The 1935-1937 Opel Olympia cars.
Firstly, two photographs showing the 1935-1937 Opel Olympia. The distinctive design of the side windows, and especially the enclosed headlamps tapering into the body which was quite an advanced style for the day, make identifying these cars as Opels quite straightforward. This style of enclosed lamp arrangement was similar to that seen on the 1937-1953 Renault Juvaquatre. The first photograph shows a chap in September 1936 posed with his Opel Olympia, dressed smartly in what look like 'plus fours', a style normally only seen on golfers at the weekend nowadays. Prior to WW2 I believe this dapper type of garment was popular with German menfolk, as I think this photo was taken in der Fatherland.
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The second photograph better reveals the front end styling of the 35-37 Olympia, although this one looks to be a more basic version - note the different shape of front bumper and lack of chrome windscreen surround. This car also seems to have a single top-mounted windscreen wiper, whereas the car in the first photo has at least one wiper just visible, mounted below the screen on the scuttle. Judging by the grille on the car below, either the chap in the photo isn't much good at parking, or else made contact with something while minding his own business behind the wheel. Does anyone recognise this style of registration plate? The Opel Olympia of 1935 was Germany's first mass produced car to feature chassis-less, ie monocoque, construction, and was so-named due to the upcoming Olympic Games that were to be held in Berlin, in 1936.
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The 1937-1940 Opel Olympia OL38.
The Opel shown below replaced the earlier Olympia, and was known as the OL38 Olympia. Production of this car halted in 1940, although a revised version did go back into production after the war in 1947 for two further years.
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Return to Old Vehicle Photos Page 7. A photograph of a much earlier Opel saloon can be found here.
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