After Adam's death in 1895, control of the company passed to his wife and two of his sons.

He had two sons and two daughters, Johann Jacques, Georg, Sophie and Eleonore.

On 17 January 1918 in Darmstadt, Carl was raised to the nobility of the Grand Duchy of Hesse, one year later than his brothers Wilhelm and Heinrich.

Carl von Opel was a member of the Corps Franconia Darmstadt.

[4] The name the 'Opel Karl' small car built in 2015 is an homage to this Opel ancestry.