New Opel Astra GTC with Panorama Windshield

Press Release

View From Airplane Cockpit

• Innovative windshield design creates new sense of space and visibility
• Long, sweeping Solar-Protect windshield extends from hood into roof as far as B-pillar
• Clever shading system protects against strong sunlight

The new Opel Astra GTC with a panorama windshield creates a whole new sense of space and visibility. This innovative windshield makes its debut in a series vehicle and will be presented at the Paris Motor Show at the GTC world premiere. It offers driver and front seat passenger an almost unlimited field of vision, similar to the view from an airplane cockpit. The optional panorama windshield seamlessly extends from the hood up into the roof as far as the B-pillar. Opel already presented a similar glass windshield-roof design in the "GTC Genève" study in the spring of 2003 at the Geneva Motor Show.

"Only flying is better - you experience your surroundings just like in the cockpit of an airplane because there is no crossbeam restricting the view," explains Matthias Hallik, responsible for new body concepts at Opel, who had the initial idea for the panorama windshield. "This makes driving through mountains or a brightly lit city at night, for example, a really special experience." GTC passengers enjoy these views thanks to a 1.50 meter long and, on average, 1.16 meter wide field of vision made of Solar-Protect glass, which prevents over-heating of the interior. The panorama windshield is also an eye-catcher from outside, as it flows into the adjacent steel roof, creating a visually integrated surface.

Numerous crash simulations and real tests show that the panorama windshield in no way impairs safety or stability. All results confirm that there are no noteworthy differences to the steel roof three-door model, thanks to the GTC's rigid A and B-pillars, an additional crossmember in the middle of the roof and the sturdy floor assembly. All tests regarding body rigidity had similar positive results.

Stable passenger cell construction and high panorama glass stability are the major contributing factors to these good results. This model-variant only weighs around 10 kilograms more than the Astra GTC with a standard windshield. The arched panorama windshield, made of six-millimeter thick, laminated safety glass, is shaped by means of a gravity bending process. Selected points on the glass pane are heated so strongly in a special oven that gravitational force alone pulls it into a predefined form - a very elaborate process with glass of this strength and size (around 1.8 m2).

Passengers in the panorama GTC are protected against excessive sunlight by both the Solar-Protect glass and a sophisticated shading system. The stepless adjustable system is very easy to operate and includes two fold-out sun visors.

The Opel Astra GTC - the third model in the new Astra generation after the five-door sedan and the station wagon - will be manufactured from next year in Antwerp, Belgium. Beginning in April 2005, the innovative panorama windshield will also be built into the cars there. A patent application for the entire panorama windshield design concept has been submitted.