Case closed on Cascada spin-offs

COUPE and even a shooting brake wagon version of the Cascada were considered and rejected during the Opel convertible’s gestation, company officials have revealed.

According to chief engineer Andreas Haefele, different design proposals were always investigated when a new model was under development, but few made it past the initial stages of consideration.

“Something like a coupe – like a Calibra – was discussed early on,” the 25-year Opel veteran said at the Cascada launch in France this week.

“I think something like this would have been nice.”

He said that while it was relatively easy to create a coupe bodystyle from the Cascada, the economic reality of both Opel and the broader global economy meant such a move would probably not happen for this generation of the car.

However, Mr Haefele denied that a coupe version of the Cascada was sidelined because of the current Astra GTC coupe, since the former would have been much larger than the latter and appeal to different customers.

“I think there would be enough room in the marketplace for both coupes,” he said.

“But we are not going to do (a Cascada coupe).”