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, three-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 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"

The 1.8m2 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.

The panoramic roof option will be available to British buyers in late summer 2005, a few months after the launch of the standard Astra Spor