Opel GT Concept: The German Mini-Corvette Returns

Opel’s tease for its GT sports car concept has come to a close. The small coupe has been shorn of all mystery, ahead of its debut at the 2016 Geneva auto show. Yet, as one door closes, another one opens: We absolutely want this car to be built. It’s lightweight, turbocharged, and looks phenomenal. Not merely rear-wheel drive, it’s a proper sports car, a two-seater that appears poised to chase Mazda’s MX-5 Miata and the BRZ/FR-S twins from Subaru and Scion.

The GT trades on a name first applied to an Opel sports car sold from 1968 to 1973; it subsequently hibernated until 2007, when it was applied to a rebadged Saturn Sky (itself based on the Pontiac Solstice) before dying again in 2010 when Saturn and Pontiac began to unravel. The original GT is the true classic, however, with a flowing, mini-Corvette body perched atop dainty, 13-inch wheels. It was extremely lightweight, featured 1.1- and 1.9-liter four-cylinder engines making no more than 102 horsepower, and despite its small exterior dimensions was surprisingly spacious inside. Opel says the new GT borrows only that car’s name, basic format, and lack of a proper trunk.

Clever Apertures

However, like the original, the new GT features a stunningly long hood, a body wrapped tightly around the wheel openings, and a vaguely bubble-like passenger compartment. That bulging greenhouse is no accident, as it appears Opel paid as close attention to carving out usable interior space in the latest GT as it did for the 1968 model. Even more interestingly, the doors feature a novel hinge design that allows for easy ingress and egress in tight parking spots; hinged near the middle, instead of at the leading edge, the fronts of the doors swing into the body, disappearing under the hood to reduce the open doors’ effective length. Coupes tend to have long doors, and for anyone who’s ever wiggled out of a Camaro or a Mustang in a narrow parking space, the GT’s apertures will seem ingenious.

Although the GT looks cool overall, the vibrant red line running from behind the front wheel to the A-pillar, up and over the cabin, and down into the rear window is certainly unique. Ditto the bright-red front tires, which Opel says are a nod to its 1928 Motoclub 500 motorcycle’s similarly red rubber. Chalk up the red bits—and the two-tone paint job, the touch-pad-operated door releases, and the video screens in place of door mirrors—to concept-car showmanship. The rest of the coupe is lithe and muscular, avoiding a dainty appearance despite its small size. Hidden headlights are now dated, so instead of the ’68 GT’s hand-cranked pop-up peepers, the new concept wears fixed headlights placed low on the front bumper. The tail is clean and interrupted only by simple trapezoidal taillights and dual central exhaust outlets. Opel kept the GT’s interior simple, with the same gray, black, and red color scheme as the exterior.

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The GT’s true worth, however, exists beneath its gorgeous skin. Engineering work has kept the curb weight under 2200 pounds—Mazda’s MX-5 Miata weighs around 2300 pounds—and a turbocharged engine powers the rear wheels. The three-cylinder turbo is borrowed from the Opel Adam minicar. The 1.0-liter triple sends 145 horsepower and 151 lb-ft of torque through a paddle-shifted sequential gearbox to the rear axle’s mechanically locking limited-slip differential.

Performance, while strong compared to the original GT, is humble by today’s standards. The trip to 60 mph is claimed to take less than eight seconds, while Opel says the concept car’s top speed is 134 mph. These figures put the GT in line with other small sports cars designed more for the joy of driving than face-melting performance.

Will the GT be built, and if so, will it come to the States? The first GT was green-lighted for production after the concept car previewing it proved a sensation—and it eventually was sold in the U.S. through, of all places, Buick dealers. Today, Buick and Opel enjoy an even stronger bond within the General Motors family, what with half of Buick’s lineup being rebadged Opels. Even so, we doubt the GT would arrive stateside wearing either Opel or Buick logos; instead, given that the 2007 Opel GT was a rebadged Saturn/Pontiac, perhaps we could see this new GT as a mini-Vette for Chevrolet. Whatever the case, Opel must first decide to put this GT into production. It has our vote.