The Opel GT is an iconic vehicle for the brand with cult followings in Europe, and in the United States. Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky owners continue to the carry the torch for the once-reimagined GT, especially in GXP and Red Line variants. Needless to say, it’s a beloved nameplate.
But, Opel CEO, Dr. Karl-Thomas Neumann, recently dropped a few hints about what we can expect to see at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show next March, and Autobild thinks the world will be graced with a third-generation Opel GT.
Previous reports detailed the likelihood of a new Opel GT, and also pegged a concept to be shown at the 2016 Geneva Show.
Neumann stated the company will introduce a “real highlight at the Geneva Motor Show” and continued to say, “which you probably would not have expect from us.”
The inclusion of the final part leads us to believe this will not be a mainstream concept, and likely be something much more niche. If rumors are true, expect heavy influence from the Opel Monza show car, with structures based around the 2016 Opel Astra K.
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If this is the case, we might get a sneak peek at the Buick Velite. It’s anyone’s guess whether it will have a convertible variant. If so, that puts the Cascada’s future into question.
Pontiac’s Solstice had the same problem that dates back to when John DeLorean was running Pontiac in that how good of a sports car would you be allowed to build under the General Motors hierarchy without being a direct challenge or alternative to Chevrolet’s Corvette and it’s true now.. as would General Motors build a CTS-V or ATS-V that can out perform Chevy’s Corvette Z06?
One has to look at the underpinnings as to what Opel will use as their starting point for the new Opel GT and whether the LTG turbocharged 2.0L 4-cyl be the Opel GT’s top engine.
Sorry, but I think the Solstice and Sky were perfect. Wagoner and Lutz approved breaking a lot of rules to make those cars.
The only “grudge” I have was that the Stage 2 tune wasn’t rated/crafted more realistically (300 hp) out of fear that admitting the Solstice GXP was a stock sub-5.0-able car would have put it in too much competition with Corvette. The only feature that I know of that was really axed, was Launch Control, as that was ready for Delta/Kappa, but not for Corvette until 2010.
(And that is why you can Launch Control a HHR, but not a Solstice/Sky – Same ECU on both cars, I’m hacking Remote Start on my Sky right now using the HHR wire maps… and some programming help from WAMS).
I think that had those cars survived the Great Recession, they would have been profitable to (or at least broken-even by) 2014, when a smaller Alpha platform could have continued them.
Looks like a rehash of the Sky and the Solstice which we will never get here in the US which is sad. Those were pretty cool and sick in LS swap trim.
If Opel takes this into production, it will arrive here as a Buick. Regardless of name.
But it won’t be a Corvette-framed Turbo-4. It’s likely to be a torque-vectoring AWD D2XX, at best. And at worst, a FWD Focus RS rival.
Maybe I’m missing something Chris so please forgive me but I highly doubt any opel, buick, or otherwise would ever be “Corvette-framed” so I’m not understanding your point. Looking at the pics posted below of what appears to be an opel event, I’ll be damned if those cars don’t appear to be the offspring of a sky/solstice union of sorts and they do look good. JMHO. If it does come to the US, I hope whatever badge it wears doesn’t price it out of a realistic realm and I believe there is a market under Chevy but time will tell I suppose.
Opel is now globally aligned with Buick and Holden. It’s highly unlikely we would see a Chevy variant.
The Kappa platform (Solstice and Sky and 2nd-gen Opel GT) was derived from the Corvette frame, with unibody frame rails (horizontally, on the front and rear of the frame) adding safety to the shrunken spaceframe.
The new Opel GT won’t use any of that. But based on Buick continuing to pursue Velite, there’s a high likelihood that either Opel GT or Monza will replace Solstice and Sky in the vein of the drop-top, un-Corvette, un-pony sports car. My hope, and I think the hope of many, is that it is the Opel GT that becomes Velite, with an LTG replacing the preceding Opel GT’s LNF, and AWD, rear-biasing Haldex atop D2XX replacing Kappa’s RWD.
The point being, Opel can create a budget roadster that replaces the Opel GT, Solstice, and Sky. The only question is if they will.
The alternative is that Velite becomes a Monza convertible. Expensive and Audi A7/6-series-fighting. Not what most of us here would prefer.
cascada is totaly different class. do not panic. so many different car classis . opel karl-opel adam-opel corsa-opel meriva- opel tigra-opel gt-opel zafira-opel astra-opel insignia………………………………………………….
10 different car classis.
not so old GT treffen
speedster treffen
this not so bad. Irmscher is offisal opel tuner sport division and old days irmscher has price list to opel car dealers different car models.
He says it will be “unexpected” which suggests to me Alpha RWD. Probably a hot hatch, but maybe a coupe.
I expect this to be a sportscar with touring in mind. This will be sport but not in a Corvette kind of way but more Audi TT and the lower end BMW sports car.
This too fits the Buick White Space program as with it being an Opel and Holden it can also be a Buick in smaller volumes that globally add up to make it practical to build and sell like the Miata. At a little higher price it can also be a better car.
The Alpha could be a starting point but could they have a smaller platform ready. The Alpha was too big to do the small coupe they wanted to do could GM finally have a RWD sub Alpha?
Highly unlikely. A FWD D2XX or E2XX with torque-vectoring AWD (either at launch or eventually) is far more likely. This is consistent with Bob Lutz’s exit remarks that AWD would eventually replace RWD. See Focus RS.
It’s also possible Monza and Opel GT are one and the same. Monza was the concept, and Opel GT is the production car, on that line of thinking. That also would fulfill Holden’s always-will-have-a-V8-car promise, with a V8 option specifically for Oz.
I don’t think they are the same car, however. If I had to bet (and I am not gambling on this one), I would bet that Monza is going to co-exist with Opel GT, with Opel GT being the D2XX performance budget car (competing with Focus RS) – possibly with a drop-top (Velite), and the Monza being E2XX, serving as the BMW 6-series fighter, with a V8 on the Holden version.
Considering the similarities in forward links that Delta and Epsilon have always shared, and moreso now with D2XX/E2XX, the same advanced Haldex AWD system could provide a rear-bias in sport mode on both cars.
Funny you should mention the Saturn Sky, because this looks virtually identical to it.
I don’t know what size that Buick Casacads Car is Really Supposed to be Like the Size of the Old Firebird/ Camaro Car? A Four Passenger Car and Tiny?Because Whatever Those Pictures Are Trying To Tell You It’s Far Different When You See The Actual Car In Person. The Width and Length of The Whole Car Reminds You Of That Personal Midsize 1975 Chevy Monte Carlo Before The Downside One Came Out And It had its distinctive look from the Pontiac Grand Prix where the Grand Prix was much taller and formal sedan style that’s how much bigger casacads appear to be its a bigger convertible for four adults.