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Opel Insignia Grand Sport OPC Rendering Is Credit to the Original Design

Opel must be feeling pretty confident right now. The brand has gone through some rather difficult years lately after failing to find a brand identity to diferentiate it from the rest of the pack, but those worries seem to be gone.
Opel Insignia Grand Sport OPC rendering 1 photo
Photo: X-Tomi
If twenty years ago its only real competitor was Volkswagen, now it has to deal with the emerging South Korean brands (Kia and Hyundai) that have grown exponentially over the past decade or so, and there were times when the Russelsheim manufacturer failed to keep up.

Even so, the Insignia model - launched way back in 2008 at the British International Motor Show - helped by its long lifespan, managed to sell over 900,000 units. That's quite a lot for a mid-sized sedan that, let's face it, has been outdated for at least one-quarter of its existence.

The thing that kept people interested in the first-gen Insignia was its exterior design, no doubt about it. The lines of its body proved to be timeless, and with help from a facelift, the Insignia somehow managed to remain relevant while other competitors were presenting new generations of their products.

Now, Opel launched the second iteration, and this model also gained the sufix "Grand Sport." It may seem like nothing more than a gimmick, but the truth is that the new Insignia does have a much sportier alure. So much so, in fact, that trying to imagine the OPC (Opel Performance Center) version left X-Tomi with very little to work with.

The only modifications made to the car are a slightly tuned front bumper, a black radiator grille ornament that makes it look larger, a different, hexagonal mesh, and sporty sideskirts. It would take a keen eye to set these two cars apart.

That, of course, just goes to show how aggressively the standard Insignia Grand Sport was drawn. Its design manages to fuse the usual Teutonic rigoeur with the kind of emotional lines we've seen in recent Japanese models such as the Mazda6. That means the Opel Insignia Grand Sport might appeal to those who can't seem to decide on either of the two, and you'd be surprised to know what a generous fraction of the market these people account for.

Opel has been quite secretive when it came to the new Insignia's powertrains, so you can imagine it hasn't whispered a thing about the OPC's. This model could mark the moment when Opel downsizes to a four-cylinder unit, but our money would still be on a turbo V6.
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About the author: Vlad Mitrache
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"Boy meets car, boy loves car, boy gets journalism degree and starts job writing and editing at a car magazine" - 5/5. (Vlad Mitrache if he was a movie)
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