Opel unveiled a stunning concept car at last week’s Frankfurt International Motor Show: the Opel Monza Concept. It’s a name that carries some familiarity to Opel fans from the 1980s in South Africa. This Monza should not be confused with the South African Opel Monza, which was a saloon version of the Opel Kadett E. The Kadett E was introduced in 1984 and a conventional three-box design with a boot launched in 1985.
But that old Monza seems like a distant memory when you take in the German manufacturers latest design expression. Of course the financially troubled Opel is keen to present fresh products and convincing designs at its home motor show, and judging the Opel Monza on merit, it’s certainly achieved that.
A long-bonneted, low, sleek, four-seat concept ‘sport brake’ (aka shooting brake, aka sports wagon), replete with gullwing doors that put one immediately in mind of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, helps create a flowing vehicle that you could simply stare at for hours. Of course, because it’s a modern concept car, it must have a hybrid drivetrain and the Opel Monza Concept is no different. This car is a hybrid-electric and it makes use of Opel’s basic plug-in hybrid setup as found in the Chevrolet Volt and Opel Ampera. That’s to say it has a turbo SiDi 1.0-litre 3-cylinder petrol engine that acts as a range extender when the battery runs itself dry.
The Opel Monza Concept also employs Opel’s modular chassis design and it can therefore accommodate petrol, diesel, CNG (compressed natural gas) or hybrid-electric power. The Opel Monza is 4.7 m long, 1.3 m high, four-seat cockpit structure is around 15 cm lower than a conventional car and it has a massive boot volume of 500 litres but we wonder if it’ll accommodate a massive V8?
Opel say the Monza Concept is a car that will have a long-term impact on the next generation of Opel models. Styling wise we can identify the boomerang-shaped air intakes at the front of the wheel arches; the chrome bar in the front grille; the powerful lines over the A-pillar; the rakish crease down the bonnet centreline and the huge, turbine-like alloy wheels as elements we’d like to see carried into production Opels in the future.
