The Seat Cordoba - a rarely seen car on Australian roads
- was created by taking an Ibiza hatchback and adding
a boot.
Aussie motorists have, however, always preferred
the hatch design over the sedan, and with such low sales
volumes it could easily be expected that the Cordoba was
always going to struggle to gain a foothold.
But the "Cupra Sports" model was an entirely different
beast. Featuring a more powerful 2.0 liter engine (instead
of the standard 1.6 liter unit) producing a healthy 110
kw, the Cupra benefited from a very attractive color-coded
body kit, sports seats, 16" alloy wheels, white background
gauges, ABS, EDS traction control, air conditioning
and of course the regulation rear spoiler.
All the extra kit only added around $5K to the asking
price of the base model, and made the Cupra exceptionally
good value when compared to the competition.
However like
its cheaper variant, and despite its size, the curious
thing about Cordoba was the merely adequate interior space,
especially for those in the rear.
Drivers were well looked
after, though, and most praised the logical dashboard
layout and the feeling of solidity.
Like the Ibiza hatchback, the Cordoba was an enjoyable
car to drive; being both responsive and sporty, although
the suspension was set a little too firm for the crap
Australian roads even in the base models, and the Sports
variant only compounded to the NVH issues.
When SEAT left our shores the market value of the Cordoba
likewise headed South, making the Cupra a possible bargain
buy for the astute purchaser seeking something different.