The Opel Kadett B is a car that was launched by Opel at the Frankfurt Motor Show in late summer 1965. The Kadett B was larger all-round than the Kadett A: 5% longer both overall and in terms of the wheelbase, 7% wider and 9% heavier (unladen weight), albeit lower in basic standard "Limousine" (saloon) form.Oswald 1945 – 90 (vol 3), pp. 199 & 215 Production ended in July 1973, with the successor model introduced a month later following the summer shutdown, in August. Unlike its predecessor, it bore no relation to the Vauxhall Viva, which had moved to its own platform for its corresponding second generation.
Bodies: more choice
Opel had built a reputation for providing stylish cars, and the simple well balanced proportions of the recently introduced Opel Rekord Series A had continued the tradition. The unapologetic slab-sided functionalism of the Kadett B disappointed some commentators. However, customers were not deterred, possibly because the simple car body enabled the car to provide an aggressively priced practical and modern car with far more interior space than the Volkswagen which hitherto had dominated the German small car market without serious challenge for more than a decade.
The range of bodies was widened with the Kadett B. The entry-level model, priced in September 1965 at 5,175 Marks, was the two-door "Limousine" (saloon). In addition, for the first time since 1940, it was again possible to buy a four-door Kadett "Limousine". In September 1967 a fast back "Limousine" model, designated as the "Kadett LS" and offered with two or four doors, joined the range.Oswald 1945 – 90 (vol 3), pp. 214 & 218
A three-door "Car-A-Van" (estate) was offered from the 1965 launch, with a five-door "Car-A-Van" added to the range in 1967.Oswald 1945 – 90 (vol 3), pp. 214 & 221
Opel also offered a two-door Kadett coupé with reduced headroom for the passengers in the rear. The coupé body introduced in 1965 included a thick C-pillar with reduced side-windows between the C-pillar and the B-pillar. The thick C-pillar incorporated three prominent air extractor slots reminiscent of the gills on a fish, as a result of which this coupé acquired the soubriquet "Kiemencoupé" (gills coupé). A coupé body with larger side windows for the passengers in the back appeared in 1967 identified as the "Coupé F", initially only on the more lavishly equipped cars, but from 1971 all Kadett B coupés used the newer body. The newer Coupé, with an increased quantity of glass, was slightly heavier than the "gills-coupé" as well as being less aerodynamically efficient, leading to a small reduction in claimed top speed.
Engines
Smaller OHV engines
1.1-litre (1965–1973) At launch, and for the next two years till September 1967, all Kadett Bs were fitted with an OHV four-cylinder "over-square" water-cooled engine. The unit followed the architecture of the 993 cc engine first seen in the 1962 Kadett A, from which it was a development. Both engines featured a cylinder stroke, but for the engine in the Kadett B, generally referred to as a 1.1-litre or 1,100 cc unit, the bore was increased by , which made it even more over-square and resulted in a capacity increase to 1,078 cc. There were as before two levels of power: stated output for the standard engine was at 5,000 rpm, while the "high-compression" engine, listed as the "1100 S" motor, produced at 5,400 rpm. Both engine versions were fitted with a Solex 35 PDSI carburetor, but the higher compression ratio on the unit necessitated the use of higher octane "super grade" fuel.Oswald 1945 – 90 (vol 3), pp. 213 & 215 There was also a "low-compression" version of this engine used for certain export markets outside western Europe where available fuel came with a significantly lower octane rating than was normal for "regular" grade fuel in Germany.
In September 1967, as part of a larger proliferation of engine and trim options, a more powerful version of the 1,078 cc engine became available, listed as the "1100 SR" motor, fitted with two Solex 35 PDSI carburetors and providing a maximum output of at 5,200 rpm. The compression ratio was further raised, now to 9.2:1 and fitting the unit raised the claimed top speed to as against for the powered Kadetts.
However, the early 1970s saw increasing awareness of the dangers to health arising from lead being added to road fuel, and the oil companies responded to the resulting political and regulatory pressures by reducing both the levels of lead in fuel and the availability at filling stations of higher octane petrol/gasoline. High-compression versions of the Opel 1,078 cc engine were therefore withdrawn from August 1971, leaving just a unit which used the 7.8:1 compression ratio that had been used in the base version back in 1965, delivering a reduced torque (presumably as art of a tradeoff against higher power output). Between August 1971 and July 1973 the niche hitherto occupied by the higher-compression 1,078 cc units was filled by a newly bored out 1,196 cc version of what was, in other respects, the engine much as before.Oswald 1945 – 90 (vol 3), pp. 213, 215, 217, 221 & 222
By the time the Kadett B was replaced in 1973 there had been no fewer than six differently sized engines available for it from Opel: by far the most popular was the 1,078 cc motor that powered 89% (2.3 million of 2.6 million) of the Kadett Bs produced.Oswald 1945 – 90 (vol 3), p. 216
1.2-litre (1971–1973) The 1.2-litre unit that, in the Kadett B, replaced in August 1971 the higher-compression versions of the 1.1-litre motor was listed as the "1200 S" motor. It retained the cylinder stroke of the original version of this engine, but the cylinder bore was further increased, giving an overall engine capacity of 1,196 cc and maximum output of at 5,400 rpm.Oswald 1945 – 90 (vol 3), pp. 213 & 223
Only 95,000 Kadett Bs were fitted with the 1.2-litre engine which nevertheless went on to power successor Kadett and Corsa models until 1993. In the shorter term, in March 1972 this became the entry level power unit for base level versions of the recently introduced Opel Ascona and Manta models.Oswald 1945 – 90 (vol 3), pp. 245, 246 & 246
1.0-litre (export only: 1972-1973) In 1972 and 1973 Opel produced 10,000 Kadett Bs powered by the 993 cc original version of the engine that ten years earlier had powered the Kadett A. Maximum output, as previously, was according to the compression ratio selected. This engine was not fitted in cars destined for the domestic market, but was used for cars sold in export markets, primarily Italy, where annual car tax rates increased very considerably for cars fitted with engines of above 1.0 litre. Kadetts assembled in South Africa received a 997 cc Vauxhall engine and transmission.
