- First mid-size convertible engineered and built by Opel
- Opel exclusive mid-size convertibles popular in the 60s
Heading to the top of Opel’s line-up, the Cascada is a mid-size
convertible not only by size (length: 4.70 m) but also by its allure and
the premium technologies and features it offers. With its elongated,
elegant silhouette and streamlined soft-top, the Opel Cascada – due to
debut in early March at the Geneva Motor Show – relates to the timeless
tradition of classic convertibles. But it’s the first of its kind for
Opel: this is the first time in 70 years that Opel has developed a
mid-size convertible and will produce it in its own facilities.
The most popular convertibles from Opel in the last decades were
affordable compact Kadett and Astra models – from the 1976 Kadett C Aero
and 1987 E Cabrio up to three generations of Astra between 1993 and
2010.
With the ambitious Cascada, Opel actually relates in a new,
refreshing way and with the best of modern technologies to an older and
somewhat exclusive tradition of four-seat soft-top convertibles from the
fifties and sixties like the Kapitän and the Rekord.
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1953 Opel Kapitän convertible
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1964 Opel Rekord A convertible
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However, most of
these bigger convertibles were not built by Opel, but converted and sold
in very limited quantities by specialized German coachbuilders such as
Autenrieth or Karl Deutsch. Outsourcing convertible
production was a common practice at the time.
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1967 Opel Rekord C convertible by Karl Deutsch |
In the mid-80s, Opel’s dealer Keinath, based in Dettingen, started
building a convertible conversion of the Monza coupé. Fairly similar to
the Cascada today, the Opel Monza KC 5 convertible was just about 4.70
meters long, sat four persons and could feature quite a luxurious
leather interior.
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1985 Opel Monza KC 5 convertible |
More currently, the Kadett
E Cabrio and two Astra Cabrio generations were also produced externally
by the Italian coachbuilder Carozzeria Bertone.
A mid-size convertible, the new Opel Cascada is in territory
otherwise exclusive to premium manufacturers. True to Opel values, it
offers open-air elegance, standard premium chassis, safety and soft-top
technologies as well as a new generation powertrain at a much more
attractive price than any other mid-size convertible.
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2013 Opel Cascada soft-top convertible |
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