Opel Adam rally car announced

It seems Opel is channelling the spirit of Top Gear friend Walter Röhrl, because news is the company has prepared a rally version of its glittery-roofed Adam city car (although quite what Walter would make of the option to drive beneath a faux-nightscape is another matter). It's that little white and yellow thing above.

Not since the late 70s and early 80s has Opel had any success on the rallying scene, when the key driver back was the estimable Herr Röhrl. He won the European championship in 1974 and 1979, and the world championship in 1982 in an Ascona, a forefather to the Cavalier. Citroen has had its own way in rallying for quite some time now, but Opel will undoubtedly be hoping to make its own small impact.

The rally version of the Adam will debut in the 2013 FIA R2 season, currently dominated by the Fiesta. It certainly looks the part, what with Opel Motorsport's traditional colours - white paint, decals in black, yellow and grey - providing that adenoidal hat tip to its past. There are also some white wheels, a rally cage and Sparco sports seats. We're doubtful the heated steering wheel and "starlight" roof trim will be available, but we live in hope.

Opel wants to provide more young people with access to rallying - get the talented whippersnappers into something cheapish, and watch them flourish. Drivers compete with this Adam in the ADAC Opel Rally Cup for cash prizes - and there's nothing a youngster loves more than cold, hard cash - which then forms part of the German ADAC Rally Masters. The winner of the cup will also receive special training to help them progress up the rallying ranks, with the most talented drivers eventually piloting rally Corsas. There's also a separate Astra OPC Cup too - a one-make series with cars engineered like the VLN endurance series.

Which is all very exciting, but it does beg the question - is Opel/Vauxhall softening us up for an Adam VXR version? And if so, would you, fine TopGear.commer, be interested? Answers below, please.