THERE was a time when the Vectra was built in Australia, presented a cut-price medium car alternative and sold in the thousands. Oh, how times change. The local build plan proved an aberration with the car reverting to import from Europe, the exchange rate has gone to hell and the sales rate is forecast to slow almost to a trickle. Cut through all the issues and actually examine the new generation Vectra and you find a car of exceptional quality, excellent on-road behaviour and with a substantial equipment list. Here we're testing the top-spec CDXi V6 auto hatchback, which at $49,990 is in the heart of prestige territory pitched against the entry level BMW 3 Series and a host of lesser Europeans.

1997 Holden JR Vectra
Released: June 1997
Ended: August 1999
Family Tree: VectraLAUCHED in Europe in 1995, the first (JR) Vectra made it to Australia in June, 1997. As an import it offered 2.0-litre four-cylinder and 2.5-litre V6 options, but a 2.2-litre was added to the mix - along with a wagon - when local production started in 1998 with the JS Vectra. Worth noting here, though, that the hatch was always imported. The whole range went back to importation witht the JSII of November, 2000, when the 2.2 and a 2.6-litre V6 became the engine choices.
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