Opel Kadett

automobile from the German Opel company, which is part of General Motors European division.

The first Opel Kadett after the war appeared in October 1962. 649,512 cars were built until July 1965. It was later called the Kadett A. In addition to the sedan there was a L (luxury model), a coupe, and a station wagon (called CarAVan). The engine was available as 1.0 with 40 hp and as 1.0 S with 48 hp. The Kadett was briefly sold in the United States through Buick dealers in the late 1960s.

The Kadett-C appeared in 1975, and was Opel's version of GM's 'T-Car', also sold in Japan as the Isuzu Gemini. It was notable for the inclusion of a hatchback version, based on the US Chevrolet Chevette, which was a first for Opel. The Kadett-C formed the basis of the British Vauxhall Chevette, which had a restyled front end, and used a Vauxhall engine. Although Kadett-C production ended in 1979, the Chevette was produced until 1983.

The fourth generation car, introduced in 1979 and known as the Kadett-D. The British version of the Kadett-D was known as the Vauxhall Astra Mk.1, and was launched in April, 1980. All models were designed as three or five door hatchbacks and estates or station wagons. There were also two and four-door sedans, which used the same bodyshells as the hatchbacks, but these were soon dropped.

Technologically, the Kadett-D was a major departure, as GM's first front wheel drive car. It also introduced the "Family II" engine design with an single overhead camshaft, aluminium alloy cylinder head, hydraulic valve lifters, with capacities of 1300 and 1600 cc, and had a unique transaxle design which allowed the clutch to be replaced without removing the transmission unit. Later, an 1800 cc version was introduced for the Kadett GSi/Astra GTE model. In addition, a 16-valve twin-cam version of the 2000 cc engine was developed for a high performance GTE model, yielding 156 bhp (116 kW) in manufactured form. This range of engines was also used for later models of the Corsa/Nova, and the mid-sized Cavalier/Ascona/Vectra.

The final Kadett, the Kadett-E, was introduced in 1984, and was voted Car Of The Year in 1985, largely due to its advanced aerodynamic body styling. The 1984 model was also developed into a more conventional "three box" design with a boot (trunk), badged as the Vauxhall Belmont in the UK and the Opel Monza in South Africa. A convertible version was also available, for the first time in 1987. For the 1984 model, capacities were raised to 1400 cc, 1800 cc and a new 2000 cc engine, again used on the GSi/GTE. The top-of-the-range GTE version gained a twin-cam 16-valve engine in 1988. The Kadett model was introduced in Brazil wearing Chevrolet badges.

The Kadett-E formed the basis of the Daewoo Le Mans (later known as the Daewoo Cielo, Racer and Nexia) in South Korea, which was sold in the United States as the Pontiac LeMans, and in Canada (initially) as the Passport Optima.

In 1991, GM Europe decided to standardise model names across its two brands, and Opel adopted sister company Vauxhall's name for the Kadett - Astra for the replacement car which débuted that year.