Joined
·
7,610 Posts
What are the differences between these cars? Is the Opel and Vauxhall the same car?
Also, is Opel and Vauxhall owned by GM? There was an article in Car & Driver that said a Saturn Roadster may be modeled after the Vauxhall. So, I imagine the Pontiac Solistic is also a Vauxhall derivative?
If so, then we'd have several car based on the same principle design:
Lotus Elise;
Vauxhall VX220;
Opel Speedster;
Pontiac Solist; and
Saturn Roadster.
Also, is Opel and Vauxhall owned by GM? There was an article in Car & Driver that said a Saturn Roadster may be modeled after the Vauxhall. So, I imagine the Pontiac Solistic is also a Vauxhall derivative?
If so, then we'd have several car based on the same principle design:
Lotus Elise;
Vauxhall VX220;
Opel Speedster;
Pontiac Solist; and
Saturn Roadster.
http://www.caranddriver.com/article.asp?section_id=29&article_id=8223&page_number=1Saturn’s Stable Filling Up
By Tony Quiroga
July 2004
Over the next 30 months, Saturn plans to double its portfolio with an onslaught of new product. By 2006, the GM division should have six choices in the stable, one of which will be a roadster based on GM’s Kappa architecture. The Saturn two-seat roadster will essentially be the Vauxhall VX Lightning seen at the Frankfurt show last fall. Saturn gets the sharp-angled Vauxhall design to avoid European pedestrian laws that mandate a bunch of clearance between the hood and the top of the engine. Since Pontiac’s Solstice will be ready before the new regulations take effect, it can be sold unchanged in 2006. Thus, Opel will get a version of the Solstice, and Vauxhall gets a right-hand-drive version a year later. By launching the Opel version of the Solstice in 2005, Vauxhall will be able to avoid the new law because the right-hand-drive Vauxhall will be considered an evolution of the “Opel Solstice.”
The as-yet-unnamed Saturn roadster will be mechanically identical to the Solstice but will sport interior and exterior styling extremely close to that of the VX Lightning concept. Expect two other products from Saturn in 2006, an Epsilon-based mid-size sedan and a larger-than-Vue SUV based on a new and as-yet-unnamed platform.