The sleek two-seat Opel GT sports car was basically a Kadett B underneath — its body was even built by a French contractor in Creil.
Lead trim: Kadett B 1100 (1078 cc, 45 PS) · up to 105 hp
Opel Kadett B1965–1973
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Opel Kadett B yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactThe sleek two-seat Opel GT sports car was basically a Kadett B underneath — its body was even built by a French contractor in Creil.
The Opel Kadett B was launched by Opel at the Frankfurt Motor Show in late summer 1965 and was larger all round than the Kadett A: 5% longer both overall and in wheelbase, 7% wider and 9% heavier, though 10 mm lower in basic saloon form. Production ended in July 1973 with the successor introduced a month later, in August. Unlike its predecessor it bore no relation to the Vauxhall Viva, which had moved to its own platform for its second generation. It came in 2- and 4-door notchback and fastback saloon, 3- and 5-door "Car-A-Van" estate and 2-door coupé bodies, with a four-speed all-synchromesh manual as standard (a "GM Strasbourg" Turbo-Hydramatic 180 three-speed automatic was optional from November 1968) and the first front disc brakes on a Kadett. There were no fewer than six differently sized engines: by far the most popular was the 1,078 cc unit, which powered 89% (2.3 million of 2.6 million) of the Kadett Bs, joined in September 1967 by the Rekord's cam-in-head (CIH) engines in 1.7 and 1.9 litre form and later by a bored-out 1,196 cc engine; there was also a 1,492 cc CIH for export only (1967–1970, 44,000 cars) and 10,000 Kadetts with the 993 cc engine in 1972–73, mainly for Italy. The top-of-the-range Opel Rallye Kadett coupé had the 1.9-litre engine, and from April 1970 a "HL" high-power version with 106 PS fitted the Rallye Sprint, rare in Germany but less so in Sweden. General Motors South Africa built it locally from about 1966 with Vauxhall's 1159 cc engine, and it was also assembled in Malaysia.
Collectors Spotted in the Opel Kadett Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Opel Kadett yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
9 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kadett B 1100 (1078 cc, 45 PS) | 1965–1971 | 1.1 L Inline-4 | 44 hp | 55 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Kadett B 1100 S (1078 cc, 55 PS) | 1965–1971 | 1.1 L Inline-4 | 54 hp | 60 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Kadett B 1100 SR twin-carb (1078 cc, 60 PS) | 1967–1971 | 1.1 L Inline-4 | 59 hp | 61 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Kadett B 1100 low-compression (1078 cc, 50 PS) | 1971–1973 | 1.1 L Inline-4 | 49 hp | 54 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Kadett B 1200 S (1196 cc, 60 PS) | 1971–1973 | 1.2 L Inline-4 | 59 hp | 65 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Kadett B 1500 CIH export (1492 cc, 65 PS) | 1967–1970 | 1.5 L Inline-4 | 64 hp | — | — | — | — | — |
| Kadett B 1700 S CIH (1698 cc, 75 PS) | 1967–1970 | 1.7 L Inline-4 | 74 hp | 94 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Kadett B 1900 S CIH (1897 cc, 90 PS) | 1967–1973 | 1.9 L Inline-4 | 89 hp | 107 lb-ft | — | — | — | — |
| Kadett B Rallye Sprint 1900 HL (1897 cc, 106 PS) | 1970–1973 | 1.9 L Inline-4 | 105 hp | — | — | — | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
The Kadett E's swoopy 'teardrop' nose wasn't new — Opel lifted the front styling directly off its 1981 Tech 1 concept car.
The Kadett D introduced Family I with hydraulic valve lifters, a first for Opel that let mechanics swap clutches without pulling the gearbox.
More than half of every Kadett C that Opel built — 52% of 1.7 million cars — left West Germany, making it as much an export hit as a home-market compact.
The sleek two-seat Opel GT sports car was basically a Kadett B underneath — its body was even built by a French contractor in Creil.
Opel let the Kadett name sit unused for 22 years — a casualty of WWII — before reviving it for this all-new 1962 generation.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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