Opel Astra OPC X-Treme

A notable inflection point in automotive history happened when racing cars and “tuner” cars began to overlap in looks and performance. 

I wish I could tell you exactly when it happened, but I’m confident in being humbled by someone who has concrete proof that, actually…the so-and-so was first. Agreed. Got me. 

I’d bet it was near to 2001’s summer release of The Fast and the Furious. Another example from around that time would be that famous blue and white BMW M3 GTR that was the 2005 cover car for Need for Speed: Most Wanted…plus the thousands of other modifications available for other cars.

Late 1990s, early 2000s — real racing teams started to borrow stylistic cues and livery ideas from tuner culture, which itself was inspired by earlier racing and modified cars.

I was in my late adolescence at this time and remember most of the video games and UK car magazines I was reading, and media I was consuming.

Motorsports Mundial on Speedvision, anyone? 

When tuners wanted to fit bigger, wider wheels and tires on production cars, they looked to racing teams and manufacturers that had the same problem, albeit for a very different, lap time-motivated purpose.

A racing series with wider fenders?

At this time, it was Germany’s DTM. Where will you see the most extreme body kits? Often, in video games.

Other game development studios hurriedly built or repurposed their own arcade-style driving games to rival NFS: Most Wanted’s success, often armed with the licenses for inexpensive cars players would upgrade through the career mode.

Wouldn’t you know it: the Opel Astra OPC X-Treme concept car was brought into several tuning and street racing-focused video games as its authentic concept car self — Blur, Burnout Legends, Moto Rush, in addition to appearing in even more titles in its original form: as a DTM car.

Because that’s what the Astra OPC X-Treme is: a DTM car for the road and / or concept car circuit. Tuning and street racing and all that?

Video game logic.

Opel really did build a gullwing racing car that looked like an economy car and the world just kept on spinning. Wild.