Opel History: Adam Opel got started by making sewing machines
and bicycles but died in 1895 before the first car was produced.
In 1899 Opel's sons teamed up with a farmer named Friedrich
Lutzmann to carry on their father's legacy but the first cars
were unpopular and Lutzmann backed out two years later. In 1902
the Opel brothers resurfaced with an all new car built under a
licensing agreement with a French automaker, Darracq, under the
name 'Opel-Darracq'. The cars were Opel bodies on a Darracq
chassis with a two cylinder engine. However, the Opel-Darracq
was only produced from 1906 to 1907. The Opel factory burnt down
In 1911 but it was soon replaced with a better facility. By 1913
Opel had become the largest automaker in Germany and by 1924 the
factory had an automated assembly line. In 1929 General Motors
bought a majority interest and in 1931 bought out the Opel
brothers completely. In 1940 the factories were seized by the
Nazi regime and passenger car production was halted until 1947,
when the Soviets to