Opels new GT Hints at Sky Red Line
If you were a child of the 60s, the Opel GT was a car that probably stood out in your mind. It was 1968 when the first of these quirky little fastback-targa coupes with pop-up headlamps came off the boat from Germany, and they were the complete opposite of the kind of vehicles that parent company General Motors was selling at the time. And while it pint-sized inline-four was no match for the 454-cubic inch monsters that it was sold alongside in Buick dealerships, over 70,000 of these were sold in North America, making it Opels best-selling vehicle. And while the Opel brand name died a rather premature death in North America by 1973, the name of the sporty coupe continues to live on with enthusiasts.
Today, Opel lives on in North America - and not just on the jerseys of AC Milan soccer (er... football) fans - a good number of the vehicles that can be purchased in GM dealerships have been influenced significantly by GMs European division. Cars like the Cadillac Catera and the Saturn L-Series sedan were Opel vehicles, reworked to American tastes, while others, like the Chevrolet Malibu, Saab 9-3, Pontiac G6, Chevy Cobalt and Pontiac Pursuit utilize platforms developed in conjunction with Opel and other GM brands. And, if youre up on GMs global operations, it should come as little surprise that many of the up and coming Saturns, such as the midsize Aura sedan and forthcoming Outlook crossover, have similar styling cues that can be traced back to Russelsheim, Germany.
To the delight of enthusiasts around the world, Opel has announced that it will be bringing the GT name back to life, and remarkably, itll be sold in North America; although it wont be sold as an Opel. Instead, it will bear a tiny red square badge, as the GT is the forthcoming Saturn Sky Red Line model.
On first look, it makes perfect sense - aside from the lightning bolt Opel badge, and a few reworked details such as cornering lamps integrated into the bumpers, the GT is a spitting image of the Sky, and as such, should provide us with a crystal-ball look at what the Sky Red Line will look like.
Like the Solstice GXP, the GT hides its muscles, but theyre in even plainer clothes; the only new addition to the GT from the standard Sky is a second exhaust pipe in its lower fascia.
The Opel GT features many of the performance traits were introduced oas part of the Solstice GXP at this years L.A. auto show, which include GMs new, highly advanced 2.0-liter four-cylinder, lag-less turbocharged engine with direct injection. With 260-horsepower and 260 lb-ft of torque driven through a five-speed manual, the Opel GT reaches 60 mph in less than six seconds before blasting to a top speed of 230 km/h (143 mph). Thats a whole lot faster than the old car could ever muster - even with a 454 cubic inch V8 heart transplant. In terms of power, thats not only enough to surpass the GTs current contemporary in the Opel Range, the mid-engined Speedster as well as the very fast, very quick, Turbo version. The GT should also make an excellent corner carver, as it features near perfect weight distribution, a wide track, plus grippy 18-inch wheels and tires.
Because the GT is essentially a Saturn, it would only make sense that General Motors build it on the same Delaware assembly line that constructs the Sky and Solstice. And such is the case, making it the only European-market Opel to be built in America. After its launch in Geneva in a few weeks time, Europeans will have to play the waiting game; dealers wont be taking delivery of the vehicle until this time, next year.
But what about those of us who live on the continent of North America? Chances are that Saturn will unveil the Sky Red Line at the New York Auto Show this May, and on our roads by summer. If the Solstices stellar sales are any indication of what lies ahead for the Sky, Saturn dealers had better get their order books prepped for a deluge of new customers.