It was like Tom and Jerry. Mäuseflink drove the first Corsa in iconic comic films of the big cat around the nose and just as cheeky sat the small car late starter at the top of the segment. Today, 37 years and six generations later, the Corsa-E starts as a heart-wrenching, even trick the little PSA siblings
Who's going to race this time? Before 37 years stormed the first Opel Corsa cheeky and impetuously to the top of the then long-packed small car field, just as it promises its Italian name (Corsa = race). Now the sixth generation of the Corsa is the most important new Opel. A little one with technology from the PSA Group, which should be able to do what no one else has managed to do: making electromobility desirable and natural for all people - even in rallying.
Whether the e-Corsa has what it takes to smash the electrified city cars, the future will show. Anyway, the mini-flash comes from the Zaragoza factory in Spain, as well as the first Corsa, who drove in iconic comic films with Tom and Jerry the big cat and on the market of the competition. The Corsa celebrated its silver anniversary with 15 million built units from three generations of four continents, as this Opel was still a real world car that was sold under five hallmarks. Also sportsmanship showed the Corsa almost from the beginning in one-make cups, later than hot-blooded, 154 kW / 210 PS strong OPC racer or as a chic sports coupe Tigra. Ironically, according to 20 million units and the 30. Corsa's birthday ended the hunt for ever new peak happiness, because the multi-year pole position in Germany, the winner had left other small car. Now it is on the Corsa number six to show who Leader of the Pack is, even in direct wheel-to-wheel competition with the same time launched PSA Group colleagues Peugeot 208.
In fact, Opel boss Michael Lohscheller with the currently smallest model of the brand has big plans, the Corsa should still: "E-mobility finally rid of their niche existence." After all, almost all previous Corsa generations have made great announcements of extraordinary successes. So it was already at the original Corsa of 1982, who temporarily placed the specially designed Spanish Opel factory in the production figures before the Seat Group. "We want to be the number one," Opel communicated at the time for the Iberian peninsula and the Corsa made a surprise success possible.
Contributing to this was not only a sedan saloon with a huge luggage compartment (Corsa TR), which was rated as ugly in other parts of Europe, but also the motivated Spanish workforce, which made an exceptional product quality possible. In the early 1980 years that were shattered by industrial action, it was not taken for granted that while in Italy, for example, daily absence rates were recorded by up to one third of employees, a maximum of four percent were absent in Spain, which even made Zaragoza the reference for Rüsselsheim.
Above all, of course, it was the product qualities that made the Corsa stand out like a rocket in a long-filled small car cosmos. With unrivaled body diversity from two-, three-, four- and five-door models, plus station wagon and van versions, pick-ups and adrenaline-fueled athletes for circuits or simply to dream - a Corsa Spider announced the large-series version in 1982 - the most compact Opel did not Wishes open. And if you were looking for more individuality, you could find it in special versions of over 20 tuners and bodies with eye-catchers such as the 85 kW / 115 hp "Corsa Mini-Blitz" from Artz or the rare spiders from Irmscher and Michalak. In fact, the Opel Corsa, which was rather chubby, pragmatic in its original design, achieved an emotional charge that allowed it to be on par with competitors such as Ford Fiesta and VW Polo, before even temporarily suspending this duo in Germany from the mid-1990s.
The German advertising ambassadors of the early Corsa also stood for dynamic: Jürgen Klopp today, who praises the driving pleasure with the Corsa-e, was not only the animal heroes Tom and Jerry, but especially the tennis queen Steffi Graf, the even promoted a specially composed special model "Steffi Special". In fact, this Corsa cocktail, mixed with many ingredients, was so well-liked by the zeitgeist that it hardly bothered the small car customers when their city runners had to face defeat in comparison tests with European rivals such as Fiat Uno and Peugeot 205. Even the non-European world knew how to enjoy the Corsa. No Continent without Corsa production, or at least CKD production, could be stated with satisfaction by the former Opel parent company General Motors. The small lightning hit under seven brands and over 20 model names, from Buick to Vauxhall, everything was there.
Lust for lifestyle was the recipe for success of the second Corsa generation, which was launched 1993. Drawn in rounded organic forms, the new Opel was voted the most aesthetic small car of all time by trade media, with a constantly updated pop color program contributing to it. A success that was accelerated by the nimble sports coupé Tigra. The 200 + 2-powered 2 km / h derived from the Corsa B took on the iconic dynamics of traditional sports car brands and counterpointed the Corsa with bold three-cylinder petrol engines.
Today efficient three-cylinder burners have become the rule, no matter whether small car or middle-class model. At the end of the 1990 years, it was only Japanese minicars who dared to believe in this engine concept and so the Opel Corsa ventured into uncharted waters. In fact, it took years before car buyers abandoned any reservations about the reduced number of cylinders. After all, cars and large engines were socially accepted means of self-promotion beyond the turn of the millennium.
