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Ah, the Opel Karl. A rigorously sensible and literally upright small car in a world gone mad for frivolity and fripperies. At a time when everyone seems obsessed with fashion and trinkets, it's so refreshing to... Ah, it would seem that Opel has decided to turn the Karl into a 4x4 lookalike. Oh well.
Yup, the Karl Rocks is the second Rocks in Opel's Rocks catalogue (Rocks!) following the Adam Rocks, and like its more expensive, less practical counterpart, the Karl Rocks follows a simple recipe. There is no actual four-wheel drive, nor low-ratio transfer box nor anything else that would actually help you traverse difficult terrain. There is an 18mm increase in ride height, but if you come across any boulders bigger than 18mm in height, you're banjaxed. There are also silver roof rails (functional they are too, says Opel), 'rugged' front and rear bumpers, integrated skid plates and black plastic wheel arch extensions. The effect is topped off by 15-inch bi-colour alloy wheels.
Inside there is honeycomb pattern seat upholstery, which is unique to the Karl Rocks, plus the optional 4.0 version of the IntelliLink infotainment system. That will allow you to connect your Apple or Android smartphone to the car for CarPlay or Android Auto, and there is also integrated satnav and Opel's OnStar connectivity system.
Opel says that the Rocks is just as practical as the standard Karl, with a load space that can be expanded to a maximum of 1,013 litres if you fold the back seats down, while there's also City Mode power steering (that makes it lighter), parking sensors and cruise control with a speed limiter. No idea how much extra it will cost over the regular Karl as yet, but it'll be on sale by the end of the year.