Opel Adam

I can imagine a bunch of important people sitting in a boardroom discussing design elements, target markets etc. Then comes the time to discuss names, one guy pipes up and says “Adam”. An awkward pause ensues and then the CEO of Opel replies “I love it! Adam it is.” That’s how it must have happened, at least that’s how I see it in my head. Why Adam and not Steve or Gerald? Ok Gerald is a terrible name for a car. The funny thing is that the name Adam, although peculiar rolls off the tongue with ease. Almost like you’re talking about your friend, “Adam and I went to go get food yesterday.” Maybe they called it Adam for people who don’t have friends to seem as if they do. It all makes sense now, give it a human name and lonely people will buy, yes? No but if that was the purpose of the name it would make for some great marketing campaigns. “Need a friend in life? Are you feeling alone and depressed? Get yourself the new Opel Adam and drive your loneliness away.”

If an Opel big shot is reading this and feels the need to give me a job in their marketing department, feel free, I need money. I make fun because really the Opel Adam is a great looking car, inside and out. It looks funky and cool but not so much that species with Adam’s apple’s will find it girly. See what I did there? Okay enough. So what have we got here? The Adam, Adam Jam and the Adam Glam. Now I know I said no more jokes but come on, where’s the Adam OH EM GEE? That’s what you expect after that. I won’t lie, just by reading the brochure on this car, you want one. This car is going to upset our other German friends, you know the ones that make another very small car that you see many girls in Sandton drive? Yes the Mini. The reason being for a car that starts at around R190 000 you get a whole lot of cool stuff. Two motors, one naturally aspirated 74kw 1.4l and a turbocharged 85kw 1.0l. Not a big jump in power but torque jumps a nice 40Nm from 130Nm to 170Nm between the two engines, nice for a small car.

I take back what I said about getting a job at the Opel Marketing department. I wouldn’t be any good because they would all be much smarter than me. These guys have approached the marketing of this car the right way, brilliantly. I personally feel that is why Mini has been so successful, they punt their product as hip, fun, young and cool. They create a “want one” factor and you see Opel following in their footsteps. I always make mention to there being no such thing as a “bad” car nowadays. Now of course that applies to only the major car manufacturers, you won’t find one of their cars that is terribly unsafe or just pure yuck. The days of the UNO are gone. So I can tell you that this car turns in well in a corner or I can compare the handling characteristics to its rivals  like the Mini but does it matter? Yes for the driver orientated buyer but no for the normal person who just wants something safe, comfortable and somewhat affordable.

The Adam ticks all the boxes. I can’t begin to tell you the little things you can adjust or change to your liking but it’s a lot. It rides well, it looks very nice and just feels nice too. Given the choice, I’d go for the turbocharged engine due to better torque and fuel economy. So a Jam or a Glam is what I would choose. I feel like a Dr. Seuss character will jump out the boot after saying that. I’m going to go ahead and say it,  this car makes me happy. You know when you like someone and you make fun of them because you actually like them? That’s me with this car. I always talk about the choices you have in this small car game but sometimes you get cars that are a laugh and that’s the case with the Adam. I’m glad though because Opel has been able to pull off many looks in the past, boring sometimes, douchey with its OPC’s but now we can say they have been able to pull off cool with the new Adam, well done.