The Opel GT Concept Is A Pretty Coupe WIth A Tiny Engine

As well as lots of cool new cars, the looming Geneva Motor Show means outlandish concepts. Lots of outlandish concepts. Case in point? The new Opel GT concept, which has just been revealed.

Well, this one’s from the UK press release, so it’s actually badged as a Vauxhall through some Photoshop trickery. You might have already been able to tell from the pixels and from having seen a few ‘shops in your time.

Leaving virtual badge-engineering to one side, let’s take a look at what we have here. It’s a handsome-looking two-door coupe, and is awash with typically bonkers concept details. On the GT that takes the form of red front tyres (obviously), cameras in the place of conventional wing mirrors and a special coating on the front windows, making it look like the sides of the car are just big, uninterrupted expanses of metal.

What’s under the bonnet is a little less interesting than the striking exterior, as it’s a 1.0-litre turbocharged three-cylinder lump also found in the Adam, Corsa and Astra. “Ah!” I bet you’re thinking, “it’s going to be turbocharged to the nines, isn’t it?” Unfortunately not - it puts out a rather modest 144bhp - up from the standard engine’s 104bhp - making 0-62mph possible in just under eight seconds.

The 276bhp 2.0-litre engine from the Astra VXR/OPC might have made for some more entertaining figures - particularly as the GT weighs only 1000kg - but hey, it’s rear-wheel drive at least, with power sent to the rear non-red boots via a six-speed sequential gearbox.

So, does all this mean Opel is about to build a rear-wheel drive sports car? Most likely not. The gorgeous Monza concept - which partly influences the design of the GT - never amounted to anything, and Opel doesn’t have a rear-driven chassis in its armoury right now. Still, if you’re heading down to the Geneva Motor Show - where it’ll be on display from 3 March - it’ll be a pretty thing to go and gawp at.