Paris show: Opel Adam steps out

OPEL is promising to shake up the European city car segment with its funky new Adam city car, offering an almost unlimited number of custom options and a focus on agile driving dynamics.

The chic mini – which bears the same name as company founder Adam Opel – was revealed in full against the backdrop of the Eiffel Tower today ahead of a public at the Paris motor show just down the road.

Personalisation is the name of the game for the three-door/four-seater, with Opel making the extraordinary claim that each of the Eiffel Tower’s 6.5 million annual visitors could specify their own Adam to be unlike any other.

The range of customisation extends from 12 colours – with witty names like Purple Fiction, Men in Brown, Papa don’t Peach, Saturday White Fever and I’ll be Black – to 20 different wheel designs, unique printed roofliners (including one ‘starlit’ option with more than 60 LEDs), two-tone paint, rooftop glazes, backlit fascia decors and external decals.

Three specification variants are available – fashion-oriented Jam, luxurious Glam and sporting Slam – powered by a trio of petrol engines including a 51kW 1.2-litre and a 1.4-litre unit producing either 64kW or 74kW depending on tune.

Opel says it will eventually add a brand new turbocharged three-cylinder engine and a new six-speed gearbox to the mix, although there is no word on a diesel variant.

As expected, the Adam will be occupy the premium end of the micro segment in Europe, with Opel’s UK arm Vauxhall announcing a price range between £11,255 and £14,000 ($A17,500 - $A22,000), intersecting that of its larger Corsa sibling.

As we have reported, Opel Australia – which launched locally earlier this month – has no concrete plans to import the Adam in the foreseeable future, and will instead focus on its initial launch line-up of Corsa, Astra and Insignia.

However, GoAuto understands the company is looking to add more models from next year, including the the Mokka small SUV and Astra OPC hot hatch, but both the Cascada convertible and the Adam also appear to be in the mix.

Designed with one eye on style-focused rivals like the Fiat 500, Citroen DS3 and Mini One, the Adam measures a tiny 3700mm in length and is said to “buck the trend of retro-based design with a modern, bold and original look.” Design features include a unique ‘floating roof’ which is visually disconnected from the body, while the rest of the styling borrows from larger Opel siblings like the Astra, including the wing-shaped chrome grille bar.

A high level of electronics and connectivity are on offer, including smart-phone connections to access and display internet applications such as GPS navigation via a seven-inch touch screen. Adam customers can even opt for a heated steering wheel – a first for the class.

Also available is Opel’s new second-generation automated parking system searches out a suitable parking spot as the driver cruises down the and then takes over the steering to execute parallel park.

Drivers can also press a button for city mode, a system that lightens the steering weight for easy urban operation.