Classic pearls of the future - Opel GT, the second
08/28/2015
The new Opel GT, built between 2006 and 2010, was certainly not a great success due to its name. After all, Opel had shown with the first GT in the 1960s that you didn't have to wear a hat to drive a car from Rüsselsheim. "Only flying is more beautiful" was a much-used advertising slogan at the time.
However, the Opel GT did not have a successor when it left the production line for the last time in 1973. It would take until 2001 for a successor to emerge, at least in spirit. It was called the Opel Speedsterand was basically a Lotus Elise with Opel technology. It was discontinued in 2005 and again there was no direct successor.
In March 2006, Opel then presented the new GT at the Geneva Motor Show with a strong American touch. After all, the new GT was based on the Kappa platform from General Motors, which didn't necessarily bode ill, because with a front engine, rear-wheel drive and wheels individually suspended on double wishbones all round and an almost neutral weight distribution, you couldn't really go wrong.
A turbocharged four-cylinder engine was used.
264 hp had little trouble with the relatively high kerb weight of 1400 kg and the new GT was indeed a fun car to drive. It had to be, because it was an almost purebred fun car, after all it could not transport a whole family, a dog or a large week's shopping.
When the American plant where the platform was built was closed at the end of July 2009, the Opel GT's time was up. And once again, there was no successor in sight, with only 7519 units produced. This made the visually attractive GT a rarity and positioned it as an interesting collector's car of the future.
The fact that almost 110,000 vehicles were built together with the almost identical Pontiac Solstice and Saturn Sky should help in terms of parts availability.
