The only known source 'Nobelkarosserien aus Berlin' has the headline 'An admiral in gala uniform'. And this sums it up quite excellently! On 6 July 1938, this unique Admiral was ordered by the Office for Raw Materials from the coachbuilder Erdmann & Rossi in Berlin (commission number 3123). Captain Karl Wilhelm Lapp from Berlin-Dahlem was responsible. The Admiral Sport Cabriolet was his official car, but he was also allowed to use it privately. From planning to completion, Captain Lapp photographed the individual work steps and documented this in an album.
The resulting Admiral Sport Cabriolet on a 3.6 litre chassis had little in common with an Admiral from the official Opel delivery programme. Apart from its exceptionally elegant shape, it was very probably the only Opel Admiral ever to have free-standing front headlights. It was also the first car in the world to have an electric windscreen lifting system. Together with the company owner Richard Peters of Bosch and the chief designer Johannes Beeskow of Erdmann & Rossi, Lapp acquired patent no. 731943 'Electric spindle drive for car windows' for this on 25.01.1939.
The Opel Admiral Sport Cabriolet had a split windscreen that could be folded forwards. The driver's seats were sleeper seats. The rear seats could be folded down to access the boot. The spare wheel was mounted in the boot. The radiator grille sloped more than usual , giving the whole body a distinctly elongated appearance and a fluid and sympathetically elegant shape. The normal Admiral chassis cost 4,260 Reichsmark (RM) at the time. Added to this were the costs for this sporty and elegant bodywork of 6,200 RM. The total cost was therefore 10,460 RM. In comparison: with a price of RM 38,000 for the saloon at the time, the "Big Mercedes" was one of the most expensive cars on the market at the time. The open-top version was even RM 6,500 more expensive. The average annual wage at the time was RM 2,100.
During the Second World War, the Opel Admiral Sport Cabriolet disappeared without a trace. If you have any documents or knowledge about this fantastic car, please let us know at info@autopioneer.de.
