Vauxhall and Opel have revealed their vision of the sports car of the future. The GT Concept has ultra-sleek black and grey styling, with red highlights. Despite its forward-thinking design, it draws inspiration from the 1966 Vauxhall XVR and the 1965 Opel Experimental GT.
"In the mid-Sixties, Vauxhall and Opel created their own interpretations of a lightweight sports car - the XVR and the Experimental GT - both of which were thoroughly modern with dynamic sculptural forms," says Mark Adams, Vice president of design in Europe for Opel and Vauxhall. "It's certainly difficult to reinvent iconic concepts like these, but just as each was avant-garde back then, so too is this GT Concept today – absolutely pure, minimalistic, yet bold and uncompromising."
In addition to being called avant-garde, the GT Concept is also described as purebred and pared-down. It has no door handles, with access to the car instead granted via a touchpad. Large doors extend forward to the front wheels, opening into the arches, and have seamlessly integrated side windows. The windscreen, meanwhile, flows back into a glass roof.
Side mirrors have also been done away with. Instead, two cameras mounted behind the wheel arches are used to provide visibility. Images from the cameras are relayed to monitors in the cabin. Elsewhere, integrated headlamp / indicator units have what Vauxhall calls a "three-dimensional beam," that is said to allow for glare-free high-beam driving.
The Concept GT is rear-wheel drive with a front-mid engine configuration. It has a six-speed sequential transmission operated by paddles on the steering-wheel. The car is powered by a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder turbocharged engine that kicks out 145 PS (143 hp) and a maximum torque of 205 Nm (151 ft-lb). This allows it to accelerate from 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in under eight seconds and top out at 134 mph (216 km/h).
The Concept GT will debut at the Geneva International Motor Show in March.
Source: Vauxhall
