Ranger was an automobile brand of General Motors which was produced from 1968 to 1978. Used in three main markets, the original automobile was marketed as "South Africa's Own Car" and was built in Port Elizabeth, South Africa, from 1968 to 1973. The European model range was sold in two main markets, Belgium and Switzerland. It was produced by General Motors Continental SA from 1970 to 1978 in Antwerp, Belgium. General Motors Suisse SA in Biel-Bienne, Switzerland, also produced Rangers from 1970 until that factory's closure in 1975. A few Rangers were also sold in the Netherlands.

The Opel Rekord D series is a Executive car that replaced the Rekord C on Opel's Rüsselsheim production lines during the closing weeks of 1971 and launched on the West German market at the start of 1972. It shared its wheelbase and inherited most of its engines from its predecessor, but the bodies were completely new. Also new, announced in September 1972, was the option of a diesel powered Opel Rekord. Early advertising and press material called the new car the "Opel Rekord II" but in due course, the "Rekord II" appellation was quietly dropped and the Rekord D was replaced at the end of the 1977 summer holiday shut down by the Opel Rekord E.