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The Astra Sport Hatch, which will spawn a fire-breathing VXR model, will be almost identical to this concept sketch, the car’s chief designer has revealed.

As with the last three-door Vauxhall Astra, the new Astra Sport Hatch will be far more rakish, with a lower roofline, when it arrives in 2011.

New Astra 'better than Insignia'

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This harks back to a time when Vauxhall / Opel were leaders in aerodynamic efficiency with the Calibra being the most aerodynamic production car of the time with a cd of 0.26.

If they can pull of the same sort of visual impact that the Calibra had, just on a significantly better dynamic base, then they could be on to a winner.

This bodes well for Vauxhall/Opel I think.  The Calibra still looks good now (IMO) so this new Astra coupe could follow in it's foot (tyre?) steps and be something very special if it's as good as the sketch depicts...

Autocar:

As with the last three-door Vauxhall Astra, the new Astra Sport Hatch will be far more rakish, with a lower roofline, when it arrives in 2011.

I bet it won't look much like this when it appears. Take away the impossibly low front screen, the wheel arches and the 42" wheels (or whatever) and see what happens...