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 presented at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1999 and went into full production the following year.
It was sold by Vauxhall as the VX220 in the United Kingdom and shared much in common with the Lotus Elise, although Opel claimed few parts were interchangeable.
Due to changes in European crash safety regulations for the 2000 model year, Lotus needed to replace the original Elise. In October 1999, a deal was made between Lotus and General Motors in order for the former to gain sufficient funds to develop a new Elise. As part of the deal, Lotus agreed to develop and produce the Opel Speedster and Vauxhall VX220 on a variation of its new Series 2 Elise chassis, having a 30mm longer wheelbase and lower door sills compared to its Lotus counterpart. The first Speedster concept car was shown at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show....