Vauxhall ADAM - prices, specifications and images

Vauxhall's new small car, the ADAM, is a big deal for the company.  BMW sells hundreds of thousands of their MINI, Citroen's C3 is flying out of showroom doors and Fiat's 500 is an international hit.

In order to compete with these funky little cars Vauxhall has had to throw away it's usual design rules (staid, straightforward, even bland) and come up with something very un-Vauxhall-like (did we just invent a new word?).

And that's just what Vauxhall have done.  British designer, Mark Adams, was given a freer reign to come up with something much more individual than the rest of the Vauxhall line-up.

And for that we should be grateful. Britain's roads will be a much more colourful place when the ADAM arrives in 2013. Vauxhall boast of the ability to create more than a million combinations of colour and trim when purchasers spec their new ADAMs, with a wide variety of exterior and interior colours, equipment and materials. The headlining can even be personalised, including an LED-lit starlight roof.

ADAM features three different trim levels. JAM (fashionable/colourful), GLAM (elegant/sophisticated) and, our favourite, SLAM (racy/sporty). In a nod to the seventies vinyl roof fad the ADAM features a 'floating' roof which doesn't mean it's a convertible but rather it is made of a different material and colour.   In essence it's a styling gimmick but actually looks quite good and suits the overall design.

We like the proportions of the ADAM. We like the creases in the doors and side panels. We're unsure of the bulging headlights and from certain angles the rear looks like an Audi A1 - which is no bad thing.

The ADAM is initially offered with three petrol engines (1.2-litre 70bhp, 1.4-litre bhpPS and 1.4-litre bhpPS) all of which are available with Start/Stop technology. The most economical ADAM achieves a combined 56.5mpg and emits just 118g/km. Later in its life the ADAM will also be the first Vauxhall to adopt the new generation small petrol engine featuring direct injection and forced induction plus an all-new six speed gearbox.

At 3.7 metres the ADAM is almost exactly the same length as the MINI.  Suspension is MacPherson struts and the wheels will be 16 to 18 inches.

Overall the ADAM looks like it will be a hit for Vauxhall. They've got the looks just right and handling, always pretty good on small Vauxhalls, should be enhanced with the Macphersons.  It will be interesting to see what it drives like.

The ADAM which can be ordered now, and first cars will arrive in Vauxhall showrooms at the end of February 2013. Prices for ADAM JAM start at £11,255, moving up to £12,650 for ADAM GLAM and £13,150 for ADAM SLAM. As with all new cars ADAM will come complete with Vauxhall’s industry-leading Lifetime Warranty.