The Paris Motor Show is just around the corner, with its arrival effectively kicking off the always exciting auto show season. Opel will likely be bringing the recently unveiled Corsa hatchback so the public and media can get familiar with the car in the flesh, but is it possible that the automaker has a secret ace up its sleeve?
Opel posted a rather lengthy and somewhat random media release today highlighting and looking back on the Calibra coupe unveiled at the 1989 Frankfurt Motor Show. The Calibra was ahead of its time with the best drag coefficient of any Opel production car at just 0.26 Cd, independent suspension, optional all-wheel drive and modern four-cylinder and V6 engines. It was affordable, too, costing just 33,900 German marks in 1990.
Upon production in 1990, the Calibra was offered with a 2.0-liter four cylinder entry-level engine producing 115 horsepower or a four-valve 2.0-liter engine with 150 horsepower. A 204 horsepower turbocharged version of the car was introduced in 1992 and paired the car’s advanced all-wheel drive system with a six-speed manual transmission. After seven years of production, a total of 238,647 Calibras had been built, with the strongest markets being Germany, the UK, Italy, Spain and France.
The Calibra sounds somewhat similar to the current Opel Cascada mid-size convertible. That car is front-wheel drive, available with a range of four-cylinder engines and offered with both a six-speed manual and six-speed automatic transmission. If Opel is planning to release a small front-wheel drive coupe or even a hardtop version of the Cascada in Paris, could they be teasing it by looking back at the Calibra? It should be noted that 2014 is the 25th anniversary of the Calibra, so the history lesson may be in commemoration of that milestone, but the timing of the release leaves us a little suspicious.
Comments
And so I hope. I love this car!
All hail the German Camaro, albeit underpowered the AWD version was mislabeled “4×4” in big letters. It replaced the Manta, also a car driven mainly by Teutonic rednecks with long hair.
The pic doesn’t do it justice, actually a very seek looking car.
Agreed, I hadn’t given this car a proper look in a long time and it still looks great.
Vauxhall Calibra outlived it’s Opel counterpart & also posted it’s best sales figures in it’s final year, perhaps it should of lived on.
1990 +-years is grazy cars and very expensive and very high levels sportiest cars and super cars
calibra 110kw calibra 2.5 calibra turbo 4×4 150kw
vectra 2000 vectra turbo 4×4 150kw
astra gsi
corsa gsi
omega 24v -omega 3000 – omega evo500 – omega lotus- irmscher omega (caravan)
senator 24v- irmscher senator
This Opel news release was to celebrate the 25th anniversary of that car.
The Calibra is sort of dream car for many Opel fans, and is mentioned again and again by them.
I once saw an Opel Corsa (oder model) with this text on the rear window:
“When I’m grown up, I will be a Calibra”.
You might remember that Opel also featured their old KAD series with the new CEO K.T. Neumann driving a triplet of them thru the wider area around Rüsselsheim (KAD for Kapitän, Admiral, Diplomat).
PARIS MOTORSHOW
CORSA E
CALIBRA
OPEL VIVA