Opel GT – a new original
Known best for its pleasant, reliable family cars, Opel is perhaps not one of those carmakers whose name makes the heart beat faster, yet when the firm issued a certain press release early in 2006, it caused a ripple of excitement amongst car aficionados far and wide. The reason for this was the subject of the communiqué, which stated the intended return of a true motoring classic: the GT.
Opel has created its share of memorable and classic cars, but one of the finest and best loved among them is without a doubt the pretty little GT sports car. Built in an age when small, compact roadsters were desired by young and old alike, the GT was an early German entry into what had been a market dominated by British Triumphs and MGs, or Italian Alfas and Lancias. Like the other Johnny-come-latelies in this category, the Japanese, Opel took to the making of a classic sporty road car like a duck to water.
Indeed, the racy little coupé launched in 1968 was to find a welcome market far beyond Germany, buoyed by excellent drive dynamics, a nippy 1.9-litre engine, sporty seating and cockpit, and whacky, well proportioned looks. Some people say it looks like a smaller version of the Chevrolet Corvette, which isn’t so strange considering that both Opel and Chevrolet form part of General Motors and the GT was primarily aimed at the US market, where it proved as popular as in Europe, selling over 100,000 cars in a five-year span.
The GT reborn
Reviving a much-loved classic car is hard to say the least, but with the new GT Opel have not so much updated the original as used it as inspiration for a wholly new model. Today’s GT is, well, a GT for today – broader, bigger, more comfortable, powerful and sophisticated than the original car. Does this mean that it has lost the authentic sports car appeal that made the first GT so popular? We think not. While the new GT has certainly gone upmarket this is no more than the reality of an industry where customers demand looks, personality and performance, but also comfort, reliability and a host of technical extras.
Set upon the so-called Kappa platform, which it shares with the American Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky, the Opel GT makes use of economies of scale to keep development costs down. This may take some of the authenticity and romance out of the equation but also keeps the starting price only a little above thirty thousand euros. Above all, this is a beautifully proportioned car with attractive rounded forms that exude both a certain aggression and a sense of fun. You might even call the GT elegant, which its ancestor was not, thus making a model that straddles the male/female divide.
Once again aimed primarily at the US, it is also available in Europe, though since this American-made car is not made with right-hand drive it is sadly not available in Britain and Australia. ‘Are we bothered?’ say the Brits pensively. I think they should be. For little more money than the already legendary Mazda MX-5, the GT is a slightly bigger, slightly faster, slightly more comfortable and equally fun car. The finish is first-class and the interior decorated in the combination of leather, steel and black lacquered plastic that makes Mazda’s RX-7 so enticing. And don’t be put off by the fact that it rolls out of an American factory, as this is every bit a racy European roadster, complete with a 2-litre direct injection turbocharged Ecotec engine that produces 260bhp and about 230km/h.
Still somewhat reminiscent of a Corvette (today’s, that is), the GT is no tribute band, but a classy act that may be inspired by a classic but is totally up to date. While it may lack raw aggression and nastiness for some, those who can’t afford to have a spare racing car will find this a highly rewarding compromise – and a stylish one to boot. Oh, and did I mention it’s a soft-top?
