Peugeot 206 2005 Review

But they cost soooo much. Since the demise of Daihatsu and its sub-$30,000 Copen dinky sports car, the mantle for the most affordable roofless drive goes to Peugeot with its 206CC 1.6.

It sells for $32,990, two grand more for the auto.

But the big thing to consider here is the CC's metal folding roof. No longer do you have to suffer the anxiety associated with a vinyl roof soft top convertible as the CC's roof is all metal and folds electrically into the boot. Crooks will need an oxy torch to cut through the roof instead of a pen knife with vinyl. And foul weather is quickly and totally excluded at the push of a button.

A "tin top" is the perfect roofless set up and gives rise to the car's name: CC equals Coupe/ Cabriolet.

And it's a sexy looking little critter, styled by Bertone and featuring some novel touches like the twin boot "handles", ribbed boot lid, extremely angled windscreen and angry front end.

Pointy at the front, rounded at the rear, you can't mistake the CC for anything else on the road and it looks good with the roof up or down.

Bearing in mind this is a small car, the two rear seats are pretty well a waste of time unless there are small people in the front and back. Room inside the cabin with two aboard is good.

We have secured this little beauty for the summer season and have already ventured forth to the beach, the lake and out on a Friday night ( with the roof off of course).

It creates a buzz when you arrive somewhere and everyone looks. Kiddies love to see the roof deployed or retracted.

The test car is a 1.6-litre auto, a four speeder with sequential change mode. Five ratios would be better but as it stands, the little Pug gets going neatly and willingly flicks up or down a cog or two as needed. If it doesn't make things happen fast enough for you, there is always the sequential mode.

It rides and handles with a degree of sportiness and the chassis seems rock solid, roof up or down.

Safety concerns have been well dealt with as the CC has four air bags, roll over bars, ABS and electric brake force distribution (EBD).

Engine performance is good for a 1.6 thanks to the 80kW/147Nm output. Fuel consumption is minimal averaging around 8.0 litres/100km.