It was larger than its predecessor and featured an eye-catching US-style wrap-around windscreen and rear window, reminiscent of its General Motors Luton-built cousin, the Vauxhall Victor F, which had appeared in England a few months earlier.

The Opel Rekord P1 sold very well, consistently achieving second place in the West German sales charts, beaten to the top slot only by the smaller and cheaper Volkswagen Beetle.

The manufacturer departed from the habit established with the predecessor model of facelifting the front grill and other trim details every year, but the P1 nevertheless experienced a relatively short production run.

Unlike the modern bodywork, the 1,488 cc OHV four-cylinder water-cooled engine was very little changed since it had first been offered in the Opel Olympia back in 1937.

At a time when mid-range incomes were expanding fast on the back of West Germany's so called post-war "Wirtschaftswunder" (economic miracle) the Olympia Rekord targeted the family car market, which was also a strength of the mother company in the United States.

The panoramic front and rear windows were believed to be copied from recent North American designs such as the latest Special and Roadmaster.

[1] Quickly the car was dubbed in the motoring press as the „Bauern-Buick“ (Peasant's Buick), although chief designer Hans Mersheimer was thought to have taken particular inspiration from the 1955 version of the Chevrolet Bel Air.

[3] The new car received a newly developed front axle with negative camber and a new steering system incorporating paired control arms of uneven lengths.

The CarAVan was particularly popular with self-employed tradesman, combining most of the driving characteristics of a car with the load-carrying potential of a small commercial vehicle.

Apart from the reduced name and engine size, this version also made do without most of the chrome adornment which was a feature of the standard Olympia Rekord, and the interior was also simplified.

It was also in 1958 that the windscreen wipers received their own electric motor: hitherto they had been mechanically powered from the camshaft with the help of a flexible linkage, a solution which Opel had first employed in 1937 on the Super Six.

Responding (presumably) to the steady increase in the octane of standard fuel at this time, the compression ratio on the 1,488 cc engine was also raised from 6.9:1 to 7.25:1.

The Ascona name would reappear just over ten years later on a new volume model introduced as Opel's answer to the Fords Taunus and Cortina.

The Rekord P1 was also assembled (like its successor) at the General Motors plant in South Africa: here the steering wheel had to be positioned on the right side of the car.

The manufacturer also promoted the model strongly in the USA where arrangements were put in place for it to be sold through the Buick dealer network.

Its memory endured and on 2 October 2003 it was commemorated in a ceremony attended by the German President who was presented with a greatly enlarged image of a new 55 Pfennig postage stamp depicting the Rekord P1.