This Kapitän’s unibody construction was advanced enough that Soviet engineers studied it — and its influence shows up in the GAZ-M20 Pobeda.
Lead trim: Kapitän 2.5 I6 (1938)
Opel Kapitän1938–1940
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FactThis Kapitän’s unibody construction was advanced enough that Soviet engineers studied it — and its influence shows up in the GAZ-M20 Pobeda.
The Opel Kapitän is a luxury car made in several generations by the German manufacturer Opel from 1938 until 1970. The first Kapitän was the last new Opel model to appear before the outbreak of the Second World War, developed during 1938 and launched in the spring of 1939 at the Geneva motor show, with production beginning in November 1938. It was available in many body styles, the most popular being the 4-door saloon, and 2-door coupé cabriolets were also built. The pre-war Kapitän featured a unitary body, an innovative feature for its time, studied by Soviet engineers and influential on the design of the GAZ-M20 Pobeda. It inherited its 2.5-litre engine from its predecessor, the Super 6, with a maximum speed of 118 km/h (73 mph) reported. Civilian automobile production by Opel ceased in the autumn of 1940, by which time 25,371 Kapitäns had been produced, with three more assembled in 1943 (total 25,374 for this version), including 248 two-seater cabriolets built for Opel by the independent coachbuilders Gläser of Dresden and Hebmüller of Wuppertal; there was no resurrection for the cabriolet in 1948.
Collectors Spotted in the Opel Kapitän Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Opel Kapitän yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
One published trim in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kapitän 2.5 I6 (1938) | 1938–1940 | 2.5 L Inline-6 | 54 hp | — | — | RWD | — | — |
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
Opel's last Kapitän flopped hard — only 4,976 were built in 15 months, as buyers of big cars kept choosing the pricier Admiral and Diplomat for more prestige instead.
Opel's staid German flagship had an unlikely heart option: a small run of Kapitän A sedans could be ordered with a Chevrolet-sourced 4.6-litre V8.
Opel built 145,618 of this Kapitän in just over four years — more than any Kapitän before or since, making the P2 the best-selling generation the nameplate ever had.
The Kapitän P1's showy wraparound glass and American-style roofline looked like a dream car, but it cost the driver visibility and left the rear doors oddly narrow.
This Kapitän outsold almost everything else in 1950s Germany — only the Beetle and Opel’s own Rekord beat it.
A bold claim that still holds up: the 1951 Kapitän was the most modern large mass-produced car in Europe during the immediate pre- and postwar years.
Opel's six-cylinder engine for the postwar Kapitän was ready a year before the car actually launched — Allied occupation rules banned civilian sales of any car over 1.5 litres until October 1948.
This Kapitän’s unibody construction was advanced enough that Soviet engineers studied it — and its influence shows up in the GAZ-M20 Pobeda.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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The GS/E coupe earned the nickname "German Charger" for its long hood, short deck stance borrowed from Detroit muscle cars.
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