Nationales Automuseum – The Loh Collection, Dietzhölztal, Germany
Until November 17, 2024
With the temporary exhibition “Opel – 125 years”, the Nationales Automobile Museum and the Loh Collection pay tribute to one of Germany’s oldest car brands. The exhibition features a selection of some fifteen cars, including historic cars, more recent production models, racing cars and a few concept cars.
After manufacturing sewing machines and bicycles, Opel entered the automobile business in 1899 with the “Patentmotorwagen”. Opel quickly became Germany’s leading carmaker and was the first to start mass production in 1924. Opel was acquired by General Motors in 1929, and remained with the American group until 2017, when it was bought by PSA (now Stellantis). Several generations of models followed, identifiable by their names. These include the Admiral from 1939, the Commodore in its sporty GS/E version from 1970, and the Kadett in its “Caravan” station wagon version.
Opel soon became involved in motor sport, as demonstrated by the 12-PS racing car from 1903. Since the 1970s, Opel has turned its attention to touring car racing, both on the track and in rallies, like the 1983 Safari Rally Ascona, its successor the Manta 400, and the 1996 Calibra V6 ITC.
Several concept cars complete the exhibition, including the original Corsa Moon from 1997, a city car for future lunar cities (?), the elegant Geneva coupe from 2003, and several concepts inspired by the Opel GT, the pretty coupe of the 1970s. One of these is the 1971 Elektro GT, one of Opel’s first electric cars. The most recent model on show is the 2019 Corsa-e Rally Concept, also electric.
The photos on this page belong to the Nationales Automuseum – The Loh Collection, no right of reproduction without the express permission of the museum.