When you come to the Hendrick Durham Auto Mall to browse through or purchase the many beautiful Buicks in its extensive on-site inventory, you can thank a late sewing-machine inventor for his impact on making these vehicles a reality.
In 1899, Adam Opel converted his sewing machine and appliance factory into an automobile works in Russelheim, Germany, where the first Opel automobile was produced on Jan. 21.
Later, in 1902, Opel introduced its first original car, a 2-cylinder runabout.
In the decades that followed, Opel became one of the premier forces in the European automobile industry, modernizing its factories and adopting the continuous-motion assembly line before its European competitors.
Today, Opel is a wholly owned subsidiary of General Motors, produces about a quarter of all German cars and exports heavily to South America and Africa.
The company also was founded on this date, Jan. 21, in 1862, in Rüsselsheim, Hessen, Germany. At the beginning, Opel just produced sewing machines in a cowshed in Rüsselsheim.
In March 1929, General Motors, impressed by Opel's modern production facilities, bought 80 percent of the company, increasing the percentage to 100 in 1931. The Opel family gained $33.3 million from the transaction.
The Opel influence is prevalent in the Buicks of today. Come to Hendrick Durham Auto Mall to see for yourself.
The Buick Regal is a rebadged Opel Insignia.
The Buick Encore is the Buick version of the Opel Mokka.
The Buick Lacrosse is based on a long wheelbase version of the Opel-developed Epsilon II-platform and shares many key components with the Opel Insignia and the Regal.
Buick is in the process of producing its first convertible since the first Bush administration. The 2016 Cascada convertible, which is sold today in Europe as an Opel of the same name, will reach Buick showrooms this year.
Unlike the largely forgotten Buick Reatta convertible, the Cascada is a four-seater and is based on the compact Opel Astra platform.
So, thank you, Adam Opel, for getting out of the sewing-machine business in order to produce the cars of the future.
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