Peter and Christian Schmidt have sat in many types of vehicles with blue lights rotating on the roof. Dad Peter was a correctional officer, son Christian is a trainee police officer. Both are volunteers in the rescue service and disaster control, Christian Schmidt is active in the volunteer fire department. The head of the family also has a soft spot for the Opel brand: the Franconian drove rallies in the C-Kadett at a young age. Whether Kapitän, Admiral, Diplomat, Rekord, Senator, Omega or Corsa – vehicles with the Blitz have adorned the family fleet for decades. So it’s no wonder that he was immediately curious when his son drew his attention to a classified ad online: an Opel Frontera that had been converted into a fire engine, built in 1993, was being offered. The year of his son’s birth, who suggested: “What do you think of making it our shared hobby?”

Peter Schmidt was immediately hooked. Not just because Opel had recently announced that it would be reviving the nameplate – and the man from Nuremberg really liked what he saw in the first photos. The order books for the family-friendly SUV are now open and the retired correctional officer wants to take a look at the new interpretation at the dealer soon. And of course, the name immediately brings back memories. Opel introduced the Frontera for the first time in 1991. Presented it as an “all-wheel drive leisure automobile”. The term “Sport Utility Vehicle” (SUV) was not yet in use at the time. This was soon to be the name given to the successful vehicle segment on the automobile market. The Opel Frontera pioneered the concept. The year it was introduced, the model was named “Off-Road Vehicle of the Year”.

The republic’s fire departments also quickly discovered the compact, off-road model from Rüsselsheim – it was ideal for their purposes. Manyserved as emergency and command vehicles for firefighting until the 2010s. But almost all of them have now retired, as Peter Schmidt has researched. “I only discovered an active Frontera in Bielefeld, but that too will soon be retired.” Another already adorns the fire brigade museum in Zeithain, Saxony.

Frontera favoured by fire brigade

So there’s no question about it: buying such a vintage car privately appealed to the father at least as much as the son. Both of them made their way to Bischofswerda. The vehicle on offer served the volunteer fire department in the Goldbach district until 2019. Before that, it was used by the Hoyerswerda professional fire department from 1993 to 2011. A volunteer firefighter had recently cared for the Frontera privately, but now wanted to part with it.

When they arrived on site, the Schmidts were immediately impressed by the good condition of the Frontera A 2.3 TD. The renowned supplier “Brandschutztechnik Görlitz” carried out the conversion and expansion of the car. Even the blue light bar and radio were removed, but still in their original condition. The last logbook, the 30-year-old vehicle folder and the customer service checkbook still existed. The volunteer fire fighters only implemented a few ideas of their own when it came to the interior, but overall there were no major defects to be found. So father and son sealed the deal. And since the turbodiesel with 101 hp was still purring perfectly, they drove straight back to their Franconian homeland.

“Fronti” as a shared hobby

There the two immediately began the restoration. As it turned out, they did not have to put as much work in as expected: “Fire engines are parked dry in halls most of the time – that pays off,” says Peter Schmidt. Converting it back into an emergency vehicle was also relatively problem-free: they installed the signalling system and the radio, which were fortunately still there, and the side impact protection was replaced. “We were lucky. We got hold of an originally packaged spare part in Austria,” says Christian Schmidt. An unused front guard was snatched from its slumber in a cellar and now adorns the “Fronti” – this is what the two of them have named their shared hobby.

The command car turned 30 in December and is therefore entitled to an H license plate. It will get the license plate that identifies vintage cars in Germany shortly – as soon as a few final touch-ups have been completed. The Schmidts also want to invest in repainting. ‘Maybe we can find a sponsor to support us,’ hopes Peter Schmidt, who is involved in the Nuremberg Fire Brigade Museum Association together with his son. The association analyses the history of firefighting in Nuremberg from the Middle Ages to modern times. Father and son have also attended several classic car meetings with their fiery red vehicle.

Concept still works

And in June of this year the dup embarked on their biggest adventure yet. They travelled to Austria, to the Großglockner. The “Fire Department Vintage World Cup” took place there, one of the largest meetings of the “red legends”. Almost 100 fire engines gathered there for skill or regularity. “Our ‘Fronti’ did well,” says Peter Schmidt, not without pride. The concept of good aerodynamics, passenger car comfort, a dynamic appearance and good handling that the Opel engineers gave the SUV pioneer has lost none of its relevance even after 30 years.