Enrique Marco
Mobility City renews its sample book with a exhibition of the six generations of the Opel Corsa. And, for a brand born as an automobile manufacturer in 1899, looking to the future without forgetting the past is essential. Furthermore, when it comes to exhibiting the Experimental - a model with which features of their upcoming releases are previewed - and in a city like Zaragoza, nothing better than “touching the chord” of the Aragonese with a nod to memory, since almost all the drivers of this land have had some connection with one of the generations of the Corsa.
Thus, the lightning brand exhibits until February 29 the Corsa selection -from A to F- and, until February 15, the ultramodern Experimental. The visit to this part of the Zaha Hadid pavilion where the Opels are located is free, with only a fee to access the Mobility Museum, where they are located.The Superclass that changed the species”, a selection of classics, sports and competition whose copies rotate periodically.
THE SCUDERÍA was present at the presentation day that brought together plant personnel and dealers, automobile associations, influencers and passionate about the brand. In total, a hundred attendees enjoyed this interesting combination. We saw the Opel Experimental, which had been discovered a few months ago at the Munich Motor Show, and now, for the first time, in Spain. With it, Opel offers a vision of where the German brand will go of the Stellantis group.
EXHIBITION OF ALL CORSA
But for lovers of the classics, the meeting of all Corsa, With its appropriate explanatory panels, it was the ideal complement for said event. In fact, it garnered curious glances of nostalgia, fond memories and loving comments of experiences lived on board by any of these generations. Are 42 years of history of this iconic model of which more than 15 million units have been sold worldwide.
As you can see in this exhibition the evolution is tremendous, from the simple Corsa A, to the current Corsa Electric 156 HP, highly equipped and with 405 km of autonomy. We start from one of the entrances to the Zaha Hadid pavilion, observing in the foreground a Corsa A, whose history we recently published a complete dossier. Curiously, it is not a 1982 unit, nor an attractive SR or GT, nor the most powerful GSi of the era, but a basic with City finish, in white and after makeover.
It is certainly not one of the most interesting versions for collecting, but it stages perfectly in this shows the great evolution experienced in the range, by contrasting its sobriety and simplicity with the extensive provision of safety and comfort equipment of the latest generation. The Corsa A was the longest-lived and best-selling, with more than 3,1 million produced until 1992.
THE JOURNEY
From the second generation - from 92 to 2000, and of which 2,9 million were assembled - the chosen one, in metallic blue, bears the acronym GSi on its door, although it is not the most advanced version, since that Corsa B was marketed with a charming GSi with bumpers in the color of the body and associated with the 1.6 HP 16 109v mechanics. Nevertheless, Today, as a classic, the first generation GSi is valued more -8v and 100 HP- than the second one.
The third protagonist, the Corsa C presented in 2000, I wasn't taking any risks at all. She gained 10 centimeters in length and her body grew, improving her interior space. The Ecotec engines arrived and also the popular and well received direct injection turbodiesels. In the exhibition he is represented in one of the most common tones of those years, a discreet metallic silver gray color. Nor does it belong to the most passionate version, which, however, in this third generation GSi variant It was somewhat decaffeinated, with a 1.8 with 125 HP that offered good performance, although without high doses of emotion. Sales went quite well, touching 1,7 million units.
El striking yellow color of the exposed Corsa D It was used since 2006 with the intention of giving a new, younger and more casual personality to the Opel utility vehicle. Even in this fourth generation the 3p and 5p bodies were significantly differentiated for the first time. Technologies such as ecoFLEX were imposed, the Start/Stop savings systems and the frugal CDTi, with only 3,3 l/100 km average consumption, a lighter! But the best thing for car fans was that in this generation the passion was resumed, not only with a 1.6 HP GSi 150 Turbo that was really good, but with a “thoroughbred” like the 192 HP OPC, which was crowned with the 210 HP “Nurburgring Edition”. Until 2014, 1.922.519 Corsa Ds were registered.
THE MOST MODERN CORSA
The fifth generation was the one with the shortest time on the market, and in the period included Between 2014 and 2019, 1.015.159 Corsa E were delivered. And although at this time, the sports variants had a minimum percentage of sales, a 150 HP GSi and a 207 HP OPC were marketed. It was the last time that both Opel and most brands would offer such high-performance options in small cars (they disappeared like the ibiza cupra, 208 GTi, Clio RS, etc.).
And we come to the present, which for the 6th generation of the Corsa, already under the PSA-Stellantis umbrella, starts in 2019. In the middle of its commercial life, as is the usual norm, it has just received a makeover. For this reason Opel has decided to exhibit the two versions at the exhibition, the 2019 and the 2023, in this case both electric (the first with 136 HP and the second with 156 HP). These already fit with the electrified future of the brand and with the spectacular Experimental prototype located next to them.
In short, a plausible initiative is to teach the public more than 40 years of history of a very important model for the brand globally, and so linked to Aragonese society; and also do it in the capital of the Ebro and on an impressive and avant-garde bridge that crosses said river. ¡Long live the Opel Corsa! Finally, we remind you that the Mobility City exhibition “The Superclase that changed the species” is renewed periodically.
