• Innovative windscreen design creates new sense of space and visibility
• Solar-Protect windshield extends from bonnet to B-pillar
• Shading system protects against strong sunlight

European Astra owners will soon find it even easier to spot the admiring glances from passers by, thanks to a ‘glassy’ new innovation. Vauxhall has developed a panoramic windscreen which will make the soon-to-be-launched 3-door Astra Sport Hatch even more fun to drive.

Making its debut at the Paris Motor Show later this month, the panoramic roof offers the driver and front seat passenger an almost unlimited field of vision, similar to the view from an aeroplane’s cockpit. And it’s not just a concept – the optional feature will go on sale in England during summer 2005.

The windscreen glass extends seamlessly from the bonnet up over the front seats to the B-pillar, with no crossbeam restricting the view. This creates a driving experience which can’t be matched, even by a convertible. "Only flying is better," explains Matthias Hallik, the designer who had the initial idea for the panorama windscreen. "This makes driving through beautiful scenery or a brightly-lit city at night a really special experience."

While the roof might make it feel like you are open to the elements, the car’s occupants are actually well protected. Extensive crash tests show that the panorama windscreen maintains the standard Astra’s enviable safety record, thanks to the car’s strong A and B-pillars, an additional crossmember in the middle of the roof and a sturdy floor assembly. Besides making sure the glass roof is safe, this rigidity also ensures the car’s acclaimed driving dynamics are not affected. The new model only weighs around 10 kg more than the standard car.

Passengers in the panorama Sport Hatch are also protected against the elements. Excessive sunlight is filtered by special heat-absorbing glass and a sophisticated shading system, with two fold-out sun blinds.

The 1.8 m² arched panorama windscreen, made of six-millimetre thick laminated safety glass, is shaped by means of an innovative gravity bending process. Selected points on the glass panel are heated so strongly in a special oven that gravity pulls it into the predefined shape.