Since then Audi has joined the party with their A1, Fiat brought back the 500 and Citroen has recently given its DS3 a little makeover. Now Opel has decided that it too wants a bit of this pie and it is going to use someone called Adam to get it.
Ok, Adam is actually the name of Adam Opel, the founder of the Opel motorcar company, but he’s not around anymore. Opel has paid homage to him with their latest little hatchback, the Opel Adam.
Unlike its retro counterparts, the Adam is completely new and completely original. Opel reckons that there are endless combinations to the different colour combinations which customers can customize according to taste.
When the Opel Adam arrived at our office for the third time so far, I had to fight off some ladies here in the Autodealer office but I managed to get the keys and I it was now my turn to see what all the fuss is about.
I do like the styling of the car, its young, fun and premium looking. The model that arrived was the Jam model which despite its high spec level is actually the mid-spec model. It was finished in a dark purple, now some woman argue that it was more of a navy blue and not purple. I was also informed that men can’t see as many colours as what woman can and that is why I – along with three other men- see purple and 90% of woman see a navy blue. I reckon it’s because men are less complicated really. What we did agree on was the white roof and white rims. I quite like the Adams compact styling and its low, flat front end.
The interior of the car is really nice. The layout is easy on the eyes and the steering wheel is beautifully designed. The cabin makes use of good quality materials and I liked the body colour matching gloss inserts found throughout the interior. Space at the back despite its proportions is ample and I found it to be quite a comfy little city run about. The model that I drove was fitted with the great MyLink infotainment system and the car had other niceties such as parking sensors, blind spot recognition, automatic light sensors and cruise control.
Scampering around town the Adams 1.0-liter turbocharged engine does a good job and the 6-speed manual gearbox gives it a slight pocket rocket feeling. On the highway though the little car does feel slightly out of its comfort zone. It tends to rev at about 3000rpm around 120km/h and there is some slight road noise but other than that it copes well with the task at hand. I also managed to get a fuel consumption figure of around 7.2l/100km, ok that figure is slightly more than its claimed 6.1l/100km but this is the real world.
Overall the Adam impressed me with its new and youthful offering however I just don’t think it’s as boyish as a Mini. I guess if one had to sit down with the colour spec sheet and opt for a different colour combination it would appeal more to the boy-racer in some of us but at a price of R209 900 one can’t really overlook the Opel Adam.
