If you do remember the Opel Kadett then let me ask you this, where have they all gone? Cant seem to spot one in town and also in the small villages. Not even in scrap yards.
The first Opel Kadett range was announced in Germany in 1973, and was based on a conventional pressed steel floor pan, and on a 7ft 1 0.3in. wheelbase. All cars had the same front end styling but in Malaysia we got the 2-door fastback coupe which was one of the popular hot hatches of the time.
The hatchback, dubbed the “City”, had the rear of its floor pan cropped, and was eight inches shorter than other models. At 13ft 6 .4in. the Kadett was powered by a 1.2L engine.
All Kadetts had coil spring independent front suspension, live rear axles located by radius arms and torque tubes, and suspended in coil springs, and rack and pinion steering. All except early Economy models had front wheel disc brakes and rear drums; most models had vacuum servo assistance.
The Kadett 1196cc engine produced a spread of power between 40bhp and 45bhp from the same basic unit. The basic engine was a very well-proven unit which had been in production for 17 years. It had similar ancestry to that used in the Vauxhall Viva models, but was entirely different in detail.
