Uncle Buick

I was going to call this post "Would you Adam & Eve it!?" but since it is about Vauxhall's posh, American uncle and since the largest group of people who read my posts are American and don't speak Cockney, I went with "Uncle Buick."

Autoguide reported this story yesterday about how GM CEO Dan Akerson expressed his desire to add the Vauxhall/Opel Adam and Cascada to the Buick model lineup.

Buick is not a brand I know too much about - my only real memories of a Buick involve the brown Buick Century that Kojak used to drive in the 1970s:

I don't believe that Buicks were ever sold here in the UK but I do know that it is meant to be the upmarket badge for GM in The States.

Which surprises me a bit that they would want to re-badge the Adam as a Buick.  I can sort of understand the Cascada - it was seriously mooted in my earlier story on the Cascada, but the Adam is meant to be a Mini/Fiat 500 worrier.  In fact, why not sell it to the Americans as a small, funky, European car and give it a Vauxhall or Opel badge there too?

This story did prompt me to look up Buick on Wikipedia (yes, I know other, more reliable, websites are available) where I learned that Buick himself was Scottish and the cars gained "Ventiports" in 1949 which are ventilation holes in the front wings representing the engine cylinders that have little flashing lights in them to indicate the sparks - I'd like to see that on a modern car - don't know what they would do for a diesel though.


Now, if they do insist on calling a small Buick the Buick Adam, here's a tip for the marketing people:

Get a clip of Telly Savalas saying,

"Who Loves Ya, Baby?"

Madam, I'm Adam

Another stupid car-name story. This spy-shot has been released today by Vauxhall of their new baby car along with the announcement of its name:

The VAUXHALL ADAM!

Some sections of the motoring press have been having some fun with the name. Car Magazine covered it thus while Top Gear have been comparing it to other cars with people's names although some of their examples are a bit tenuous - like Cressida and Silvia - they didn't even think of Marina.

So who is the Adam named after? 1980s pop icon Adam Ant?or perhaps soap heartthrob Adam Woodyatt?or, perhaps more likely, Top Gear USA presenter Adam Ferrara?Vauxhall won't say that it is named after Adam Opel, founder of Opel but it is named after Adam Opel, founder of Opel.