Since its re-incarnation under BMW, the Mini has had a fairly free run at being the only small car appealing to those who want something unique and different and can afford to pay plenty for it.
Other companies have seen how the Mini brand has become not just a profitable part of BMW, but also a name that has generated accessories from bicycles to clothes. And that is exactly where car companies like to be – being part of the weekends and aspirations of the young and affluent.
No company has yet come really close to competing with the Mini but it looks like Opel is making a fairly serious attempt with its Adam line-up and, in particular, with the new Adam Rocks. The name may be the first stumbling block for Opel – not everyone who wants to buy a car like this wants a name that sounds like a T-shirt slogan. (Opel's new city car, incidentally, is going to be called the Karl – another Christian name nod to the company's original pioneers – but in Britain sense seems to have prevailed with the decision to revive the Viva name).
The Rocks is an impressive competitor for the Mini, not least in terms of price. A three-door Mini hatchback costs about €20,500 and a convertible upwards of €24,620.
The Opel competitor will start at €18,995 and includes an electric folding canvas roof that is better than that fitted to other competitors’s cars.
The advantage of it not being a full convertible is that the car can retain good driving characteristics and not feel loose or harsh. It also makes more sense than a full convertible in Ireland where, it has to be said, our requirements for open-air driving are more modest.
What is perhaps most impressive about the Rocks is the new 1.0 litre engine Opel has developed. It will feature in the Corsa soon too. It’s a three-cylinder unit that is matched to a six-speed gearbox and yields nothing of the whine one normally associates with one cylinder or less. It will take you from 0 to 100kph in a very reasonable 10 seconds and it does so with an unexpected smoothness.
Add in a claimed consumption figure of 5.1 litres of fuel per 100km and less than 100g of CO2 per km and you have an impressive combination.
The Rocks is really a city car and it does well there. Outside of that environment there isn’t much excitement – its handling is good and a raised suspension helps it soak up the bumps. The steering can feel a little light in city mode and definitely needs adjustment when the open road beckons.
It is unexpectedly roomy, at least in the front and will accomodate a tall driver or passenger. The same cannot be said of the rear, however, which really has only child-seat capacity and the boot can just about take a small travelling case and not much more. In that sense it has serious limitations.
One thing that will help put it up to the Mini is the interior finish. There are hundreds of ways to personalise the Rock but the general design inside is the nearest the Mini has to competition.
Instruments and switchgear are smart and give a quality feel and you certainly won't think you would be more at home in a Citroen C1. No wonder Opel is so keen to stress the fact that the car is built in Germany.
The Rocks is pitched as being a cross-over car but that stretches the point. What it does have is a presence and that presence may be a rather looming shadow for Mini.
