Long before the Astra, Opel’s contender in the compact hatch segment was the Kadett .

In production between 1937 and 1940, and afterwards from 1962 until 1993, the Kadett wasn’t the most desirable, nor the prettiest or fastest.

Nevertheless, it eventually caught the attention of some amateur drag racers. Some of them invested crazy sums in making their Kadetts as fast as possible in a straight line, giving them insane amounts of power along the way.

Others chose to keep their now classic Opels in top-notch condition, hoping that their value will go up as the years go by. But since the Kadett hasn’t exactly reached its collector status, we’ll leave this part for a future story.

Instead, we’ll now concentrate on the fast models that often get raced against other machines, or, as is the case here, against the clock. So, without further ado, get ready to meet the fastest Opel Kadett you have ever witnessed.

It allegedly has a whopping 1,250 horsepower delivered from a highly tuned 2.0-liter 16-valve engine that packs a giant turbo. It’s also got four-wheel drive, which helps it cover the 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) sprint in 4.0 seconds, and reach 200 km/h (124 mph) just 3.7 seconds later.

In this occasio , it eventually hit almost 315 km/h (196 mph) after a 1/2-mile run, to the delight of the crowd. And the best thing about it is that apart from a few exterior updates and a gigantic intercooler visible from beneath the front bumper, its looks are stock, making it a true sleeper.