Design Development: Opel GT concept

Grabbing motor show headlines hasn’t been Opel’s thing in recent years. Apart from the well-received Monza concept in 2013, it’s been quietly getting on with revamping its production range from Corsa to Astra. But Geneva 2016 was different, with the its striking GT concept not just making the news but arguably stealing the show.

In a sea of supercars, the deceptively diminutive front-mid-engined rear-wheel drive two-seater – at only 1180mm high and 3850mm long – charmed all the design professionals we chatted to at the Swiss show, not only for its boldly beltline-bereft exterior, but also for its simple but striking interior.

Exterior

As Friedhelm Engler, GM Europe’s advanced design director and project leader for the concept GT begins: “It’s not a car for the Nürburgring. Under 1000kg and with a turbocharged three-cylinder 1.0-litre petrol engine it’s about efficiency – which is a sweet approach.”

Tri-tone colourway emerged early in the design process

The project started in the summer of 2014 with the celebration of 50 years since Opel (and GM sister brand Vauxhall) opened design studios in 1964 – Opel’s in Rüsselsheim, Germany and Vauxhall’s in Luton, England. The significant move made GM the first major carmaker with dedicated design studios in Europe.

Sketch clearly inspired by Apple iPod ads

The GT Experimental concept was the first fruit from Opel’s Rüsselsheim studio and presented at the 1965 Frankfurt motor show. A clay model of the original was recreated – as the original had been demolished – and became an inspiration for the current design team. However, Engler was alert to merely copying the past. “It’s such an easy trap to make a retro show car by taking a few details from the old model,” he explains, “but we had input from the team leader for the original ‘60s GT, Erhard Schnell. I worked with him in the early 1990s before he retired and we’ve kept in touch. He’s 88-years-old now but still super-sharp and was part of the new design committee.”

Sketch with the colour-keyed red front tyres

Unlike many other early cars’ design phases involving lots of sketches and internal competitions, the GT started very differently. “For the first few months we deliberately designed the car without even sketching it,” says Engler.

Later sketch by assistant chief designer, exterior, Martin Schaufler

Instead, his Rüsselsheim team spent time thinking about a car you could live with everyday. And one of the key findings to such usability was creating a good feeling for the cabin in a city setting. “You don’t want the car’s beltline around your eyeline in an urban environment. So that’s when we thought about eliminating the beltline altogether and came up with the dot matrix [body-coloured] approach for the windows and a nice position for the armrest – that became the GT’s windowline. It was an interior-led approach.”

Ilse’s sketch alternatives

Beyond the chosen exterior theme with the red graphic signature line highlighting the roof and dividing the car horizontally, an alternative exterior theme sketch was made by Boris Ilse (who also worked on the interior) in autumn 2014 with a yellow graphic line which divided the car vertically, from front-to-back.

Design review with design director Mark Adams

By the time two scale models were made, the red-line sketch with body-coloured windows was the theme established. The only major differences visible in the grille and headlamp treatments were, says Engler, “mainly to explore different facial expressions, from more friendly, to more serious, and also slightly different executions of sections, surfacing and detailing”.

Single full-size model under construction

The photograph of the design review shows Boris Ilse’s model in the foreground and Martin Schaufler’s at the rear while Mark Adams, Boris Jacob (chief designer, advanced design concept), Friedhelm Engler and Holger Weyer (chief designer, advanced strategy) look on and ponder options.

GT concept on display at the 2016 Geneva motor show

Only one full-size exterior model was then developed with red front tyres, a detail especially developed by supplier Hankook, and, according to the press release, inspired by a 1920s Opel Motoclub 500 motorbike sporting similar-coloured rubber.

Interior

Part of the magic of the GT is its feeling of being small on the outside but big on the inside – and it’s partly been achieved by making the car’s exterior wide and the doors thin. “We moved the glass out by 8-10cm to give greater width at the shoulder where it’s two fingers shy of what you’d get in an Insignia. That makes the car feel very big. But it’s a tailored fit around the car’s waist, where at its narrowest, it is only 1560mm, compared to 1680mm elsewhere.”

Sketch showing the fixed side windows and their overall form

Fixed side windows help the design too, due to fewer mechanical and electronic parts being required, and so allowing the doors to be much slimmer. Despite current-day problems at toll booths and in a few other scenarios, Engler believes such window-opening practicalities will soon be less of an issue with digital pay-in-advance apps. He also wanted a super-simple approach in keeping with the car’s purity of concept.

