The Opel Commodore is an executive car (E-segment) produced by Opel from 1967 to 1982. It is the six-cylinder variant of the Rekord with styling differences. The Commodore nameplate was used by Opel from 1967 to 1982. However, its nameplate/lineage continued until 2020 with the Australian Holden Commodore.[1] The last generation was sold in the United Kingdom primarily as the Vauxhall Viceroy although Opel models were also sold.
Opel Commodore A sedanOpel Commodore A coupe rear Interior
The Opel Commodore A was manufactured from 1967 to 1971, based on the Rekord C. After having offered a Rekord-6 powered by a 2.6L 6-cylinder engine (which originated in the Opel Kapitän and Admiral) since March 1964,[2] Opel in February 1967 launched the Commodore as a faster up-market version of the Rekord. The Commodore was initially available with the known the 2.2-litre six and a larger 2.5L engine developing 115PS (85kW) with a single carburettor. The 2239cc engine with which the Commodore was launched shared its 82.5 x 69.8mm cylinder dimensions with the four-cylinder 1492cc Rekord engine on which it was based. The unit was first seen in the short-lived six-cylinder version of the Opel Rekord towards the end of 1966, but ceased to be offered in the Rekord after July 1967 when it became the entry level power unit for the newly introduced Opel Commodore. Body styles comprised a two-door or four-door notchbacksaloon and a two-door hardtop/fastbackcoupé. In September 1967 the sporty Commodore GS offering 130PS (96kW) from a dual-carburettor 2.5-litre six was introduced.
For the 1969 model year, the carryover 2.2-litre six was dropped and the optional 2-speed Powerglide automatic was abandoned in favor of Opel's new 3-speed automatic transmission.
From September 1969, the base 2.5L-engine was pumped up to 120PS (88kW); at the same time, both remaining engines received hydraulic lifters for smoother running, a new exhaust system and six camshaft bearings. The handbrake lever was moved from its position under the dash to a location between the front seats and the fuel tank was enlarged from 55 to 70litres.
An even more sporty model than the GS, the Commodore GS/E, debuted in March 1970. It had a 2.5L engine equipped with Bosch D-jetronic fuel injection system developing 150PS (110kW), which gave the car a top speed of 197km/h (122mph). The Commodore GS/E also had a career in motorsports, with a car prepared by Steinmetz. In April 1970 a Commodore with a detuned and carburetted 2.8L-six giving 145PS (107kW) followed (GS 2800).
156,330 Commodore As were built, including 2,574 GS and GS/E variants.
The Rekord C/Commodore A "V body" platform was used by GM to produce other models in many markets, these include the Ranger sold in mainland Europe and also in South Africa, as well as the GM Opala which was built and sold in South America from 1968 through to 1992. Ranger and Opala production commenced two years after the Commodore A's debut in 1966.
Today the name Commodore is a name synonymous with GM Holden of Australia. However, that wasn't always the case: The first-generation Holden Commodore actually is equivalent to the third-generation Opel Commodore.
GS/E History
All engines for the Commodore were 12 valve, CIH straight-six engines ranging from 2.2 to 2.8 litres. All but one engine option had single-barrel (2.2) or double-barrel (2.5; 2.8) downdraught carburetor. in 1970 the GS/E model was introduced which as its badge implies did not utilise carburetors, the "E" meaning Einspritzung or fuel injection in English.
Opels didn't have the reputation for performance cars in the period and they had seen the positive impact on sales for other race winning manufacturers on having performance models in their range of cars. Opel wanted to be in this area of the market and the results of this desire was the Commodore GS/E.
The carburettors were ditched in favour of a Bosch D-Jetronic, Bosch's first commercially produced electronic fuel injection system. Bosch D-Jetronic was a very early version of multi-point EFI, the “D” stood for “drucksensorgesteuert” (pressure sensor regulated). Unlike later Bosch fuel injection system, the injection was direct to the cylinder instead of via the Plenum inlets, which meant the a specific cylinder head was manufactured specifically for the engine, making this model unique and expensive to produce and purchase. Different from older mechanical injection systems, it incorporated taking input from the pressure inside the intake manifold. This is known as the Air Mass Sensor or in modern terms this would be known as the MAP-sensor (manifold absolute pressure), a part that's commonly found in more modern vehicles.
