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Written by Paul Horrell
It might look like a novelty computer mouse albeit a very beautiful one but the Vauxhall/Opel GT Concept is a fully thought-out little sports car. It"s a concept for the Opel and Vauxhall stand at the Geneva Show in March, and it"s the sort of thing we can get right behind. The company"s boss Karl-Thomas Neumann told TopGear.com it doesn"t directly presage a production car, but he hinted it could, and he wants it to. "I need militant requests to do the car after Geneva." In other words, make a noise, people.It"s an enchanting and exuberant tiddler. A runner, too. Under the long, low bonnet is a 145bhp version of the lively and light new 1.0 three-cylinder turbo from the Corsa and Astra. It channels its drive to the back wheels. In between is a paddle-operated six-speed. Given the whole caboodle is supposed to weigh under 1000kg and has rear-drive traction, the claimed acceleration of 8.0sec for 0-62 sounds honest.Now, about those silvery windows. They"re actually coated with reflective foil. Just like advert-wrapped buses. That means from the inside vision is fine.In fact the window-line is quite low and the roof is glass, so the designers say it feels bright and airy inside despite its bijou dimensions. To keep it snug, the pedals move fore and aft while the seat stays fixed. To get in, touch a sensitised pad in the red dividing line.The body design might be a bit outlandish, but you can read it in the context of the firm"s other recent shapes. The hollowed out lower side resonates from the 2013 Monza saloon. There"s a bit of Astra in the nose, but from there back the forms are far softer. Roller skate wheels inspired the combined rim-and-tyre design, apparently.Opel and Vauxhall have concept-car history. Just as GM in the States was the first company in the world to have a modern design studio, so the European subsidiaries were the first on this side of the Atlantic.Opel"s Experimental GT and XVR concepts
Date written: 27 Jan 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 1870
It might look like a novelty computer mouse albeit a very beautiful one but the Vauxhall/Opel GT Concept is a fully thought-out little sports car. It"s a concept for the Opel and Vauxhall stand at the Geneva Show in March, and it"s the sort of thing we can get right behind. The company"s boss Karl-Thomas Neumann told TopGear.com it doesn"t directly presage a production car, but he hinted it could, and he wants it to. "I need militant requests to do the car after Geneva." In other words, make a noise, people.It"s an enchanting and exuberant tiddler. A runner, too. Under the long, low bonnet is a 145bhp version of the lively and light new 1.0 three-cylinder turbo from the Corsa and Astra. It channels its drive to the back wheels. In between is a paddle-operated six-speed. Given the whole caboodle is supposed to weigh under 1000kg and has rear-drive traction, the claimed acceleration of 8.0sec for 0-62 sounds honest.Now, about those silvery windows. They"re actually coated with reflective foil. Just like advert-wrapped buses. That means from the inside vision is fine.In fact the window-line is quite low and the roof is glass, so the designers say it feels bright and airy inside despite its bijou dimensions. To keep it snug, the pedals move fore and aft while the seat stays fixed. To get in, touch a sensitised pad in the red dividing line.The body design might be a bit outlandish, but you can read it in the context of the firm"s other recent shapes. The hollowed out lower side resonates from the 2013 Monza saloon. There"s a bit of Astra in the nose, but from there back the forms are far softer. Roller skate wheels inspired the combined rim-and-tyre design, apparently.Opel and Vauxhall have concept-car history. Just as GM in the States was the first company in the world to have a modern design studio, so the European subsidiaries were the first on this side of the Atlantic.Opel"s Experimental GT and XVR concepts
Date written: 27 Jan 2016
More of this article on the Top gear website
ID: 1870
