As if the two rocket cars RAK I and RAK II, which the speed-loving inventor Fritz von Opel put on the road almost 100 years ago, were not sight enough, two more high-speed vehicles from bygone times are currently on display in Rüsselsheim to celebrate the day. As a replica, there is also the Opel rocket motorcycle "Motoclub", which was never approved for a racing test due to a lack of permits in the original, in the factory hall on Elisabethenstraße, which opened several months ago.

Markus Schug

Correspondent Rhein-Main-Süd.

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From Tuesday until Sunday, an Adam Opel festival week will be celebrated there in honour of the entrepreneur who was born 186 years ago in what would later become the Autostadt, who laid the foundation stone for one of Germany's most successful family businesses – first with a sewing machine manufactory and later with his bicycle factory.

The business with automobiles, which the company founder himself is said to have been rather skeptical about during his lifetime, only really took off after his death; at that time under the direction of his wife Sophie and with the help of the children. One of the attractions now presented in an Adam Opel birthday exhibition, many of which are due to the grandson of the manufacturer, who died in 1895, who was once known as Raketen-Fritz, is not least the Sander-RAK I rocket plane hovering above everything in the workshop. Thanks to its powerful drive, it is also one of the incomparable projectiles in Opel's long history.

They have only been celebrating the birthdays of the city's most important son – both round and crooked – in Rüsselsheim since 2018, but since then with "beautiful regularity", as it was called at the presentation of the festival programme; and at changing places. Hardly any place could be better suited for this than the event location, which has been operating under the name "Die Werkhalle" since autumn 2022. Its operators, Oliver Heiliger and Fritz Schmidt, want to use the opportunity to present themselves and their concept for the F-building of the former Opel factory site to the interested public.

For classic car enthusiasts, there is the chance to take a look around the showroom from Wednesday to Saturday, from 11.30 a.m. to 19 p.m., with free admission. On Sunday it is open from 10 a.m. to 16 p.m. In addition to the RAK range, some "normal" classic cars such as Opel Kadett or GT are presented. In addition, true to the motto "tradition meets future", some older and brand new electric vehicles are at the start.

The program, which, according to the announcement, will be supported by Opel and the entrepreneurial family, includes a panel discussion on Thursday, the screening of the classic film "Car-Napping" on Saturday and a special exhibition on the more than 100-year-old Opel racetrack. Speaking of which: If you would like to visit the former test track in the forest, you can take yourself there by appointment on Sunday from 10 a.m. to 16 p.m. and have them picked up again at the end.

Further details and information about the program can be found on the website of the city of Rüsselsheim.