Opel Admiral B Coupé Frua

The Opel Diplomat Coupé Special by Frua was a one-off four-seat coupé designed and built by Pietro Frua in 1969. The car made its public debut on 13 March 1969 at the 39th Geneva Motor Show, at the same time as Opel introduced the B-generation of its Kapitän, Admiral and Diplomat range. The project was based on a pre-production Opel Diplomat E, supplied to Frua by Karl-Heinz Wedel, an Italian-speaking employee of the Opel design studio, at the beginning of February 1969. Frua completed the car in less than six weeks. The Diplomat’s wheelbase was shortened by approximately 20 centimetres to create the proportions required for the two-door body. Frua incorporated some body components derived from the Glas V8, a model he had previously designed and which had been produced in small numbers. The Diplomat nevertheless received substantially redesigned front and rear sections. The low front incorporated horizontal lighting elements and a wide grille, while the overall treatment showed similarities to Frua’s contemporary work on the Monteverdi High Speed. The prototype was finished in light blue with a light beige interior. Frua conceived it as a four-seat luxury coupé and hoped that Opel would commission a limited production series following its Geneva presentation. Opel did not pursue the proposal, leaving the car as a unique example. The Diplomat Coupé Special was powered by a 2,784 cc inline six-cylinder engine with electronic fuel injection, producing 165 PS (121 kW). Its stated maximum speed was 190 km/h. After Geneva, Frua continued to exhibit the prototype internationally. It appeared at the 1969 Frankfurt IAA and was subsequently shown at the Paris Salon. The car returned to Geneva in 1972, when it was displayed alongside other Frua projects. The prototype has sometimes been identified as an Opel Admiral B Coupé, including in later descriptions of the car. Contemporary identification and documentation associated with the surviving vehicle, however, designate it as the Opel Diplomat Coupé Special. The pre-production Diplomat supplied to Frua and the shortened Diplomat platform also support this identification. The car survives today and remains the sole example of Frua’s 1969 proposal for a coupé based on Opel’s new KAD-generation flagship platform.