Okay, Adam is actually the name of Opel Motorcar Company’s founder, Adam Opel, but he’s not around anymore. Opel has paid homage to him with its latest little hatchback, the Opel Adam.
Unlike its retro counterparts, the Adam is completely new and completely original. Opel reckons there are endless combinations to the different colour groupings, which customers can tailor according to taste.
When the Opel Adam arrived at our offices, for the third time, I had to fight off some ladies here, but I did managed to get the keys and it was now my turn to see what all the fuss was about.
I do like the styling of the car; its young, fun and premium looking. The model that arrived was the Jam, which - despite its high spec level - is actually the mid-spec model. It was finished in a dark purple, although some women argued that it was more of a navy blue colour. I was also informed that men can’t see as many colours as what woman can. Three guys claimed it was purple and 90 percent of women saw 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 Adam’s compact styling and the low, flat front-end.
The interior of the car is really nice. The layout is easy on the eye 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 runabout. The model 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 Adam’s 1.0-litre turbocharged engine does a good job and the six-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 3 000rpm 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 7.2 litres/100km. Yes, that figure is slightly more than its claimed 6.1 litres/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.
