From design to reality in 70 years (see UPDATE)

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We are pretty sure you have never seen this car before. You couldn’t as before long it didn’t exist in the flesh, only as a couple of photos in the Opel archives. Taken in 1938, it was the prototype of a two-seater convertible, based Opel’s Kadett from the 1930s. It did have a name: “Strolch”, which means Vagabond. However, due to scarcity of steel before WWII it never reached production. When the drawings were rediscovered after 70 years, Opel engineers were fascinated and decided to built the prototype again. As basis a 1938 Kadett parts car was used. Particularly challenging were the design of the aerodynamic rear and work on other body parts that were not part of the Kadett series. Building the folding fabric top without detailed plans required a lot of imagination. In order to determine the color of the old prototype, the historical black-white pictures were put through a precise greyscale analysis. This showed that the original Strolch was a bright red. The new old Strolch will be present next weekend at the Oldtimer Grand Prix at the Nürburgring. (photos courtesy Opel AG)

Update by Hugh Nutting: "The original design work for the mid 1930s Opel Kadett was done in Detroit. The team was headed by Bill Mitchell who was doing the Cadillac 60 Special at the time. George Jorgenson was on the design team for the Opel. He became the Dean of Transportation at Art Center School in the 1950s."

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