The Opel Tech 1 Concept was a research vehicle and

concept car A concept car (also known as a concept vehicle, show vehicle or prototype) is a car made to showcase new styling and/or new technology. They are often exhibited at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or ...

developed 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 ...

, a subsidiary of General Motors. It was exhibited at the 1981 International Motor Show Germany (IAA) in

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its ...

. The car was based on the fourth-generation Opel Kadett D and used the

platform Platform may refer to: Technology * Computing platform, a framework on which applications may be run * Platform game, a genre of video games * Car platform, a set of components shared by several vehicle models * Weapons platform, a system ...

, which was called the T Car. The vehicle was designed by Erhard Schnell., and foreshadowed some of the design language found on production Opel/Vauxhall cars released throughout the 1980s.

Body

The design targeted a peak of aerodynamics and reached a

drag coefficient In fluid dynamics, the drag coefficient (commonly denoted as: c_\mathrm, c_x or c_) is a dimensionless quantity that is used to quantify the drag or resistance of an object in a fluid environment, such as air or water. It is used in the drag e ...

of 0.235 c_w thanks in part to a panoramic

windshield The windshield (North American English) or windscreen (Commonwealth English) of an aircraft, car, bus, motorbike, truck, train, boat or streetcar is the front window, which provides visibility while protecting occupants from the elements. ...

. Some of the car's aerodynamic features made it into production form on both the 1984 Opel Kadett E and the 1986

Opel Omega The Opel Omega is an executive car engineered and manufactured by German automaker Opel between 1986 and 2004. The first generation, the Omega A (1986–1993), superseded the Opel Rekord. It was voted European Car of the Year for 1987, and ...

- most evidently its front end styling. The Tech 1's wheel design entered into mass production as an alloy wheel option on top-spec models of the Opel Rekord E2/Vauxhall Carlton.

Interior

All controls were push buttons. Only the

steering wheel A steering wheel (also called a driving wheel (UK), a hand wheel, or simply wheel) is a type of steering control in vehicles. Steering wheels are used in most modern land vehicles, including all mass-production automobiles, buses, light and ...

, gear lever and foot controls were conventional.

References

{{Opel Compact cars Tech 1 Car models