Classic pearls of the future - Opel Speedster
10/08/2014
In March 1999, Opel presented a car at the Geneva Motor Show that didn't quite fit in with the rest of the range. The Opel Speedster was rustic and minimalist and did not deny its close relationship to the successful Lotus Elise . Visually, the two-seater with its aluminum chassis and plastic body was clearly trimmed in the Opel direction, but the equipment and space as well as the tare construction remained almost unchanged from the Lotus.
At least the Opel people gave their new baby ABS and an airbag, which the Lotus had to do without at the time. And, of course, they installed the newly available Opel Ecotec 2.2-liter engines with 147 hp, which also had more torque than the smaller (Rover K) engines of the Elise to counter the slightly higher curb weight compared to the Lotus.
With the Opel four-cylinder, it was possible to achieve decent performance (0 to 100 km/h in under six seconds). With the addition of the turbo engine in 2003, the Speedster's performance increased to 200 hp. Incidentally, as a Vauxhall, the car was called the VX 220 and the last of these mid-engined sports cars was produced for this sister brand in 2005.
A total of 7207 cars with Opel or Vauxhall badges left the Lotus factory in Hethel. They were and are loved by their owners, and thanks to their robust construction, the number is only slowly decreasing.
They had already become a classic when the indirect successor called the Opel GT was presented in 2007, which was traditionally designed as a close relative of the e Pontiac Solstice and the Saturn Sky. However, with 7519 vehicles sold, this sports car was hardly any more successful than its incomparable predecessor.
Other more or less controversial classic gems can be found in the dedicated theme channel on Zwischengas.
