The Kadett E's swoopy 'teardrop' nose wasn't new — Opel lifted the front styling directly off its 1981 Tech 1 concept car.
Lead trim: Kadett E 1.2 OHV (1196 cc) · up to 154 hp
Opel Kadett E1984–1998
- 0spots by members
- Unclaimednobody has spotted one yet
- 0sets it belongs to
Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Opel Kadett E 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 Kadett E's swoopy 'teardrop' nose wasn't new — Opel lifted the front styling directly off its 1981 Tech 1 concept car.
The Opel Kadett E was introduced in August 1984 as the sixth generation of the Kadett and was voted the 1985 European Car of the Year. As with its predecessor it was sold as the Vauxhall Astra in the United Kingdom, and it was also developed into a more conventional three-box design badged Vauxhall Belmont, launched at the 1985 Frankfurt Motor Show; there was also an estate called the "Caravan" with three or five doors, and a van called the Opel Kadett Combo (Bedford Astramax in the UK). In South Africa the Kadett notchback was sold as the Opel Monza with a convertible. It was noted for its advanced aerodynamics and distinctive "teardrop" shape, with front-end styling taken directly from the 1981 Opel Tech 1 concept car and a Cd of 0.32 for the hatchback and 0.33 for the sedan; a convertible built by Bertone in Torino was available from 1987. For the 1988 model, capacities were raised from 1.3 to 1.4 litres; in the fall of 1986 a new 1,998 cc engine replaced the 1.8 on the GSi and Vauxhall Astra GTE in many markets, and in 1988 a 16-valve twin-cam version, the first application of the 20XE "Red Top" engine, was developed for a high-performance GSi/GTE, yielding 156 PS non-catalysed, six less with a catalytic converter, the most powerful car in its class at the time. In the early 1990s South African Kadett GSi 16Vs were further upgraded for production-car racing and 500 special units, nicknamed "Superboss", were built as road cars for homologation, holding the record for most torque per litre (114 N·m per litre) for a naturally aspirated production car until the Ferrari 458 in 2009. In Brazil the Kadett E was branded as a Chevrolet (Kadett hatchback and Ipanema estate, 1989–1998) with 1.8 (95 PS) and 2.0 (110 PS on ethanol; 99 PS on petrol from 1990; 121 PS injected GSi from 1992) engines, and a Cabriolet ("Kadett GSi Conversível") built with Bertone between 1991 and 1994. The German Kadett was replaced by the Opel Astra in September 1991, but it continued in Brazil.
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
13 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chevrolet Kadett 1.8 (95 PS; Brazil) | 1989–1998 | Inline-4 | 94 hp | 108 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| Chevrolet Kadett 2.0 ethanol (110 PS; Brazil) | 1989–1998 | Inline-4 | 108 hp | 125 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| Chevrolet Kadett 2.0 petrol (99 PS; Brazil) | 1990–1998 | Inline-4 | 98 hp | 117 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| Chevrolet Kadett GSi 2.0 injected (121 PS; Brazil) | 1992–1998 | Inline-4 | 119 hp | 127 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| Kadett E 1.2 OHV (1196 cc) | 1984–1991 | 1.2 L Inline-4 | 54 hp | 62 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| Kadett E 1.3 Family 1 (1297 cc) | 1984–1988 | 1.3 L Inline-4 | 59 hp | 69 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| Kadett E 1.4 Family 1 (1396 cc) | 1988–1991 | 1.4 L Inline-4 | — | — | — | FWD | — | — |
| Kadett E 1.5 TD diesel turbo (1488 cc) | 1984–1991 | 1.5 L Inline-4 | 71 hp | 105 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| Kadett E 1.6 D diesel (1686 cc) | 1984–1991 | 1.7 L Inline-4 | 54 hp | 71 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| Kadett E 1.6 Family 1 (1598 cc) | 1984–1991 | 1.6 L Inline-4 | 74 hp | 92 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| Kadett E GSi 1.8 Family II (1796 cc) | 1984–1991 | 1.8 L Inline-4 | 113 hp | 111 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| Kadett E GSi 16V 2.0 20XE Red Top (156 PS) | 1988–1991 | 2.0 L Inline-4 | 154 hp | 150 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| Kadett E GSi 2.0 Family II (1998 cc) | 1986–1991 | 2.0 L Inline-4 | 127 hp | 133 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
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.
It briefly served as senior sibling to Marquette, a GM companion brand cancelled after just one year.
Nissan hired former BMW engineers to help develop the 510's suspension, which is why period reviewers frequently compared its handling to the BMW 1600/2002.
A Trabant 601 won its class at the 1970 Monte Carlo Rally, with a second 601 right behind it in second.
The 600 was a stopgap: the P50's body over the 601's mechanicals, and for a while its estate was built alongside the new 601 saloon.
The G80 Sport brought a 370 PS twin-turbo 3.3 V6, a mesh grille and copper-tinted chrome with copper stitching to match.
The Vigor was sold only with a five-cylinder engine, an unusual configuration Honda used to fit a longer engine transversely under a short hood.
The GS/E coupe earned the nickname "German Charger" for its long hood, short deck stance borrowed from Detroit muscle cars.
This DeVille/Fleetwood was the first production car anywhere to mount its V8 sideways, Cadillac's front-drive gamble on the new C-body.