THERE are small cars and large cars, roomy people carriers and sensible motors for the average Joe.
Then there are the cool cars and the funky motors that catch your eye in the car park. The Opel Adam I drove last week definitely fits into the latter category.
Opel has high hopes for this, their first city car, which is built on the Corsa chassis and happens to be the name of the company’s founder Adam Opel. One of Adam’s big selling points is expected to come from the fact that first time buyers can chose their own colour combination, but finding the colour that suits you could be problematic with so many exterior and interior combinations to choose from. You can also choose your own alloys, upholstery and roof colours. And if you really want to spoil yourself you can get a key colour to match your car.
Your local Opel dealer now has a choice of colours for you to have to choose from. Once you have finalised you choice Opel will have your own specially commissioned car delivered to you from their manufacturing plant in Eisenach, Germany in approximately eight weeks.
The Jam is the basic model and its starting price is
?¬14,995, the next model up is the Glam which probably be more attractive to
‘Eves’ rather than
‘Adams’ as it has many so called
‘girly’ touches. The Glam starts at
?¬16,995 as does the sporty Slam version. Road tax is
?¬200 per annum.
It’s a two-door and I suppose first impressions are that it looks a bit like the Fiat 500, but offers much more colour choices. Plenty of room in the front, but leg room for the two back seat passengers will depend on how tall the two people at the front are. Head room is also restricted in the back. The boot is small but deep.
Only available in 1.4 petrol, there will be no diesel version. After a few days driving you might think the Adam was heavy on petrol, but the fuel tank is small. On the road the Adam, which has the latest stop-start technology, is very comfortable to travel in and the engine is very quiet.
I liked the neat holder on the windscreen where you can display your parking ticket. I have seen this type of holder used in a few different cars recently and I’m told it was first used by Volvo. It’s a very simple device and saves your ticket being blown away when you open the door.
I drove a mauve version with a cream roof. Inside the seats were light grey, which really helped brighten the interior. When you sit in you get 64 LED lights over your head and it reminded me of the late Patrick Moore’s programme, the Sky at Night. The lights go out when you start the car, so you can drive safely. The radio controls were unusual, but the radio like the rest of the car could be described as cute.
So it’s up to you whether you want a Jam, Glam or Sporty version. Maybe you should think about the re-sale value before you opt for any loud colours. The choice of 12 funky colours range from: Saturday White Fever, Papa Don’t Peach to James Blonde!
With so many colour variations available you are unlikely to see a similar coloured car to yours in your local shopping centre car park. You are, however, guaranteed to get plenty of attention from fellow shoppers.