure. Happy birthday, Opel Kadett/Astra!
Source: Opel
