The Opel Frogster was a

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle or show vehicle) is a car made to showcase new styling or new technology. Concept cars are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not ...

built by

Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...

in 2001. It premiered at the September 2001

Frankfurt Motor Show The International Motor Show Germany or International Mobility Show Germany, in German known as the ''Internationale Automobil-Ausstellung'' (''IAA'' – International Automobile Exhibition), is one of the world's largest mobility trade fairs. I ...

. The Frogster could be transformed from a

convertible A convertible or cabriolet () is a Car, passenger car that can be driven with or without a roof in place. The methods of retracting and storing the roof vary across eras and manufacturers. A convertible car's design allows an open-air drivin ...

to a roadster or a

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a Truck_classification#Table_of_US_GVWR_classifications, light or medium duty truck that has an enclosed cabin (truck), cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (th ...

by using a built in PDA, which was mounted between the two front seats. The Frogster was mainly targeted towards younger buyers. There have never been and are still currently no plans for the Frogster to be released as a production vehicle.

Technology

The Opel Frogster boasted a lot of new technology not yet used by any production automobile. It featured a PDA between the two front seats, that could be used to control most of the functions of the car. It is also unusual, this being in that it could literally transform the car into three different body styles.

Heritage

The Opel Frogster was named from an early

model from the 1920s called the " Laubfrosch". The Laubfrosch was nicknamed the "Tree Frog" by the younger crowd, because of its bright green colour. When

designers were thinking of creating a new concept car, they were excited by the new

Opel Speedster The Opel Speedster is a mid-engined, targa-topped, two-seat sports car produced by German automaker Opel from July 2000 to July 2005. It was built in both RHD and LHD versions at the Lotus Cars plant in Hethel, Norfolk, England. It was prese ...

. While thinking of creating the look of the new

, someone called out to "paint it green and call it the Frogster".

References

External links

Automotive Intelligence Opel Frogster Article
{{Opel Frogster