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The Opel Rekord Series B is a executive car that was introduced in August 1965, by Opel as a replacement for the Opel Rekord Series A. The Rekord B shared the wheelbase and 1696mm width of its predecessor, but the front and rear panels were restyled in order effectively to differentiate the new model. The big news was under the bonnet/hood, however. Previous Rekords were noteworthy for combining eye-catching new bodies with a robust four cylinder engine that dated back to 1937. By the 1960s the old engine was perceived as outdated in terms of refinement and sophistication, and with the Rekord B it was replaced. Unlike previous Rekords, the Rekord B featured completely new four cylinder engines, now with a camshaft integrated into the cylinder head. The units were still not conventional ohc engines since the camshaft was physically located lower than the tops of the cylinder valves. The configuration had been developed by General Motors in Detroit and was known as the Camshaft in Head (CIH) configuration. The new engines gave the Rekord B a useful performance boost across a range of four cylinder engines which now came in three different sizes, and allowed for the possibility of increased torque, especially as the engine was developed further during the later 1960s, 1970s and 1980s. The Rekord B was the first Opel Rekord to offer, on the 1900 S version, the option of fully automatic transmission. Production ended after less than a year in July 1966 ahead of the annual summer plant shut-down. ==A stopgap solution== The Rekord B can be seen as a cross-over model and an emergency response: Opel had originally intended to launch their all new generation of four cylinder engines in an all new Opel Rekord, but as the scheduled launch date approached it became clear that while the new engines would be ready for a 1965 launch, other key elements for the new models would not. With the marketing department and dealers geared up for a new model, the decision was therefore taken to present the new engines in what was essentially the old body, albeit with certain styling cues that adumbrated the new model that in the event would appear a year later. The Rekord B therefore featured the (then highly unusual) rectangular headlights that would be a feature of the 1966 Rekord C, as well as similar patterns of exterior chrome decoration. At the back the traditional rectangular light groupings of the Rekord A were, for the Rekord B, replaced with four bold round light units similar to those planned for the forthcoming Opel GT. The interior design and even the colour and trim options were only mildly modified for the Rekord B. Rekord Bs rolled down the Rüsselsheim production lines for rather less than a year between late Summer 1965 and mid Summer 1966. When, in August 1966, the plant restarted after the vacation shut down, the Rekord B had been replaced by the Rekord C. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Opel Rekord Series B」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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