Opel Ascona 400

Lore & Background

The Ascona 400 was first shown at Frankfurt in September 1979. It was sold only to make it eligible for rallying's Group 4 category. The cars were built at General Motors' plant in Antwerp. The project was developed by Opel alongside the Manta B 400 model, which consisted of the same changes. Irmscher and Cosworth were hired as partners: Cosworth to deliver a 16-valve double cam crossflow head for the engine, and Irmscher for the exterior and interior styling. Cosworth delivered the heads to Opel, and Opel soon discovered a major mistake. The plan was to use the 2.0-litre engine block, but this did not produce enough power. Time was running out and Opel badly needed the car. The street-legal version of the Ascona 400 appeared in January 1979 with a 2.4-litre engine (16 valves, 144 PS).

Reader's Guide

The Ascona 400's significance lies in its role as a homologation special that enabled Opel to compete at the highest level of rallying. Walter Röhrl drove the car to victory in the 1982 World Rally Championship drivers' title, cementing the model's place in motorsport history. The car was developed under time pressure, with Cosworth providing the cylinder head and Irmscher handling styling. The initial plan to use a 2.0-litre engine block was abandoned when it proved insufficient, leading to the adoption of a 2.4-litre unit. The Ascona 400 shared its mechanical changes with the Manta B 400. Its legacy is tied directly to Röhrl's championship win, and it remains a key example of a purpose-built rally homologation car from the early 1980s.

Did You Know?

• Walter Röhrl won the 1982 World Rally Championship drivers' title with an Ascona 400.
• The car was developed with Cosworth providing the 16-valve cylinder head and Irmscher handling styling.
• The street-legal version had a 2.4-litre engine producing 144 PS.

The Name and Its Swiss Roots

The Ascona name traces back to a lakeside resort in Ticino, Switzerland, and its connection to Opel predates the 1970 model by nearly two decades. In the 1950s, a special edition of the Rekord P1 was marketed under the Ascona badge in the Swiss market. The name resurfaced in 1968 when Opel offered a locally adapted Kadett B in Switzerland, fitted with a 1.7-litre engine borrowed from the larger Rekord. However, it was not until the Ascona A arrived in October 1970 that the name became part of Opel's mainstream European lineup. This marked a notable departure from the company's long-standing tradition of naming models after German naval ranks. The Ascona A was positioned between the Kadett and Rekord, and unlike later generations, it had no Vauxhall sister model. By 1975, nearly 692,000 first-series cars had rolled off the production line, establishing the name as a recognizable presence across European roads.

Rally Royalty – The Ascona 400 and Walter Röhrl

The Ascona 400 stands as one of the most celebrated rally machines of the early 1980s. Its crowning moment came in 1982 when Walter Röhrl claimed the World Rally Championship drivers' title behind the wheel of the car. The 400's street-legal variant, introduced in January 1979, was powered by a 2.4-litre, 16-valve engine producing 144 PS, giving it a significant performance edge over the standard Ascona B range. The motorsport pedigree of the Ascona name stretches further back: the 1.9 SR from the first generation earned Röhrl the European Rally Championship in 1974, and tuner Steinmetz built a special version of that SR fitted with twin single-barrel Solex carburettors that lifted output to 125 PS. The 400's 16-valve head represented a quantum leap in engine technology for a production family car, and its rally success cemented the Ascona's reputation as a serious performance machine rather than merely a sensible family saloon.

A Global Platform Under General Motors

The Ascona's 18-year production run from September 1970 to August 1988 spanned three distinct generations, each reflecting a different engineering philosophy. The first generation used rear-wheel drive, while the final generation evolved into a front-wheel-drive derivative of GM's J-car platform. The second and third generations were conceived as global platforms under Opel's parent company, General Motors, with derivative versions built by various GM divisions around the world. The Ascona B, unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in August 1975, was Opel's interpretation of what GM called the "U-car" or extended subcompact architecture, essentially an enlarged version of the T-Car platform that underpinned the Kadett C and Vauxhall Chevette. This multinational approach meant the Ascona name appeared on cars manufactured far beyond Rüsselsheim, embedding the model into GM's broader product strategy. The Ascona A had originally been developed as a Kadett replacement before Opel pivoted to create a smaller Kadett and repositioned the Ascona against Ford's mid-sized Taunus range.

The American Interlude – Opel 1900

Between 1971 and 1975, the 1.9-litre Ascona crossed the Atlantic under the name "Opel 1900," sold through Buick-Opel dealerships in the United States. The American version initially came in two- and four-door saloon configurations, though the two-door was discontinued after the 1973 model year. Federal safety regulations prompted the addition of rubber-clad impact bumpers for 1974. Perhaps most notably, every Opel sold in the US in 1975 was fitted with Bosch L-Jetronic electronic fuel injection—a system unavailable on European models—introduced to meet stricter American emissions standards. This required dropping the compression ratio to 7.6:1 so the car could run on 91-octane unleaded gasoline, though the trade-off was a reduction in maximum power to 75 hp at 4,800 rpm. The American venture was ultimately short-lived: an unfavorable Deutsche Mark to US dollar exchange rate led Buick to replace all Opel-badged stock with Japanese-built Isuzu Geminis after 1975, ending the Ascona's brief foray into the American market.