There’s something fun about taking a car not intended to really go off-road and modifying it so it can do light trail work. Sure, it would be easier to just buy a Jeep, but there’s something unique to the safari movement that’s worth celebrating. Earlier this week, Opel unveiled something called the Frontera Gravel concept, and not only does it follow this formula, I have a feeling I like it more than I should.
Roughly the length of a Kia Seltos, the new Opel Frontera rides on a further evolution of the e-CMP platform underneath the Jeep Avenger and Fiat 600e. This means it’s a subcompact crossover through and through, a far cry from the badge-engineered Isuzu Rodeo the Frontera nameplate debuted on. You can get it with a 1.2-liter mild hybrid powertrain, but the big news is the electric model with a small 44 kWh battery pack, good enough for up to 400 kilometers of WLTP range. With 113 horsepower on tap, it’s not exactly a face-ripper, but it’s the sort of sensible electric car people will actually be able to afford.
So, without any serious baked-in off-road hardware under the skin, why am I so enthused by the Frontera Gravel concept? Well, partly because Opel isn’t pretending this concept is anything it’s not. It says right in the press release that it’s “suited for soft roading adventures,” and while it definitely won’t be rock-crawling, it features an overabundance of useful items for alpine gravel tracks.
It’s hard to ignore the Frontera Gravel’s wild quantity of visual bolt-ons, most of which are actually functional. That exposed front recovery point looks useful, the gnarly all-terrain tires wrapped around sensible 16-inch Borbet wheels have plenty of sidewall, the limb risers running from the hood to the roof rack should gently get tree limbs out of the way on tighter soft-roady unchallenging trails, and the traction boards on the side should work with the winch to get this thing unstuck over loose stuff.
There’s certainly a degree of cosplay going on here, but it’s all trying really hard in an era when trying is cool again. Light bars to see in the dark, a roof-mounted spare in case you get a sidewall puncture, a gnarly tubular steel roof rack that should take a bashing, even a vinyl wrap to scratch instead of paint. It all seems made for the sort of places Lamborghini imagines Huracan Sterrato owners will go, with Opel applying that safari-all-the-cars motif to a more sensible, affordable machine.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned from lifted passenger cars, it’s that they do better on mild trails than I ever expected, so there’s likely some real capability in the Frontera Gravel concept, so long as you accept its limitations. More importantly, it seems to be having largely functional fun with a fairly regular car, which is something I can totally get behind.
Top graphic image: Opel
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Remember when a concept was an actual car and not some crappy rendering? Pepperidge Farm remembers.
Counterpoint – This is an overland Farkle Caricature. Its only redeeming value is in parody.
This thing looks really cool. If enough people have money to buy a new car it should do really well.
Alright: I like it a fair bit and am not ashamed to say so. I don’t personally need all the bolt-on bits such as those cables on the hood for tree branches and that external box/tready thing for getting out of mud up on the upper rear sides (are there windows behind those? I hope so) and I’d think those great-looking chonky tires will be noisy on pavement and cut into range. WLTP is already too optimistic from what I gather.
Is the EV version dual-motor? Or just RWD/FWD?
What is it expected to cost, if it comes to market? What do regular Fronteras look like and cost? Yes, I know I can google for this info, but it’d be nice to have some dollar reference.
GM ought to bring it to the states under one of its brands (Chevy, I assume, or maybe as a baby GMC if they don’t think it’d hurt that brand’s cachet with macho men). If they could do so at any sort of reasonable price (maybe in the low $30Ks in EV guise, and less with a regular four-banger and dialed-down cosplay) I think they’d get some buyers. Does any GM brand currently offer a small, boxy/practical soft-roader/grocery getter at an affordable price, let alone as an EV? I think the Equinox EV comes closest, but it’s not cute like this is, and most of the reviews I’ve seen on it consider it to be adequate but not particularly great.
The Frontera under all the add-ons looks like a decently attractive, well-proportioned CUV/crossover. I know almost nothing about them, or really anything sold as an Opel these days, but I like this and think I’d also like the unadorned version this safariesque is based on.
GM sold Opel to Stellantis about 5 years ago. This model of this car won’t cross the Atlantic because it’s too close to being a Jeep without being a Jeep. The base model wouldn’t make a bad Dodge or Chrysler though.
