Opel Olympia Rekord saloon.
Parking in London was already a problem when this photograph, taken in 1954, was taken. Cars line either side of Davies Street, with Three Kings Yard just visible to the left, and Brook's Mews to the right. In the foreground, a Dutch-registered (LHD) Opel Olympia Rekord basks in the Autumn sun. The Olympia Rekord was a new car for 1953, replacing the earlier Olympia 1950. The small back window, and the date of the photo, confirm that this had to be an early example of the Rekord saloon, from 1953 or early 1954.
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Produced until 1957, the Rekord underwent a number of revisions during its comparatively short life. All cars were powered by a 1,488cc four-cylinder engine. In addition to the saloon version, the buyer of this car could instead have opted for an estate if load-carrying was a priority, or else a cabriolet if topless motoring was his or her ambition.
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Ahead of the Opel, the front end of an Austin Somerset can just be seen, with other unidentified motor-cars stretching into the distance. A medium-sized van heads away from the camera, while a car approaching the photographer does its best to miss the van, and negotiate a stationary Hillman Minx. A number of other cars can be seen parked outside Claridge's, on the corner of Davies Street and Brook Street. Just disappearing out of shot to the right is a pre-war (1937/8) Hillman Minx, its sunroof open.
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How the small Dutch-registered Opel ended up in London is a mystery. Perhaps it belonged to a tourist visiting the Capital? I doubt that it would have been a common sight in early-1950s England, despite 136,000+ examples being built before a revised Rekord was introduced in 1955.
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Return to Page 16 in the photograph gallery.
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An original photo of the 1960's Opel Rekord can be seen on this page.
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