1.2-litre Vauxhall engine (South Africa) From circa 1966, General Motors South Africa built the Kadett B locally. However, to meet local parts content rules it was fitted with Vauxhall's 1159 cc inline-four as also seen in the Viva. This engine offered in a high output version; the outputs are in Gross bhp. These local variants were also sold in South-West Africa (today's Namibia). From the second half of 1968, the four-door Car-A-Van model was added, alongside the updates to the rear suspension.
Larger Opel cam-in-head engines
1.7-litre (1967–1970) In 1967 Ford added a 1.7-litre version to their Ford 12M/15M range. Both the Kadett and the Ford by now took up more road space than a typical European 1.1-litre small family saloon, and in September 1967 Opel added a 1,698 cc engine to the Kadett's range of available power units. A suitable unit already existed, having been fitted in the Opel Rekord since 1965. The engine in question had been the manufacturer's second all-new engine design since the war, although much of its underlying philosophy came from General Motors developments in Detroit and from experience with the new engine developed for the Kadett A earlier in the 1960s. The Opel cam-in-head engine followed the trends of the time in replacing side-valves with an overhead valvegear configuration, which was no doubt facilitated by the over-square architecture of the cylinder block: the engine also carried its camshaft directly above the cylinders. However, instead of operating directly on the cylinder valves, the camshaft still operated the valves using rods and rocker arms because, unusually (except within general Motors) the camshaft itself was positioned too low above the cylinders to permit direct action from the camshaft on the valves. One reason for this may have been cosmetic. Opel's CIH engine configuration enabled a succession of Opels to feature the low bonnet/hood lines that style-conscious product development departments favoured. As on the smaller Kadett engines with their side-mounted camshafts, the "in head" camshaft on the Opel CIH engine was chain driven, a weight-saving option which reduced lumpiness and friction at higher engine speeds when compared with the gear-cogs which had been used to drive camshafts in the previous generation of Opel engines.
The engine, known as the 1.7S or 1700S, was listed for the Kadett only for three years, between September 1967 and August 1970. The lower-compression version fitted in many Rekords was not offered to Kadett buyers. In the Kadett B the engine provided a maximum output of employing a relatively high 9.5:1 compression ratio. That translated, in manual transmission cars, into a top speed of according to body type. Despite its being listed for three years, only 6,000 Kadetts with the 1,698 cc engine were produced, suggesting that the manufacturer preferred to fit engines of this size in their larger Rekord model (which between 1966 and 1971 took more than half a million of the 1,698 cc units), while persuading Kadett customers looking for more power to switch their preference to the (in most respects similar) 1,897 cc version of the CIH engine.Oswald 1945 – 90 (vol 3), pp. 216, 219 & 228
1.9-litre (1967–1973) Also listed from 1967, and fitted in 143,000 Kadett Bs was the 1,897 cc version of the (CIH) engine. Again, only the high-compression version of the engine was listed for the Kadett, providing maximum output of at 5,100 rpm, using a 9.5:1 compression ratio. After August 1971 the compression ratio was reduced to 9.0:1 due to the reduction in octane levels available at filling stations. In practice, though the engine was listed for the Kadett B until 1973, very few of the Kadetts produced in 1972 and 1973 were fitted with it as the focus of dealers' and customers' attention switched to the manufacturer's newer Ascona and Manta models.Oswald 1945 – 90 (vol 3), pp. 214 & 219
The 1.9-litre engine was fitted in the top of the range "Opel Rallye Kadett" as an alternative to the smaller high-compression 1.2-litre engine also offered for this sportingly attired variant, readily identifiable from the thick black side stripe and the black paint on the lid of the bonnet/hood.Oswald 1945 – 90 (vol 3), pp. 214, 218, 219 & 220
In Germany the "1900 S" engine was offered only in the coupé-bodied "Opel Rallye Kadett" although for certain export markets, notably the US, this engine was available in all body versions offered.
Between April 1970 and the end of the Kadett B's model life a more highly tuned "HL" („Hochleistung“/"High powered") version of the 1.9-litre engine could be fitted to a Rallye Sprint version of the car, power further increased to . "Hochleistung" cars could be purchased from Opel dealers and from at least one specialist engine tuning business, but they never appeared on Opel price lists in Germany where the cars were always rare. The powered Kadett B Rallye Sprint was less of a rarity in Sweden where a high proportion of the cars produced were sold.
1.5-litre (export only: 1967-1970)