Start with what the Opel Diplomat is: a car with 2.6 , built from 1964 to 1977, in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Clare MacKichan.
How it came about
The Opel Diplomat is a luxury car manufactured by Opel from 1964 to 1977. Opel's top-ranging models were traditionally the Admiral and Kapitän, introduced in 1938 and 1937 respectively. In 1964 these models were joined, in the so-called "KAD" (Kapitän, Admiral, Diplomat) range, by the new Opel Diplomat. In most respects the three were badge-engineered versions of the same vehicle.
The hardware
The engine is 2.6 other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. On the scales it comes to 1380 –. Drive goes through a 2-speed Powerglide automatic. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 2845 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
In the Opel line-up the Opel Diplomat has a clear place: it replaced the Opel Kapitän; it handed the line to the Opel Senator. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Plymouth Barracuda, the Porsche 911, the Maserati Quattroporte. Its Opel stablemates include the Opel Sintra and the Opel K-180.
Owning one today
There is no federal ownership record for the Opel Diplomat — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.
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