XC Tigra

HOLDEN’S rival to the dinky Peugeot 206 CC arrived in Australia just two months before the car it was based on was to be discontinued.

As the XC prefix suggests, the Tigra is in fact based on the 2001-2005 XC Barina – the fourth-generation front-wheel drive light car that Holden had sourced from Opel in Germany (via Spain).

And all it took was one look at the Tigra’s familiar dashboard to see the Barina touches.

But Opel had fashioned an entirely unrelated body, complete with an electric folding metal roof that has become known as the CC – for coupe-convertible.

The handsome two-seater convertible was powered by a 92kW/165Nm, 1.8-litre, twin-cam, 16-valve, four-cylinder engine, mated solely to a five-speed manual gearbox.

No automatic was offered – an intriguing oversight given the youthful audience the Tigra was aimed at.

The single-model specification included dual front and side airbags, anti-lock brakes with brake assist, cruise control, power windows, electric mirrors and a trip computer.