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Opel GTC Concept

A toothy Geneva concept lays the groundwork for Opels and Saturns of the future.

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By Jared Gall

Saturn showrooms have been looking much better these days, thanks to GM’s European Opel brand, whose cars have been showing up on our shores badged as Saturns. The Saturn Sky is an Opel GT, the Saturn Astra is an Opel Astra, and the Saturn Aura is blessed with some underpinnings and styling inspiration from the Opel Vectra. But as innovative and edgy as Opel styling is for Saturn, in Europe, this look is old hat.

Enter the GTC, a concept that previews the look of the next round of Opels, the Vectra in particular. Judging from the low-slung 2+2, future Opels will have a stronger, more upright nose, with a smiling pentagonal grille like those found on new Mazdas. A pair of fang-like vertical intakes flanking the grille feed air to the concept’s 295-hp turbocharged V-6, but would look overly aggressive on a road-going sedan, like a nun with a skull-and-crossbones tattoo. Ditto the muscular fender bulges and pinched greenhouse. Likely, the intakes are there to emphasize the new style’s nose, which sets the grille forward of the headlights on a prominent beak that emerges from the hood’s raised center section much like the 2008 Chevrolet Malibu.

The coupe concept’s sweeping, fastback roofline suggests that the next Vectra will get a more aggressive greenhouse and a bobbed trunk, while the thick C-pillar and notched rear window mean that plenty of trunk space will remain behind the back seats. Angular, oversized taillamps are a virtual carry-over from the current Vectra and Saturn Aura, while the trunklid retains Opel’s signature vertical crease. Massive, stylized exhaust tips integrated into the bumper will give way to more demure tail pipes on production cars. Matte-metallic paint—a theme at the Geneva show this year—likely won’t reach showrooms anytime soon, as it can’t be washed without getting cloudy.

Stretch this concept a few inches and shorten the door to make room for another aft of it, squint, and you’ll be looking at the next generation Opel Vectra, which we expect will debut within a year. Given that the Saturn Aura is new for 2007, styling cues from this concept likely won’t appear in Saturn showrooms until 2010.