Opel Ascona

Opel Ascona at a glance

Project 1450: a new Opel class between Kadett and Rekord

By the late 1960s the Rekord had grown, leaving a gap above the Kadett. Opel's Project 1450 filled it with two cars: the Manta coupé, presented in September 1970, and the Ascona saloon, shown at the Turin Motor Show in November 1970. The name refers to the Swiss resort of Ascona on Lake Maggiore and broke with the naval-rank names Opel had used until then.

The Ascona A was built at Bochum, with engines and gearboxes supplied from Kaiserslautern and Strasbourg. Buyers could choose a two- or four-door saloon or a three-door estate, sold as the Voyage in luxury trim and, from March 1974, as the CarAVan. In the United States, Buick-Opel dealers sold the car as the Opel 1900; the 1975 federal version used Bosch L-Jetronic injection and produced 56 kW (75 hp). About 690,000 Ascona A were built before production ended in July 1975.

The Ascona A also gave Opel its first big rally title. Walter Röhrl and co-driver Jochen Berger won the 1974 European Rally Championship in an Ascona 1.9 SR, and Röhrl ended the car's career with victory on the 1975 Acropolis Rally.

Ascona B: longer, wider and still rear-wheel drive

The second generation was shown at the Frankfurt IAA in September 1975. Opel's own anniversary release of July 2025 gives the changes: a body about 20 cm longer and 4 cm wider, a wheelbase almost 9 cm longer, a newly developed front chassis, longer spring travel and wider tracks. The Ascona B came only as a two- or four-door saloon, because the Manta B now supplied the coupé. Production ran at Bochum and the new Antwerp plant, and the launch prices ran from DM 10,400 to DM 11,630 across the Basis, L and SR versions.

A 2.0-litre diesel with 43 kW (58 PS) and 115 Nm joined the range in September 1978, optionally with a three-speed automatic. A facelift in September 1979 brought plastic bumpers and a new grille, and from January 1980 the 2.0 E with Bosch L-Jetronic injection gave 81 kW (110 PS). Irmscher's i2000, sold only in yellow and white, raised the 2.0 SR to 88 kW (120 PS) with twin carburettors. The two-millionth Ascona of all generations left the line in April 1980.

Total Ascona B output is unclear: English Wikipedia gives over 1.2 million by August 1981, German Wikipedia and Secret Classics about 1.5 million. In Britain the car became the first Vauxhall built abroad, as the Antwerp-made Cavalier with a "droop snoot" nose designed by Wayne Cherry.

Ascona 400: the last rear-drive world champion

The Ascona 400 appeared at Frankfurt in 1979 as a homologation special for Group 4. Its 2,420 cc 16-valve twin-cam engine (95 x 85 mm) used a block reworked at Cosworth and produced 106 kW (144 PS) and about 210 Nm in road trim, with a five-speed Getrag gearbox and discs all round. Motor1 Germany quotes a price of DM 29,990 in 1981 and 268 cars built; the homologation target of 400 was never reached.

The works rally car developed up to 191 kW (260 PS) at 7,000 rpm and 280 Nm, weighed about 1,050 kg without crew and reached up to 225 km/h depending on the final drive, according to Opel's 2022 press material. Anders Kulläng won the 1980 Swedish Rally, Röhrl won the 50th Monte Carlo Rally and the Ivory Coast Rally in 1982, and Ari Vatanen won the 1983 Safari. Röhrl took the 1982 drivers' title with 109 points against Michèle Mouton's Audi quattro, although Audi won seven rounds that season to Opel's two. No rear-wheel-drive car has won the drivers' title since.

Ascona C: front-wheel drive and a German best-seller

The Ascona C of August 1981 was Opel's version of the General Motors J-car, with a transverse engine and front-wheel drive, Opel's second front-drive model after the 1979 Kadett D. It was offered as a two- or four-door saloon and as a five-door hatchback; Opel never built an estate. The car won the Goldenes Lenkrad at the end of 1981, became West Germany's best-selling car and narrowly lost the 1982 European Car of the Year award to the Renault 9.

Facelifts in 1984 and 1986 brought a new grille, Kadett E-style instruments and, on the GT, spoilers. Catalytic converter versions of the 1.8 and 2.0 gave 74 kW (100 PS). Hammond & Thiede converted nearly 2,900 two-door saloons into cabriolets between 1983 and 1988 and Irmscher produced 1,399 Sprint models. Sister J-cars included the Vauxhall Cavalier, Holden Camira, Isuzu Aska and the Brazilian Chevrolet Monza; Chevrolet avoided the Ascona name there because "asco" means disgust in Spanish and Portuguese. Production ended in October 1988 after 1,721,647 cars, and the lines were converted to the Vectra.

Ascona engines by generation

Opel Ascona today: what to check when buying

Rust is the main enemy of every Ascona. AutoScout24's buying guide warns that a rust-free car is hard to find and that an owner should be able to weld, with the Opel club scene the best place to learn each generation's rust traps. The same guide rates the four-cylinder engines as very durable; worn rubber bushes, tired dampers and oil-sweating engines count as normal wear, and the manual gearboxes give no real trouble. Drivetrain parts are plentiful and cheap through independent suppliers, while interior trim and period accessories are harder to find.

The i2000, the Ascona 400 and Irmscher specials cost far more than standard cars, and replicas exist, so ask for documents that prove the specification. On cheap Ascona C saloons, mileage is a recurring question: AUTO BILD noted in October 2026 that a 1982 1.3 offered at EUR 3,350 had no papers backing its 55,900 km.

Values depend heavily on generation. Sales recorded by Classic.com put Ascona C saloons at EUR 2,600 to 5,050 between 2020 and 2023. Asking prices on Classic Trader in November 2026 were higher: EUR 22,000 to 34,990 at dealers for restored or low-mileage Ascona A and B saloons, against EUR 7,000 for a private 1975 1.9 S listed earlier in 2026.

Our Opel catalogue lists the full range, the history of the Opel Kadett covers the smaller sister car whose platform family the Ascona B shared, and Opel's company history puts the Ascona in context. More European cars of the period are in our classic cars section.