Adam Opel (9 May 1837 – 8 September 1895) was the founder of the German automobile company Adam Opel AG. Biography Adam Opel was born on 9 May 1837 to Wilhelm, a locksmith, and his wife in Rüsselsheim. Opel studied with his father until the age of 20, when he received his travel pass. The pass enabled him to be an apprentice locksmith in Belgium, in Liège, Brussels, and then Paris, where he arrived in mid-1858. While in Paris, he took an interest in an innovation—the sewing machine. In 1859, he went to work for a maker of sewing machines to get a closer look. Opel's younger brother, George, also came to Paris to absorb this new technology. In 1862, Adam Opel returned to Rüsselsheim. Opel's uncle offered him an unused cow stall in Rüsselsheim to set up a workshop in which to build his own sewing machine. In 1863, George returned from France to help in the slow production of the machines. In April 1867, Opel was preparing to build a new two-story factory near the railroad station, when his father died. Opel attached a new home to his factory and married the daughter of a guest-house and brewery family, Sophie Scheller. Sophie brought with her a substantial dowry, which she invested in the Opel plant. Sophie convinced two of her sisters to invest as well, and a steam engine was purchased, helping to expand the firm. In 1870 a new sewing machine called “Sophia” was introduced, named after Opel's wife. In the 1880s, sewing machine production jumped ahead, with steady expansion of the plant, and by 1899 more than a half million machines had been made. The milestone of one million machines was reached in 1911, the same time a fire destroyed much of the plant. The Opel brothers decided to give up sewing machine production, which by this time was much more commodified, and thus commercially unrewarding, than when they had started in the business. Looking to move upmarket in their manufacturing efforts, they decided to try to produce the more profitable products of bicycles and automobiles. Adam and Sophie Opel had five sons (Carl, Wilhelm, Heinrich, Friedrich, and Ludwig), who took wholeheartedly to wheels. Together with Sophie, who became main shareholder after the death of her husband, they would pilot the Opel enterprises down the automotive path. Bicycles came into the picture when Adam Opel's curiosity