Hyundai Tiburon puts bite on the rest

Only five years ago, car showrooms were jam-packed with coupes such as the Holden Monaro, Ford Mustang, Toyota Celica, Ford Cougar, Nissan 200SX, Honda Prelude, Dodge Viper and, oh yes, the Hyundai Tiburon.

But of that glamorous crowd, almost all have been consigned to that great big car park in the sky, leaving only the comparatively humble Hyundai on sale.

It may have had the least sporty pedigree of the bunch, but it certainly is a survivor. Not that today's Tiburon — the name means “shark” in Spanish, and indeed there is something predator-like about the shape of its snout — is exactly the same car as went on sale back in March 2002.

It has been dressed up and freshened up this year, featuring a new-look nose and a sizeable wing on its rump.

No quibbling about the standard equipment list when a slinky-looking, amply powerful, sub-$35,000 sporty car like this comes with stability control system, anti-lock brakes, front and side airbags, alloy wheels, six-speaker sound system, power windows, cruise control, trip computer, leather and cloth upholstery and dial-a-temperature airconditioning.

Apart from high-priced models (the Porsche 911 is as old as Uluru) the Honda Integra is the only coupe which has been around longer than the Tiburon.

The Integra these days starts at $38,490 with a 118kW four-cylinder powerplant and five-speed manual gearbox, which shows how well-stocked the Tiburon is - packing a 123kW six-cylinder engine and six-speed gearbox, yet costing just $34,990. So it is a good-value buy, as coupes go, and doesn't feel at all aged. Good looks are top priority here, along with the buzz you get from driving something that stands apart from the crowd.