BETTER PARTSSo is the Opel GT concept
Rüsselsheim, April 27, 2016
He was the fair star par excellence: the speech is the Opel GT concept, the early March 2016 at the Geneva Motor Show which attracted attention. A name that committed and sparks hopes for: Opel GT. The affordable dream cars of the late 1960s, the "Corvette of the small man". And finally a worthy successor to crisp proportions, rear wheel drive? We could now take place in the GT concept and continue the study already.
Concept cars with a past
Concept cars have a long tradition at Opel: in 1965 which was "experimental GT" the first trial of a major European car manufacturer. She resulted in the series GT 1968. Almost 50 years later, the story will continue. "It comes but not to copy the GT", says Opel designers Friedhelm Engler. That makes sense, after all there are enough examples of failed retro-design on the market. Less is more, was the motto. And so, the GT concept by 2016 with 3.85 meters is clearly shorter than his ancestor measuring 4.11 meters. The purism of the study is striking: no door handles or side mirrors interfere with the form. Well, that may be different for a possible version of the series, but is the designers to calculate that they have renounced the otherwise popular grooves, beading and edges. The GT concept still doesn't look like a bar of SOAP, there is the Red "signature line". It divides the vehicle body horizontally and discharges into red front tyre. Technically the colored tires pose a problem, they get dirty quickly. Logically, the streets are now not even red.
Beautiful view
Now it is me, closer to take the Opel GT concept. I open the driver's door with the button in the red bar. A broad Portal ALZA, front door dips a good piece in the front wheel arches, above it takes a piece of the roof. Now beautiful gently enter each of the doors of the hand-crafted single 35,000 euros. Despite my long legs, this is no problem, because the sill is pretty deep. Only my head gets painful to feel that the study is only 1.18 meters high. For comparison, the ur-GT's were 1.22 meters. Arrived in the driver's seat, impressed the glass roof transitioning in the front window. Although the headroom is moderate, I feel no sense of tightness, especially since they offer vaulted page disk space for the arm. A "negative" like in the old GT instrument panel top so above broad, narrow down. The cockpit itself is futuristic and is to be operated at least in theory only by voice input and touchpad. In practice the ads of only demonstrative nature, various modes to play from the outside. My seat I can not move for the steering wheel and pedals. The almost square valance with suede cover is small and lies well in the hand. Parallel to the previous GT's slogan "only flying is more beautiful" I actually feel like in a cockpit. But I'm not on the runway, but in the hangar. Specifically, the former Opel - Hall K48.
Exciting around the corner
Fit the seat position, now I can finally drive. Where "drive" anything exaggeration is that because in the study provides only an electric motor for propulsion. It is enough to be loaded in the vehicle, or as in my case to turn some laps under the roof. Maximum 30 km/h is me inculcated, finally it's a sinfully expensive vehicle. So, I stroke the accelerator pedal with due respect that but soon settles. Although not a real drive or a real suspension under the cover, the GT concept can be relatively smart draw around the corners. Ranging you help a little on the Mazda MX-5, buckles of the front wheel arches. But already clatters at low speeds and grinds the concept Opel vocally, as if to say me: slow down!
Small motor under long hood
"Slowly" Word delivers me after I have peeled me again from the GT concept: the study is because at some point in the series? A final 'No', nor a clear 'yes' comes from the Opel executives. The drive is known already quite clearly by the a three-cylinder turbo gasoline engine with 145 HP of power, which is derived from the current one-liter engines and offers 205 nm of maximum torque. Thanks to a weight of under one tonne, the GT concept should come in under eight seconds to 100 and attain maximum 215 km/h. Also the rear-wheel drive is likely found in the large General-Motors - modular. Is still spoken by a sequential six-speed gearbox and a mechanical differential lock on the rear axle.
Green light by the GT-father
The transfer of the body in the series might be even more difficult. Probably the huge doors and cameras, which replace the side mirrors have to believe. The large panoramic windscreen, however, appears feasible, finally, Opel already had such a solution in the Astra H. Finally, there will be more practical benefits through classic door handles or an externally accessible trunk. The old GT had not. But his creator of Erhard Schnell, who served from 1952 to 1992 at Opel, is pleased with the idea of trials by 2016: "The spirit of the first GT is in there," he tells me. If that's not a knighthood! Sainsbury creation took three years in the series. So we wait for us until 2019. James Bond 007 on the screen in the new Opel (or Vauxhall) rise, then perhaps GT. NULL, null, Neumann, take over! (rh)