Bosch sold the patent to Japanese companies that continue to produce injection systems based on D-Jetronic.
D-Jetronic fuel injection was installed onto the 2.5 litre engine with the modified cylinder head, increasing power by 20bhp (15kW), making it more powerful than the larger 2.8 litre engine. The fuel injected engine, named 2500 E, now produced 150hp (112kW; 152PS) at 5,800 rpm and 196N⋅m (145lbf⋅ft) of torque at 4,500 rpm with an unchanged compression ratio of 9.5:1. For comparison, the base model Porsche 911T in 1970 had 25PS (18kW; 25hp) less, but was more expensive[citation needed]. The GS/E could accelerate from 0–100km/h (62mph) in 9.5 seconds, a similar value to the same period Porsche 911.[citation needed] It could also reach a top speed of 192km/h (119mph).
The GS/E Coupe model is known affectionately as the "German Charger".[3]
The Commodore B was based on the Rekord D, and launched in 1972. As in the previous generation, four models were offered: 2500 S, 2500 GS, 2800 GS, and 2800 GS/E, as a four-door saloon and two-door hardtopcoupé (although the fastback design was replaced by a more conventional three-box design). Power of the 2.5-litre engine was 115 or 130PS (85 or 96kW) depending on the specifications (25S/25H), while carburetted 2.8-liters had 130 or 142PS (96 or 104kW). The fuel injected 2.8 used in the GS/E has 160PS (118kW).
The Rekord and Commodore were also assembled as CKD kits in Belgium and Switzerland in the 1970s. These cars carried the name Ranger and differed from the originals in having different grilles and trim. These cars were exported to various countries.
In 1974, due to new regulations regarding pollutant emissions, the 2.5-litre models were dropped and the 2.8L models were detuned to 129/140/155PS (95/103/114kW). Commodore B production ended in 1977.
The Commodore B series was like the A series briefly used in motorsports, and the extreme "Jumbo" Commodore raced in the 1974 "interserie". It used a 6.0-litre V8 engine and had large wings which almost made it unrecognizable as an Opel. It never enjoyed much success despite its massive powerplant and impressive output.
Opel Commodore GS
Opel Commodore GS Coupé
Opel Commodore GS Coupé rear
Foreign assembly
Opel Commodores were also built in Iran between 1974 and 1976 under the name Chevrolet Iran 2800 , 2500 , Royal and Custom with both 2.5L and 2.8L engines by Pars Khodro (General Motors Iran).[4][5] The first Royale, also the first Chevrolet car built in Iran, left the production line on 15 January 1974. The Royale sold well initially, but the car had not been re-engineered for Iranian conditions and the low ground clearance coupled with carburettor troubles led to its reputation quickly being tarnished. The car was withdrawn by early 1977, replaced by the locally-built versions of the Buick Skylark, Chevrolet Nova, and Cadillac Seville (American origins).[6]
It was also assembled in South Africa, where it was called the Chevrolet 2500, 3800, and 4100, and was a top seller in that market. These received inline-four or -six engines of Chevrolet origins, built locally.
Commodore C (1978–1982)
Motor vehicle
Commodore C
Overview
Alsocalled
Chevrolet Commodore (South Africa) Vauxhall Viceroy (United Kingdom)
The Commodore C was first shown in late 1977, at the same time as the Rekord E. It only entered series production in October the following year, however. The South African version of this car, the Chevrolet Commodore,[7] was actually ahead of the European original model to enter production, in September 1978.[8] The Commodore continued to be a larger and more luxurious version of the Rekord. There was no coupé version of the Commodore C, as it was replaced by the Opel Monza, the coupé version of the Opel Senator, but a two-door notchbacksaloon was available until June 1981. The single engine used by the Commodore in Europe was the well-known straight-six 2.5-litre unit with 115PS (85kW; 113hp) or 130PS (96kW; 128hp) when fitted with fuel injection.
