The

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Grou ...

OHV family (also known as the Kadett engine and Viva engine after its most famous applications) is a

pushrod A valvetrain or valve train is a mechanical system that controls the operation of the intake and exhaust valves in an internal combustion engine. The intake valves control the flow of air/fuel mixture (or air alone for direct-injected engines) ...

inline-four engine A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the ...

. It was the first all-new engine developed by Opel of

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

and was released in 1962. Versions were in use through 1993.

Vauxhall Vauxhall ( ) is a district in South West London, part of the London Borough of Lambeth, England. Vauxhall was part of Surrey until 1889 when the County of London was created. Named after a medieval manor, "Fox Hall", it became well known for ...

would also make use of a locally built version of the OHV engine for the

Vauxhall Viva The Vauxhall Viva is a small family car that was produced by Vauxhall in a succession of three versions between 1963 and 1979. These were designated as the HA, HB and HC series. The Viva was introduced a year after Vauxhall's fellow GM compa ...

, the original intention being to simply convert every component from metric dimensions to imperial measurements. However development of the OHV would soon be separate from to that of Opel, one of the first changes being to increase the size from 993cc to 1057cc via a slightly bigger 74mm bore yet built with the same stroke as the Opel OHV with later bore increases to 78mm and 81mm producing the 1159cc and 1256cc engines that would also power the

Bedford HA The Bedford HA was a car derived van introduced in 1963 by Bedford, based on the Vauxhall Viva (HA) family car. It was also known as the Bedford Beagle in estate form and Bedford Roma in small campervan form. The Beagle was an officially sa ...

Vauxhall Firenza The Firenza is a model of car offered by Vauxhall from May 1971 until 1975. It was a development of the Viva, but had a distinctive coupé body style (fastback) and only two doors. In South Africa, it was sold as the Chevrolet Firenza until it ...

Vauxhall Chevette The Vauxhall Chevette is a supermini car that was manufactured by Vauxhall in the United Kingdom from 1975 to 1984. It was Vauxhall's version of the " T-Car" small-car family from Vauxhall's parent General Motors (GM), and based primarily on the ...

and

Vauxhall Cavalier The Vauxhall Cavalier was a large family car that was sold primarily in the UK by Vauxhall from 1975 to 1995. It was based on a succession of Opel designs throughout its production life, during which it was built in three incarnations. The firs ...

as well as the Holden Torana.

1.0

The first version of the engine was the 1.0 and placed in the Kadett A which was produced from 1962 to 1965. Displacement was with a bore and stroke. The Kadett A had two different versions of the engine, namely ''10N'' (normal compression) with and ''10S'' (super compression) with . This engine was retired in 1965 in favor of the 1.1 but was revived in 1973 as an economy option for the Kadett C. It was briefly discontinued in 1981 but revived a second time a year later for use in the Corsa A where it produced . It was also used in export market models of the Opel Kadett D. Applications: * 1962-1965

Opel Kadett A The Opel Kadett was reintroduced by Opel in 1962, with deliveries beginning on 2 October, a little more than 22 years after the original model was discontinued in May 1940. Oswald 1945 - 90 (vol 3), p 197 Like the original Kadett, the new car (des ...

* 1973-1979

Opel Kadett C The Opel Kadett C is a small family car which was produced by the German automobile manufacturer Opel from 1973 to 1979. The Kadett C, which was the third generation of the Opel Kadett, was released in August 1973, Oswald 1945 - 90 (vol 3), pp. ...

* 1979-August 1981

Opel Kadett The Opel Kadett is a small family car produced by the German automobile manufacturer Opel from 1936 until 1940 and then from 1962 until 1991 (the Cabrio continued until 1993), when it was succeeded by the Opel Astra. Kadett I (1936–1940) ...

D * September 1982 – 1993

Opel Corsa The Opel Corsa is a supermini car engineered and produced by the German automobile manufacturer Opel since 1982. Throughout its existence, it has been sold under a variety of other brands owned by General Motors (most notably Vauxhall, Chev ...

A / Vauxhall Nova

1.1

In 1965, the engine was enlarged for use in the all new Kadett B. Displacement was with a bore enlarged to stroke remained at . The ''11N'' (normal compression) produced and after 1971. The ''11S'' produced ; in 1966 a special power version was introduced, the ''11SR'' with . Applications: * 1965-1973

B * 1967-1970

Opel Olympia The Opel Olympia is a compact car by German automaker Opel, then part of G.M., from 1935 to 1940, and after World War II continued from 1947 to 1953. It was one of the world's first mass-produced cars with a unitary body structure, after the 1934 ...

A * 1968-1970

Opel GT The Opel GT is a front-engine, rear-drive two-seat sports car manufactured and marketed by Opel in two generations — separated by a 34-year hiatus. The first generation Opel GT (1968 –1973) debuted as a styling exercise in 1965 at the Pa ...

1100

1.2

In 1971, a second enlargement made the 1.2 with a displacement of . Bore was enlarged to and stroke was still at . Performance of the ''12N'' varied from ; the ''12S'' consistently had . Applications: * 1971-1973

B * 1973-1979

C * 1979-1984

D /

Chevrolet Kadett The Opel Kadett is a small family car produced by the German automobile manufacturer Opel from 1936 until 1940 and then from 1962 until 1991 (the Cabrio continued until 1993), when it was succeeded by the Opel Astra. Kadett I (1936–1940) ...

(ZA) /

Vauxhall Astra The Vauxhall Astra is a compact car/small family car (C-segment) that has been sold by Vauxhall since 1980. It is currently produced at Ellesmere Port, Cheshire, England. For its first two generations, the nameplate was applied to right-hand ...

Mk 1 * 1984-1988

E /

Mk 2 * March 1972 – 1975

Opel Ascona The Opel Ascona is a large family car (D-segment in Europe) that was produced by the German automaker Opel from 1970 to 1988. It was produced in three separate generations, beginning with rear-wheel-drive and ending up as a front-wheel drive J-ca ...

A * 1975-1980

B / Vauxhall Cavalier Mk 1 * 1972-1975

Opel Manta The Opel Manta is a rear-wheel-drive sports coupé built by German manufacturer Opel in two generations from 1970 to 1988. The Manta was a mildly sporting coupé based on the Ascona family car, akin to the Ford Falcon-based Mustang and its vario ...

A * 1975-1979

B * 1982-1993

A / Vauxhall Nova (also with catalyst and )

References

* "Das große Kadett-Buch", Edition Heel, Königswinter, Germany * Oswald, "Deutsche Pkw 1945-1990, Band 3: Ford, Opel, VW" Motorbuch-Verlag, Germany * Oswald, Werner. ''Deutsche Autos 1945-1975''. . {{DEFAULTSORT:Opel Ohv Engine Opel OHV Straight-four engines Gasoline engines by model