Intro: Opel is one of the oldest European car companies still in operation. Adam Opel was mainly into sewing machines, but his sons were more interested in transportation. The first Opel bicycle was made in 1886 and in 1898 the first Opel automobile was completed, based on a Lutzmann car. Opel became a household name in the German automotive circles, but the Great Depression almost drowned the company. General Motors took over Opel in 1929 and the 1930s so the arrival of the P4 people's car and the Opel Blitz 1.5-ton truck.
After the 2nd World War such famous nameplates as the Record, Kapitan, Olympia and Kadett were introduced. By the 1980s Opel was one of the best known German mass producers. In the 1990s the company's fortunes dwindled and during the 2000s an ambitious restructuring programme, called Olympia is being executed.
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