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Vauxhall / Opel Adam spied undisguised

The GM rival for the MINI and Fiat 500 – the Vauxhall and Opel Adam – has been caught undisguised on a photo shoot in Spain. The last news we had of what we thought was going to be the Opel Junior was GM’s announcement that it would actually be the Opel Adam – named after Opel’s founder – and, oddly, also the Vauxhall Adam. So far we’ve only seen the usually prototypes with swirly camouflage floating around Europe’s roads, but now we get the first shots of the Adam grabbed undisguised on a photoshoot in Spain.

Club members get first choice for collector's-edition Fiat 500

Attendees of this year's Club Fiat-Lancia Unlimited national convention--also known as the "Fiat Freak Out"--were rewarded for their devotion to the Italian automaker. During the convention's closing dinner, the Fiat fans were given first dibs on the Fiat Cinquecento Prima Edizione, a collector's edition of the U.S.-bound Fiat 500. Only 500 Prima Edizione models will be sold in the United States.

U.S. examining Mini Cooper steering

The National Highway Transportation Safety Administration is investigating Mini Coopers for unexpected loss of power steering. NHTSA has launched an investigation of 2004-model Coopers after receiving 54 consumer complaints and a confidential number of field reports, the administration stated on its Web site. The reports state that it is hard to control the vehicle when the power steering fails.