Automotive

Vauxhall's sleek GT Concept draws on the past for a vision of the future

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The GT Concept is described as purebred, pared-down and avant-garde
Vauxhall
The GT Concept draws inspiration from the 1966 Vauxhall XVR and the 1965 Opel Experimental GT
Vauxhall
The GT Concept's tail lamps have a three-dimensional design
Vauxhall
The GT Concept has large doors
Vauxhall
The GT Concept has red highlights
Vauxhall
The GT Concept has central dual exhausts
Vauxhall
The GT Concept features grey and black styling
Vauxhall
The GT Concept is described as purebred, pared-down and avant-garde
Vauxhall
The GT Concept is rear-wheel drive
Vauxhall
The GT Concept is powered by a 1.0-litre, three-cylinder turbocharged engine
Vauxhall
The GT Concept kicks out 145 PS (143 hp) and has a maximum torque of 205 Nm (151 ft-lb)
Vauxhall
The GT Concept has a low center of gravity to help with handling
Vauxhall
The doors of the GT Concept have seamlessly integrated side windows
Vauxhall
The GT Concept accelerates from 0-62 mph (0-100 km/h) in under eight seconds and tops out at 134 mph (216 km/h)
Vauxhall
The GT Concept does away with door handles
Vauxhall
The GT Concept is accessed via a touchpad
Vauxhall
The doors of the GT Concept open into the wheel arches
Vauxhall
The GT Concept has a long bonnet
Vauxhall
View gallery - 17 images

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.

The GT Concept kicks out 145 PS (143 hp) and has a maximum torque of 205 Nm (151 ft-lb)
Vauxhall

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

View gallery - 17 images
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10 comments
Bob Flint
Doubt the slick door/side window will get approved due to regulations against heavy or any tint on side windows. Shame about the twin A-holes at the back, should have been an all electric. The red rubber is not particularly long lasting unless they have invented some UV resistant additives.
Daishi
It wouldn't be a bad looking little car with a different color scheme (the silver window is strange to me). At 1.0 liters and 143 hp it would hopefully be cheaper than a Toyota FRS, Subaru BRZ, or Mazda Miata though.

LestonYearwood
eww. it's gas powered.
Stephen N Russell
Make Hybrid & Id drive this IE rent this vs own. Nice update, sleeker than orig but see those 1973 lines.
DavidB
Great lines!
Drop the never-make-it-past-concept red highlights, replace the steering WHEEL with something ROUND, give it a punchy electric motor with decent range, and then you'd have something that'd sell.
Bob Ehresman
Nought to 60 in 8. WITH turbo.
Ah well. I thought for a moment GM had a successor to the Solstice from the same design shop.
Dont let your waxed string get swallowed by the cat.
Love my GXP!
Don Duncan
As I have been saying for about a decade, a serious "concept" gives the two fundamentals: curb weight and drag coefficient. If not, I don't take it serious. I have not been proven wrong, e.g., none of these concept cars ever make it to production.
Sure looks good on paper though.
Tom Lee Mullins
I think that is really nice looking.
DomainRider
Looks pretty, but you can't open the windows, and if your windscreen is cracked, you have to replace the whole roof too...
Lbrewer42
Why do these companies keep making cars they know will never go into production?
I love the look, but practical? No way. One stray hit from a rock to the windshield and the entire roof also needs replaced!? No ability to roll down a window?
When I was a kid in the late 80s, concept cars were also very cool looking. But 50 years later they still don't make/sell anything near the cool looking vehicles we were led to think was coming our way when we were old enough to drive. Instead we all have the same looking, little streamlined blobs. Let;s either go forward at last or else go back to the real cars of the 50s (before my time also).
Thankfully its gas powered. Not everyone lives in a city.