Flota oficiala de Opel Admiral - The official fleet of Opel Admirals

In 1965 guvernul a comandat din Germania un lot de autoturisme Opel Admiral. Aceste masini erau aproape varf-de-gama - numai Opel Diplomat, cu o croserie identica, era mai luxos. Motorul era de 6 cilindri, sau 2.6 sau mai tarziu 2.8 litri. Nu multe au fost comandate - probabil sub 20 - si au fost destinate pentru ministere, in mod special la Ministerul de Interne. Prima poza, de pe fototeca coumnismului, e din 1966, intr-o piata din Bucuresti. A doua si a treia reprezinta coloana oficiala pentru vizita lui Charles de Gaulle in 1969.

Cel putin doua din aceste masini au supravietuit. O masina se afla intr-o comuna in zona Targu Neamt si, cand am vazut-o in 2007, inca circula zilnic. A doua masina, si ea in stare precara, se afla in judetul Constanta. Amandoua ar fi de vanzare. Presupun ca au fost masini oficiala pana cand decretul 277 din 1979 a fortat vanzare sau casarea unei mare parte din autoturismele statului.








In 1965 the Romanian government ordered from Germany a batch of Opel Admiral automobiles. These cars, powered by six-cylinder engnes of 2.6 or later 2.8 litres, were almost the range-topping Opel models. Only the Diplomat, esentially a badge-engineered version of the same car, was more luxurious. Not many were ordered - probably no more than 20 - and they were destined for Government departments, mainly the Ministry of the Interior. The first picture - from the online archive of Comunist images - shows a market in Bucharest in 1966. The second and third pictures show these cars in the official motorcade for Charles de Gaulle's visit in 1969.

At least two such cars have survived. One I found as a daily driver in 2007, in a village near Targu Neamt in the north of Romania. The other, in a similar condition, is for sale in the Constanta region. Presumbly they were used as official cars until
Decree 277 of 1979 necessitated the state auctioning off or scrapping such cars.