Opel will bring this gorgeous two seat coupe concept to the Geneva show. It's a tiny machine but claimed to be a driver's delight thanks to rear wheel drive and sub 2,200p weight.
The two most prominent design features: a red stripe bisects the car's two tone form and the side windows are coated in a silvery foil that allows vision outward but not in.
Red is taken into the front tire. The rim-tire design is inspired by skate wheels, the designers say. Also the red stripe holds a touch sensor to open the door. The nose of the car bears some relationship with new Opel production cars.
Under the flat and low hood is GM Europe's three cylinder aluminum turbo engine, here developing 145 hourse power. The claimed acceleration is 0-62 mph in 8 seconds. For a start, U.S. buyers can pay heed to Opel because of Buick. The Regal, Encore, Cascada and Verano are all natively Opel.
Opel's bosses seem to want to take the GT further. Unfortunately, as Neumann Karl-Thomas, Opel's CEO, admitted to Motor Trend, there is no suitable RWD platform in GM.
"It's simpler if you do the platform yourself. But if you can't, you have to look outside," he says, pointing out that Opel has platform-share deals with several other manufacturers for niche models such as minivans.
Instead, he offers: "There is no business case. It's a brand investment. The teaser video got half a million clicks in three days. If you build only rational cars you will never succeed. If we do the GT it will help the Astra." The Astra is Opel's compact hatchback, a mainstay car in Europe. But Neumann will have a lot of hurdles to jump through first.And no doubt if he could sell a helpful number of GTs in the Americas, badged as Buicks, he'd be only too delighted.
Original published at "superstreetonline" website.
