Opel OHV engine. The Opel OHV family (also known as the Kadett engine and Viva engine after its most famous applications) is a pushrod inline-four engine. It was the first all-new engine developed by Opel of Germany after World War II and was released in 1962. Versions were in use through 1993.

Vauxhall would also make use of a locally built version of the OHV engine for the Vauxhall Viva, the original intention being to simply convert every component from metric dimensions to imperial measurements. However development of the OHV would soon be separate from to that of Opel, one of the first changes being to increase the size from 993cc to 1057cc via a slightly bigger 74mm bore yet built with the same stroke as the Opel OHV with later bore increases to 78mm and 81mm producing the 1159cc and 1256cc engines   that would also power the Bedford HA, Vauxhall Firenza, Vauxhall Chevette and Vauxhall Cavalier as well as the Holden Torana.

The engine was gradually replaced from 1979 onwards by the GM Family I, but continued to be used on base specification versions of the Kadett/Astra and Corsa/Nova for much of the 1980s.

1.0
The first version of the engine was the 1.0 and placed in the Kadett A which was produced from 1962 to 1965. Displacement was  with a  bore and stroke. The Kadett A had two different versions of the engine, namely 10N (normal compression) with  and 10S (super compression) with .

This engine was retired in 1965 in favor of the 1.1 but was revived in 1973 as an economy option for the Kadett C. It was briefly discontinued in 1981 but revived a second time a year later for the entry-level models of the Opel Corsa A/Vauxhall Nova where it produced . It was also used in export market models of the Opel Kadett D.

The engine was finally retired in the European market for the 1992 model year in the Corsa A/Nova owing to its inability to satisfy the upcoming Euro 1 emission standard which required the fitment of catalytic converters - the engine was one of very few still employing mechanical contact breaker ignition at the time of its discontinuation.

Applications:
 1962-1965 Opel Kadett A
 1973-1979 Opel Kadett C
 1979-August 1981 Opel Kadett D
 September 1982 – 1992 Opel Corsa A / Vauxhall Nova

1.1

In 1965, the engine was enlarged for use in the all new Kadett B. Displacement was  with a bore enlarged to  stroke remained at . The 11N (normal compression) produced  and  after 1971. The 11S produced ; in 1966 a special power version was introduced, the 11SR with .

Applications:
 1965-1973 Opel Kadett B
 1967-1970 Opel Olympia A
 1968-1970 Opel GT 1100

1.2
In 1971, a second enlargement made the 1.2 with a displacement of . Bore was enlarged to  and stroke was still at . Performance of the 12N varied from ; the 12S consistently had .

Applications:
 1971-1973 Opel Kadett B
 1973-1979 Opel Kadett C
 1979-1984 Opel Kadett D / Chevrolet Kadett (ZA) / Vauxhall Astra Mk 1
 1984-1988 Opel Kadett E / Vauxhall Astra Mk 2
 March 1972 – 1975 Opel Ascona A
 1975-1980 Opel Ascona B / Vauxhall Cavalier Mk 1
 1972-1975 Opel Manta A
 1975-1979 Opel Manta B
 1982-1993 Opel Corsa A / Vauxhall Nova (also with catalyst and )

References

 "Das große Kadett-Buch", Edition Heel, Königswinter, Germany
 Oswald, "Deutsche Pkw 1945-1990, Band 3: Ford, Opel, VW" Motorbuch-Verlag, Germany
 Oswald, Werner. Deutsche Autos 1945-1975. .

Opel OHV
Straight-four engines
Gasoline engines by model