Ah, thanks N1pnt. I didn’t know that Opel was part of Stellantis now. 🙂
Also the Chevy Trax starts under $22k, about a grand or more less most small sedans like the Elantra, Sentra, Corolla, etc. so even if it were still in their portfolio, they have a good entry in the affordable side of the market.
I do like the Chevy Trax/Buick Envista, but their tiny turbocharged engines seem (to me) like they’re not going to be good to own/for the long run. Honestly, if those cars just had a decent naturally-aspirated four cylinder engine, I’d find them actually attractive for my modest needs. But to shell out $25-30K for a small American-made crossover with an 1.2 liter, 3 cylinder motor having a LOT of plastic in it? I don’t think that I could rationalize it.
Oddly, the Envista comes with a 1.5 turbo four in China. That’d be better (a less stressed engine for longer life) but again, I’d rather it have a 2.0 or 2.5 NA four for actually longer life/less stress, like those found in Subarus, or better yet, Mazdas. Preferably with port injection, non-interference design, and no wet belt (in a perfect universe that we definitely don’t inhabit).
JMHO of course. GM obviously makes the choices that it does based on what they think will make the most $ for them. But that Envista looks nice in that metallic copper they have. You could buy that and still want to look at it when you park. 🙂
I think this is Stellantis’ European shot across the bows of Dacia. The Frontera electric (FWD only) comes in two trims – ‘penalty box’ and ‘box’ – but if you’re still starting out in your career, young family and have higher financial priorities than a car then it’s not a bad choice. At five years old it would make a great choice for your teenager’s first car too.
The mild hybrid petrol engined version is exactly the same price as the electric. Price parity. Don’t think I’ve seen that before.
In the UK it’s £24000 for the cheapest, £27000 for the highest spec (don’t bother, it’s missing the point). Taking off 25% for Euro taxes would make it ~ $18k – $21k before your taxes and dealer bs.
A special edition would be, what, $25k?
It’s horribly underpowered with all the torque of a wet toilet roll; the website says 125Nm (90 something ft/lb) so this is for getting to the start of a mountain bike trail or something like that. Or going to the supermarket when it’s a bit wet.
The UK Vauxhall web site has all the pics. It’s a bit bland and generic imho but it’s not ugly.
🙂 We’ve got so few genuinely entry-level cars here, let alone decent small AWD crossovers, and the few we do have tend to wind up costing $30K+ given dealers are loathe to stock lower trims.
In theory the price of entry is whatever it costs for the suspension bits and new wheel/tire combo. So maybe a few thousand?
Everything else is a straight up dealer catalog bolt and Opens restraint in not forcing unnecessary standard options.
They should put a big honkin’ V8 in it and rebadge it the Grovel –
They’d sell hundreds of them in Washington DC.
400 km on the WLTP rating, might get you there. But it’s unlikely there will be a charging station, when you get there. So, plan well.
Still, it looks pretty cool. Back in the 60’s, my dad got a couple of 2WD pickups and even our ’65 Olds 88 in places they probably shouldn’t have been. But we always got home. And with the vehicle intact. But they weren’t EVs.
car not intended to go off-road modified to do trail work:
https://paul-davis.com/vehicles/miata/miata1bz.jpg
Is this what we look like to Europeans? I feel kind of embarrassed.
Yes – Especially when it’s doing 70 mph in reverse.
It kinda reminds me of some of the Renegades I see driving around.
Hey, the Renegade is Trail Rated. It’s a Jeep Thing 😛
(sorry, I had to!)
No worries at all! 🙂 Infact, my wife owns a Renegade and I will show her this article.
Looks really great! With all those off-road bits, the already dismal range will take a hit. Can’t conquer trails if you can’t get there and back..
Also, not everything needs massive power but 113hp is not acceptable from an electric car. Power is so easily achievable with electric motors, that’s just stingy.
But they’re adding lightness! Also, more interested in how many torques it has.
No, they’ve added light bars.
Can you actually add lightness? I get removing excess weight but how do you add lightness?
Trails in Europe are closer to curb-mounted electrical plugs than they are in the US.