The concept will be called GT, a name that Opel first used on a coupe that was launched in 1968 and briefly sold in the United States through Buick dealers. The GT was axed in 1973, but the moniker was dusted off in 2007 for Opel’s version of the Saturn Sky.
Opel’s next concept won’t share any styling cues with the topless model. Instead, it will be billed as a tribute to the original GT and its design will be loosely inspired by the Experimental GT concept (pictured) that the company presented at the 1965 Frankfurt Motor Show. The similarities between the two will be vague at best, and the coupe won’t feature a full-on retro-styled look like the Volkswagen Beetle.
The GT will ride on the same front-wheel drive platform as the new Golf-fighting Astra hatchback that was introduced a couple of months ago. Mechanically, it will be offered with three- and four-cylinder gasoline- and diesel-burning engines pulled out of the Opel parts bin. A manual transmission will come standard, and an automatic will be offered at an extra cost.
If the rumor turns out to be true, more details about Opel’s modern-day GT will emerge early next year. Designed to take on the Audi TT, the coupe is tentatively scheduled to go on sale in 2017, and British magazine Auto Express reports a convertible model aimed at the TT Roadster might land in 2018. Whether Buick will get its own version of the GT largely depends on how the public and the press reacts to the concept that will be shown in Switzerland.
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