Who did not value it, could now make his family happy with a Corsa called combo tour in a cheap way, because this competitor to Citroen Berlingo or Renault Kangoo had room for everything. New concepts were also created by the third Corsa, which launched 2000 and wanted to secure its market leadership in the small class with the Coupé Cabriolet Tigra Twin-Top, the minivan Meriva and a fancier combo. In Britain, the three- and five-door Corsa succeeded even without this family growth until then unique: Under Vauxhall brand logo, he became the best-selling car in the United Kingdom.
Reason enough to introduce the Corsa number four 2006 in London. Once again it was a dynamizer, this time in the form of up to 154 kW / 210 PS strong OPC, which made the Corsa an eye-catcher and shortly thereafter lit the 20 million production brand of the small car. But then followed years in which the Corsa could hardly shine. The fifth generation lost themselves in the sea of arbitrariness, in which other competitors scored. Now it is the sixth Corsa to electrify Opel, also to Citroen C3 and Peugeot 208 as well as the future PSA Group siblings of Fiat.
Model History Opel Corsa
Important engines:
Generation 1 (1982-1993) with 1,0-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (33 kW / 45 PS) or 1,2-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (33 kW / 45 PS or 38 kW / 52 PS or 40 kW) / 55 PS) or 1,3-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (44 kW / 60 PS or 51 kW / 70 PS or 55 kW / 75 PS) or 1,4-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (44 kW / 60 PS or 53 kW / 72 PS) or 1,6-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (53 kW / 72 PS or 72 kW / 98 PS or 74 kW / 100 PS) or 1,5-liter four-cylinder diesel (37 kW / 50 PS or 49 kW / 67 PS).
Generation 2 (1993-2000) with 1,0-liter three-cylinder gasoline engine (40 kW / 55 PS) or 1,2-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (33 kW / 45 PS or 48 kW / 65 PS) or 1,4 -Liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (44 kW / 60 PS or 66 kW / 90 PS) or 1,6-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (78 kW / 106 PS or 80 kW / 109 PS) or 1,5-liter four-cylinder -Diesel (37 kW / 50 PS or 49 kW / 67 PS) or 1,7-liter four-cylinder diesel (44 kW / 66 PS).
Opel Tigra (1994-2000) with 1,4-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (66 kW / 90 PS) or with 1,6-liter four-cylinder petrol engine (78 kW / 106 PS).
Generation 3 (2000-2006) with 1,0-liter three-cylinder gasoline engine (43 kW / 58 PS or 44 kW / 60 PS) or 1,2-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (55 kW / 75 PS or 59 kW / 80 PS) or 1,3-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (51 kW / 70 PS) or 1,4-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (66 kW / 90 PS) or 1,6-liter four-cylinder petrol engine (64 kW / 87 PS or 71 kW / 97 PS) or 1,8-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (92 kW / 125 PS) or 1,3-liter four-cylinder diesel (51 kW / 70 PS) or 1,7-liter four-cylinder diesel (48 kW / 65 PS or 55 kW / 75 PS or 74 kW / 100 PS) or 1,8-liter four-cylinder diesel (92 kW / 125 PS).
Opel Tigra TwinTop (2004-2009) with 1,4-liter four-cylinder petrol engine (66 kW / 90 PS) or 1,8-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (92 kW / 125 PS) or 1,3-liter four-cylinder diesel (51 kW / 70 PS).
Generation 4 (2006-2014) with 1,0-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (44 kW / 60 PS) or 1,2-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (51 kW / 70 PS or 59 kW / 80 PS or 61 kW) / 83 PS or 63 kW / 85 PS) or 1,4-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (64 kW / 87 PS or 66 kW / 90 PS or 74 kW / 100 PS) or 1,6-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (110 kW / 150 PS or 141 kW / 192 PS or 154 kW / 210 PS) or 1,3-liter four-cylinder diesel (55 kW / 75 PS or 70 kW / 95 PS) or 1,7 liter Four-cylinder diesel (96 kW / 130 PS).
Opel Corsa Generation 5 (from 2014) with 1,0-liter three-cylinder gasoline engine (66 kW / 90 PS) or 1,0-liter three-cylinder gasoline engine (85 kW / 115 PS) or 1,2-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (51 kW / 70 PS) or 1,4-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine (66 kW / 90 PS or 74 kW / 100 PS or 110 kW / 150 PS) or 1,3-liter four-cylinder diesel (55 kW / 75 PS or 70 kW / 95 PS).
Opel Corsa generation 6 (from 2019) with 1,2-liter (55 kW / 75 PS or 74 kW / 100 PS or 96 kW / 130 PS) -Dreizylinder gasoline engine or as Corsa-e with 100 kW / 136 PS electric motor.
