share on BufferThe Astra GTC was designed and developed at Opel’s International Technical Development Center in Rüsselsheim and is produced in Gliwice, Poland.
The design is strongly based on the GTC Paris Concept revealed at the 2010 Paris Motor Show.
The video below features a presentation of the design by Opel Chief Designer Andrew Dyson, as well as a test on the challenging roads of Wales, UK, which underline the behavior of the chassis, with the high-tech front suspension with High Performance Strut (HiPerStrut) and the fully-adaptive FlexRide control system.
Below we report the official design story of the car.
Exterior Design
The Astra GTC has a unique design: it does not share any exterior element with other members of the Astra family, except for the outside rear view mirror housing and the rod antenna.
Compared to the five-door Astra, the ride height of the GTC is lowered by 15 mm while the basic dimensions of the chassis slightly increase.
Due to extended control arms in the rear, the wheelbase grows by 10 mm, from 2,685 to 2,695 mm. Both tracks are wider, at 1,584 mm (+ 40 mm) in front and 1,588 mm (+ 30 mm) in the rear.
This allows for the accommodation of sporty wheels with enhanced tire diameter, which improve both stability, road stance and visual impact.
Six of the seven 17- to 20-inch wheel designs on offer are also GTC-only features.
“We wanted the Astra GTC to be the ultimate expression of Opel’s design language ‘sculptural artistry meets German precision’ and to embody our passion for the automobile,” says Mark Adams, Vice President, Opel/Vauxhall Design.
“However, we did not want emotion to overshadow functionality: the Astra GTC is a clever and affordable dream car.”
In profile, the designers have maximized drama by limiting the amount of lines: just three create tension and sculpt the shape of the Astra GTC. A fine, crisp line that sweeps downward from the front door to the bottom of the rear fender and energizes the body side, the Opel signature blade is introduced in the same direction as in the Insignia.
A second line encapsulates the door handle and stretches to the rear, emphasizing the GTC’s dramatic stance by spreading the surfaces to a fine undercut and a broad shoulder.
The third line following the clean, sporty silhouette of the roof is finished in chrome and accentuates the window graphic, which guides the eye to the sharply integrated spoiler.
The clean front features Opel’s typical centerline crease and is accented by intense, slim eagle-eye designed headlamps featuring “wing-shaped” daytime running light graphics. These act as parentheses around the refined chrome emblem bar and the separate, dramatic trapezoidal grille, which is placed lower for a race track feel that hints at a sporty character.
The shoulder section is the most dramatic area of the Astra GTC. Its powerful design gives the car imposing proportions and a very purposeful road presence in highlighting its low, wide road-holding stance.
The line from the C-pillar slides into the tail and curls around into the rear spoiler, which is ingeniously integrated into the continuing roof line. Optional LEDs highlight the stretched “wing-shaped” motif of the tail lamps.
(Source: Opel)
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