Competing within the fiercely-fought territory covered with the likes of the Fiesta and C3, Ibiza is starting to show wear and tear – although head of design Walter Da Silva did hard to try to keep its looks contemporary.

Lower-powered cars are frugal but just a little flat, and also the best is gained by upgrading to either to 2.0 litre petrol, or even the 130PS diesel.

Both of those come in at cheaper prices, and provide the car the sense of fun that it is chassis demands. It will likely be interesting to determine the replacement model when it arrives at the end of 2005.