In October 1982, the Rekord E was extensively reworked, retaining the central portion of the body, the same windows and the principal elements of the substructure, but with redesigned front and back ends and with several significant new engines.

Despite the UK branding, the Carltons were all produced at Rüsselsheim, leaving Vauxhall's British plants to concentrate on Cavaliers, Chevettes, Vivas and their successors.

Plaudits for the technologically impressive, though commercially unsuccessful, NSU Ro 80 introduced in 1968 had revived interest in aerodynamics among West German automakers, and the Rekord E came with claims of an improved drag coefficient of 0.42 Cd.

Of a generally smoother appearance, this version featured redesigned, more aerodynamic front and rear ends, and a reshuffling of engines and equipment levels.

[4] Opel also offered a three-door delivery van for light commercial use that was in most respects identical to the estate except that the rear side windows were replaced with metal panels.

However, customers wishing to enjoy style at the expense of rear seat headroom had not been abandoned to the competition, having been catered for since September 1970 by the company's stylish new Manta.

Opel's so-called (CIH) engine configuration allowed the Rekord to incorporate the low bonnet lines that style-conscious product development departments called for.

The 2068 cc diesel engine with which in 1972 Opel had made their bid for a slice of the lucrative stranglehold that Mercedes-Benz enjoyed over the taxi market reappeared on launch in the Rekord E still offering 60 PS (44 kW) of maximum power.

The diesel powered Rekord E matched its competitors in many respects and — at least in terms of undiscounted published prices — was generally cheaper than the Mercedes models, but somehow Mercedes-Benz continued to dominate the taxi market in Germany and the surrounding western countries.

[7] The standard transmission package was a manual all-synchromesh four speed gearbox, controlled using a centrally positioned floor mounted gear lever.

The result was more compact, lighter, and probably cheaper to assemble than the uneven wishbone arrangements on the previous model, and the car's handling benefitted.

At the back the Rekord E retained from the previous model a beam axle tamed with four trailing connector arms, a Panhard rod like system and an anti-roll bar, in combination with coil springs and shock absorbers.

Commentators felt that by now the rigid-rear axle based rear suspension fell short of mainstream west European standards in terms of the handling characteristics that it provided.

On the inside trim qualities and fabrics varied according to version, and the "Berlina" featured a steering wheel with four thin spokes rather than two thick ones.

[2] Half a class down Volkswagen's competent and modern Passat captured the mood of the market place, seducing potential Opel customers in a way the K70 had not.

Half a class up from the Rekord BMW, close to bankruptcy in the early 1960s, now had the financial muscle to invest in growing production capacity for their 5 series at their own new plant in Dingolfing.

Carlton owners were expected to mount their rear license plates slightly lower than on the Rekord, screwed directly onto the bumper.

[3] The Carlton and the Rekord were assembled on the same production line at the manufacturer's Rüsselsheim plant, and until 1982 right hand drive versions of both cars competed together in the UK market.

This was the same unit as used in Europe to power diesel Rekords in markets such as Italy with taxation regimes that punished cars with engines of above two litres capacity.

For the light 1985 model year facelift (introduced in July 1984) the names of the equipments changed: the standard became the LS, the De Luxe became the GL, and the Berlina was now the GLS.

Changes to the interior of the car over the original Rekord E1 were relatively small — with the superstructure of the dashboard remaining the same, but with a restyled and rearranged upper binnacle that incorporated an instrument cluster with much larger dials than before — which would also feature on the Senator A2 and Monza A2.

[13] In this format, the "1.8S" engine employed a single twin chamber carburetor and, with a compression ratio of 9.2:1, required higher octane "super" grade fuel.

As a subsidiary of a corporation headquartered in the US, Opel had more reason than most European automakers to access and understand the increasingly stringent anti-pollution regulations which had effectively enforced the fitting of catalytic converters to cars sold in the US, and now the trend was spreading across the Atlantic.

By the time the Rekord E2 appeared in 1982 West Germany had already passed the law that would effectively enforce the use of catalytic converters for cars sold there, though at this stage the industry was still being given time, in West Germany, to prepare for the new laws to come into force: Switzerland and Sweden had already introduced much more stringent standards than other European nations, and catalytic converters began making inroads in the mid-80s.

A maximum 74 kW (100 PS) of power was claimed, and the performance was accordingly enhanced, but the Opel Rekord 1.8 with this engine required "super" grade fuel which it consumed with indelicate relish.

The "2.0E" version continued, at launch, as the only Rekord to incorporate fuel injection and in this form it provided maximum power output of 81 kW (110 PS).

Opel were not alone in having their largest family cars squeezed out by the prestige brands, and the Peugeot 604, Renault 20/30 and Ford Granada along with their increasingly marginalised successors all fell victim to the same phenomenon during the closing decades of the twentieth century, while mainstream volume automakers outside Europe sought to address the same issues by launching, with varying degrees of success, new premium brands such as Lexus, Infiniti and Eunos.

General Motors in Europe now followed the logic arising from the end of separately designed Vauxhalls, and after 1982 there were no more Opel Rekord badged cars exported to the UK.

The business was transferred through a management buy-out to a new company called the Delta Motor Corporation, and it was under this arrangement that Rekord E2s were assembled in South Africa until the 1990s, using kits shipped from Rüsselsheim.

[12] In another minor facelift, the later South African Rekords featured the Opel badge mounted above rather than within the grille, similar to the smaller Kadetts of the era.