Opel calls the surprising find made by the classic car department at an auction an “automotive historical bang”. Because manufacturers actually know their model history exactly – but this prototype was previously unknown. And apparently the knowledge about him had been lost for decades.
Opel has to rewrite parts of its company history: photos of a previously unknown transporter prototype from the 1930s have appeared at an auction. The special feature: the delivery van did without the long bonnet that was common at the time and already relied on the cab-over-engine design that is common today. However, the 1.5-23 COE project never went into series production in view of the approaching world war.
Opel itself describes the images as “automotive history drumbeat”. They were not available anywhere in the Opel archive, and as far as we know today, not a single publication has ever mentioned the vehicle, according to a statement. The knowledge of the unique prototype had been lost for decades.
A total of eight photos show a compact, ready-to-drive Opel Blitz van with cab-over design. The engine is not under a more or less long hood, but under or just in front of the seat. An unusual design at the time, but which enabled a more compact design with a large cargo area. At that time there were only a few such models, such as Goliath and Magirus, and only in small numbers. Today, this design has established itself in the transporter segment as well as in European trucks and buses.
However, the 1.5-23 COE project came too early or at a bad time. Light commercial vehicles were classified as not essential to the war effort, and Opel had to reckon with the vehicle being forced to stop and probably therefore did not even start construction. After the war, Opel resumed commercial vehicle production, but initially built slightly modified pre-war models. From the 1950s, the brand initially focused on the development of passenger cars. The knowledge about the forward control prototype was thus lost. Til today.