The Commodore C was never a success, occupying an uncomfortably narrow niche between the Rekord and Senator. Another concern was the fuel mileage, with a fuel injected Commodore taking considerably more fuel than the larger three-liter Senator.[9] The outdated engine also had little torque available at lower engine speeds, and was noisy.[10]
The new model featured a similar front end to the larger Senator. It was sold in the UK under the name Vauxhall Viceroy, with the Viceroy being a slightly more luxurious version of the Carlton. There was an estate version (dubbed the "Voyage" in Germany) offered in the Opel range from April 1981 until the end of production in 1982, which became a mainstay in the Holden range in Australia and was also available in the Chevrolet range in South Africa. It was never offered by Vauxhall in the UK as a Viceroy, although a one-off estate car was built in 1981 for Queen Elizabeth II, for her to carry her Corgi dogs. The car still survives today, one of only 15 Vauxhall Viceroys left registered in the UK, as of 2006.[citation needed]
The Commodore was dropped by Opel in Europe and was replaced by the Opel Omega, which occupied a higher class than the Rekord, like the Commodore once did. It is this model which the early Holden Commodore models were based on, introduced in late 1978, and eventually replaced (after several facelifts) in 1988, with the VN Commodore, a model based on the then-current Senator and Omega models.[11]
Manufacture elsewhere
It was the Opel Commodore and Vauxhall Viceroy that formed the basis for the first Holden Commodore in Australia, and was sold in South Africa as the Chevrolet Commodore until 1982, when it was rebadged as an Opel. The South African Commodore was introduced in July 1978, at the same time as the Rekord E went on sale there.[12] These originally had Chevrolet engines, pushrod inline-sixes of 3.8 or 4.1liters.[13] Sold as a standard or a GL (with the 4.1 only available as a sedan with automatic transmission), the South African version replaced the earlier Chevrolet 3800 and 4100, also based on the Commodore.[8]
However, in South Africa, General Motors South Africa (later Delta) offered a revised version of the Commodore until 1986, again combining the bodyshell of the Rekord with the front end of the revised Senator.[14] It was also sold there with the same 3-litre inline-six, producing 180PS (132kW).[15]
Opel Commodore C Voyage (1981–1982)
Opel Commodore C (1978–1982)
In the UK, the Opel Commodore C was also sold as the Vauxhall Viceroy
Opel Commodore C two-door; only about 5400 of this bodystyle were built (1978–1981)
Sources
Werner Oswald, Deutsche Autos 1945–1975. Motorbuch Verlag, Stuttgart 1975. ISBN978-3-87943-391-9. (For Commodore A)
1 2 Wright, Cedric, ed. (August 1978). "New models: Chevrolet Commodore on its way". CAR (South Africa). Vol.22, no.7. Ramsay, Son & Parker (Pty) ltd. p.14.
↑ Sundfeldt, Björn (13 January 1982). "Ljuva livet på vägen" [Life of delight on the road]. Teknikens Värld (in Swedish). Vol.34, no.3. Stockholm, Sweden: Specialtidningsförlaget AB. pp.16–17.
↑ Mastrostefano, Raffaele, ed. (1985). Quattroruote: Tutte le Auto del Mondo 1985 (in Italian). Milano: Editoriale Domus S.p.A. pp.186–187. ISBN88-7212-012-8.
The Holden Commodore is a series of automobiles that were sold by former Australian manufacturer Holden from 1978 to 2020. They were manufactured from 1978 to 2017 in Australia and from 1979 to 1990 in New Zealand, with production of the locally manufactured versions in Australia ending on 20 October 2017.
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Ranger was an automobile brand of General Motors which was produced from 1968 to 1978. Used in three main markets, the original automobile was marketed as "South Africa's Own Car" and was built in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, from 1968 to 1973. The European model range was sold in two main markets, Belgium and Switzerland. It was produced by General Motors Continental SA from 1970 to 1978 in Antwerp, Belgium. General Motors Suisse SA in Biel-Bienne, Switzerland, also produced Rangers from 1970 until that factory's closure in 1975. A few Rangers were also sold in the Netherlands.
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The Opel Rekord Series C is an executive car that was introduced in August 1966, by Opel as a replacement for the short-lived Opel Rekord Series B. It was slightly larger all round than its predecessor, from which it inherited most of its engines. It continued in production until replaced by the Opel Rekord Series D at the end of 1971.
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The Opel Rekord Series E is an executive car that replaced the Rekord D on Opel's Rüsselsheim production lines in August 1977, following the end of the summer vacation plant shut-down. It shared its wheelbase and inherited most of its engines from its predecessor, but the bodies were completely new.
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