There was a time, back in the early 70s, when Opels were the hot import in the US. A pal in Iowa City had a 1.1 liter 2 door Kadett that would wind to 7500 rpm and hit 100 in a heartbeat. They got bigger, uglier and slower after that.
We bought a new Opel Kadett station wagon in 1965 for $1695 and drove it all over Texas and then to Alaska. Drove it all around Anchorage and the outlying areas going hunting, fishing and camping. Then when we went to Okinawa we shipped it over there. It had an 8 gal gas tank and we would get about 350 miles to a tank. After we got to Okinawa the gas gauge broke so we knew we had to keep track of the miles. Only ran out of gas once. When we left we sold it to a young GI and weren't back in the States more than a month when we wished we had it back. It was a great little car.
I had a '68 Kadett wagon. I miss it.
We had an Opel and my husband's brother put a racing motor in it. It was a small car and you should have seen the looks on drivers' faces when I could outrace them. It was a lot of fun.
They got bigger, uglier and slower after that.
They became rebadged Isuzus !(Buick/Opels, not Opels)