Timeline:
1969: First prototype of a small Opel with front-wheel drive is developed
1970: With the body of an old cadet A Opel Minis be tested with front and rear wheel drive
1977: The development of the Corsa begins under the code name "S-Cars". For the production of the Corsa, a new plant is being built in Zaragoza, Spain
1982: At the Geneva Motor Show, the Corsa Spider study is the immediate harbinger of the Corsa. On the 14. In May, the plant will be opened in Spain. The Corsa will celebrate its public debut at the Paris Salon in September
1983: In March, the Corsa celebrates its German market launch, first as a three-door hatchback and two-door sedan (Corsa TR). With 220.000 units, the Corsa is the most exported car in Spain. The brand trophy Opel Corsa Cup is presented. The Corsa Cup version makes 83 PS
1984: The 500.000ste Corsa will be released in November
1985: The ONS Opel Junior Cup celebrates its premiere and is developing into one of the most successful junior racing series. From April, the first Corsa generation is also available as a four or five-door model. In September, the Corsa gets as the first German small car a regulated three-way catalyst. The company Irmscher offers from September a "Spider" called convertible version of the Corsa as well as performance-enhanced variants
1986: The one millionth Corsa is coming off the line in September
1987: The notchback Corsa is omitted in Germany, but is still being built for other markets. At the IAA in September, the sporty Corsa GSi is presented with 1,6-liter engine. Special model Corsa Joy with electric folding sunroof
1988: In May sales start for the 820 kilogram lightweight Corsa GSi with 101 horsepower and a Vmax of 188 km / h
1989: In Germany, the Corsa is only to have a regulated catalyst. Corsa breaks the two million sound barrier
1990: Thorough model care and visual revision with modified grill, larger turn signals, new headlamps and other bumpers
1992: At the Geneva Motor Show, Opel is showing the Eco3 study with a consumption of 4 liters / 100 kilometers. In September, the first Corsa "made in Germany" comes off the line in Eisenach
1993: Production of the first Corsa generation ends after over 3,1 million units. Since the beginning of the year, the second generation of the Corsa has been produced in Zaragoza / Spain and Eisenach / Germany. Later, the Corsa is also made in Azambaja / Portugal. First production of the three-door hatchback, from August also five-door and later notchback sedan. Premiere of the Corsa-derived sports coupe Opel Tigra at the IAA Frankfurt in September. The production of the Tigra is also in Zaragoza. Opel Scamp Concept on Corsa basis as a small pickup is presented
1994: Market launch of the Opel Tigra and Combo (high-roof combination on Corsa basis). New is the Scamp II concept with off-road attributes
1997: facelift for the second generation of the Corsa. The study Corsa Moon shows the small car as an expedition vehicle for the moon
2000: Presentation of the third Corsa generation at the Paris Salon. In a total of eleven Corsa plants worldwide, the second generation of the small car 3,6 million units have been built. International versions of the Corsa marketed as a World Car run as Opel Vita (Japan and East Africa), Opel Corsa Lite (Corsa B in South Africa), Buick Sail and Buick Sail S-RV (China), Chevrolet Sail and Sail SRV (China), Chevrolet Montana or Tornado (Pickup in Brazil, Uruguay and Venezuela and South Africa), Chevrolet Corsa (South America), Chevrolet Corsa Plus (Chile), Chevrolet Celta and Chevrolet Prisma (based on Corsa B in Brazil and Uruguay), Chevy Monza, Swing and Joy (Mexico, top selling car), Holden Barina (Corsa B and C in Australia), Suzuki Fun (derived from the Chevrolet Celta in Argentina), Vauxhall Nova (Corsa A in the UK), Vauxhall Corsa (Corsa B to E in the UK) , Opel Corsa Utility (Pickup in Kenya and South Africa), Opel Corsa Sail, Joy and Swing (India).
2001: production phasing out of the Opel Tigra. For the seventh year in a row, the Corsa is Germany's most popular compact car, now in its third generation
2003: facelift for the third generation of the Opel Corsa
2004: Sale of the Opel Tigra TwinTop with electrically retractable steel roof. a Coupé Cabriolet based on the Corsa Generation three
2006: Presentation of the fourth generation of the Corsa in July at the London Motor Show. Sales start as three- and five-door in October. The three-door is manufactured in Eisenach / Germany, the five-door in Zaragoza / Spain. The Corsa Van Concept debuts at the Paris Salon
2007: Opel presents a Corsa study with hybrid drive
2008: The ten millionth Corsa is off the line
2009: The production of the Tigra TwinTop will end in October
2010: In September, the decision is made to produce the next generation of Corsa in Eisenach
2011: facelift for the fourth generation Corsa. New is the sporty Corsa OPC
2014: The fifth generation of the Corsa will debut at the Paris Salon in October
2015: January sees the German market launch of the three- or five-door Corsa
2017: The sale of Opel to the French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroen is completed, so that the Corsa competes internally with Peugeot 208 and Citroen C3
2019: The sixth generation of the Opel Corsa is based on a lightweight platform from the PSA Group and debuts at the IAA Frankfurt in September 2019. Market launch in November 2019 with three gasoline engines and as Fully Electrified Corsa-e. Only one body variant. The delivery of the Corsa-e takes place from spring 2020. Also new is the Corsa-e Rally as a customer sport vehicle for the ADAC Opel e-Rally Cup, the first rallye brand cup for electric cars