Vauxhall ADAM Grand Slam costs £16,995

The Vauxhall ADAM Grand Slam – Vauxhall’s ‘almost an Adam VXR’ – has now gone on sale in the UK costing from £16,995 – the most expensive Adam to date.

The Vauxhall ADAM Grand Slam was revealed just before Christmas as the Adam to take on cars like the MINI Cooper and Abarth versions of the Fiat 500, and now we know how much it’ll cost in the UK – £16,995.

That’s a price that is actually more than either the MINI or Fiat, and that extra isn’t made up with performance that shades the opposition either, although it’s not far off.

The 1.4 litre engine in the Grand Slam delivers 148bhp and a useful 162lb/ft of torque, which is enough to get to 62mph in 8.5 seconds; perhaps enough for a warm small hatch, but not particularly impressive, although economy of 44.1mpg is competitive.

Vauxhall has also uprated the suspension and brakes on the Grand Slam (the brakes are actually from the the Corsa VXR), with cosmetic titivations including a butch body kit, wide range of paint options and a more sport interior, although UK buyers won’t be getting the option of the Recaro seats the Opel Adam S (the Grand Slam’s continental equivalent) gets.

Vauxhall are hoping that the buying demographic for the Grand Slam will be predominantly male, unlike the regular Adam where 70 per cent of buyers are female, but are only targeting sales of around 750 a year.

The Vauxhall ADAM Grand Slam is now on sale with first deliveries expected in March 2015.