THESE days Astra is a byword for style, competence, quality and value. Did you know it descends all the way back to the 1975 TX Gemini? We completely missed the 1979 MkII, saw the ’84 MkIII thanks to the successful 1994-1997 Daewoo 1.5/Cielo clone, ignored the 1996 MkV TR model, and then finally adopted the MkV TS of 1998 with an intensity not seen since the TE Gemini’s early-'80s heyday. So how does the sixth-generation General Motors small car stack up?