What's the news?

Vauxhall revealed its dubiously named Adam city car at the Paris Motor Show along with announcing details of pricing and specification. Looks like the MINI and Fiat 500 could have a fight on their hands.

Exterior

Three trim levels will be offered all with somewhat bizarre names. Entry level JAM is described as being fashionable and colourful, GLAM is elegant and sophisticated while SLAM is racy and sporty... it gets worse!

Among the near one million personalisation options are 12 body colours that carry names such as 'I'll be Black', 'Papa don't Peach', 'Purple Fiction', 'James Blonde', 'Saturday White Fever' and 'Buzz Lightgreen' (we told you it got worse). The exterior of the Adam can be further customised with the 'Two-Tone' black and white pack, the 'Twisted' pack or 'Extreme' pack. These offer unique combinations of colour and design to the roof, wheels, exterior mirror caps, logo bar and interior trim. The Adam's roof can be left body colour or ordered in one of three hues that are called (wait for it) 'I'll be Black', 'White my Fire' and 'Men in Brown'. If that is too much for you the roof is also available with a fixed glazed panel that amazingly does not have a quirky name.

Wheel sizes range from 16- to 18-inches, with 17- and 18-inch rims coming as standard with the sports chassis. All told there are 20 different wheel designs to choose from and also a selection of coloured wheel clips that are available with the 18-inch rims.

Interior

If you can believe it the cabin of the Adam can be personalised even more than the exterior, though thankfully the components do without ludicrous names. The plastic trims on the dashboard and doors can be specified in a dozen different colours (and swapped out to suit your mood) with the LED lighting complementing these. The headliner can be specified with glowing LED lights to replicate a clear, starry night or printed with clouds (much more suited to the UK), autumn leaves and checker-board graphics.

The Adam also marks the debut of Vauxhall's new 'IntelliLink' infotainment system that brings smartphone content to the integrated seven-inch touchscreen. USB and Bluetooth connections are provided for audio streaming, or video streaming if the car is stationary. A number of apps, for both Apple and Android phones, will be made available including satellite navigation that will be displayed via the touchscreen. Once out of the car the app will continue to function - a handy feature for IOS6 users...

Mechanicals

At launch the Adam will be offered with three petrol engines ranging from a 70hp 1.2-litre to a 1.4-litre unit in either 87- or 100hp guises. All engines will be available with stop-start that will allow the 1.2 to return 56.5mpg and emissions of 118g/km. Later in its life the Adam will also be offered with an all-new generation of small petrol engines that feature direct injection and forced induction plus an equally new six-speed gearbox.

Anything else?

Orders are now being taken ahead of February deliveries. Prices start at £11,255 for the Adam JAM, moving up to £12,650 for Adam GLAM and £13,150 for Adam SLAM.