Original GT’s cabin used for inspiration

The gently twisting IP top evolved from a similarly minimalist strategy. “We really didn’t sketch the IP, there was a mental model,” Engler recounts. “It was literally the ‘trailer’ sketch to sell to the management that we kept. The negative shape of the dash came from the [original] GT, and the cutaway space helped in the knee area. 1970s cars were like that. Without a touchscreen you don’t need the IP so close – and we have voice control on the new GT. The panoramic roof helps with the feeling of space too.”

Retro-inspired steering wheel

Further nods to the ’70s are revealed in the negative (concave) space of the deep dish steering wheel and in the two holes in its south-facing spoke – although as Engler points out, the original GT never had such holes. This element, as well as the circular corner monitors that ape the look of air vents, are only a homage to the old car’s era.

Materials board for the GT interior took inspiration from sportswear

In contrast, the inspiration for the seat upholstery was more modern. Says Engler: “We didn’t want leather and stitching, but technical sportswear fabrics that could wick sweat and be stronger in some places and softer in others, and that wouldn’t look like racing seats.” Even the red and black colour and trim was nailed down from the start. “We tested some other colours, but from ‘day one’ the red helped define the car and its proportions.”

Dash sketch

After the data-driven concept development in Rüsselsheim, the main concept execution was by GM’s Holden team in Australia and took place roughly from the summer of 2015 until Christmas of that same year. An extra (and early) seating buck was made just for the cabin before the interior development buck to prove accessibility and space.

Mark Adams samples the GT interior mockup

GM Europe design director Mark Adams was involved in the process. “He’s tall,” adds Engler, “so it was important that he could fit in it and get out of the car in style. With many sports cars you can’t.”

Interior clay model

Despite the extra logistics and co-ordination required for a build halfway across the world on another continent, Engler says the math-driven approach paid off. “Why Australia? It a question of expertise,” he says. “They build a lot of show cars for GM in the US and whatever they deliver is top-notch. Our task was to have the car ready for Christmas as we wanted to control the photos, which were done in sunny Australia, not rainy Rüsselsheim.”

Finished Opel GT interior

The finished cabin looks simple, but it houses many cool details upon further investigation. Viewed from above, the exposed CNC’d brushed aluminium IP structural part looks almost like a propellor. Protruding from it are two traditional-looking screen dials, that are actually projected surfaces that can be backlit in different colours and display information in 3D – as a development of the HMI shown on the 2013 Monza concept.

GT’s rear-view camera screens

Other intriguing design features – which look like fairly regular air vents on the left and right of the IP – are in fact circular image monitors transmitting pictures from the external rear-view cameras to assist the driver to see what’s behind.

Images shows front shutline of the door is actually the wheelarch

Elsewhere, to help ingress and egress, the doors open using a patented mounting that allows them to create a wide space that still works in tight spaces. To reduce exterior shutlines the doors and the part of the fender behind the front wheel are all of a piece (appearing to hinge ahead of the A-pillar and in front of the A-surface). Door handles don’t blemish the exterior either, replaced by touchpads in the red-accented cant rails on either side to work the electric doors.

The Opel GT, basking in some Aussie sunshine

Overall, the concept sent a very positive message about Opel’s design skills and aspirations. The only negative comment heard among the Geneva critics was whether the GT was merely an escapist distraction to make up for the lack of a major new production vehicle. Putting this accusation to Engler made him pause but then give this considered reply: “My business response, is wait and see. We’ve surprised people before.” Which is an intriguing answer. Meanwhile, we’ll have to do just that.

Opel GT

Vehicle type Concept/sports car
Length 3850mm
Width 1680mm
Height 1180mm
Wheelbase 2483mm

Design director Mark Adams
Overall team leader Friedhelm Engler
Chief designer Boris Jacob
Assistant chief designer, exterior Martin Schaufler
Assistant chief designer, interior Borris Ilse
Assistant chief designer, colour and trim Jeanette Finger
Design manager, execution Aaron Deneweth
Lead designer, execution Ewan Kingsbury

Project started June 2014
Project completed December 2015
First seen Geneva motor show/March 2016