The hot hatch entered the public’s eye at the tail end of the 1970’s with Volkswagen’s Golf GTI.Pedants (and the well informed) have argued that there were hot hatches around before the VW hit the road – the Mini Cooper must have been one of the first. However, the 1.6 litre Golf GTI was the first hot hatch to gain such a high level of success.
It wasn’t until the 1980s that the hot hatch really took off, with the still celebrated Peugeot 205 GTI and Ford Fiest XR2 being memorable names.
However, according to Car Magazine, the greatest hot hatch of all time is a position reserved for the Lancia Delta Integrale.
Rare on these shores, the Delta won six (1987-1992) World Rally Championships. The car, only available in left-hand drive became an exclusive preserve of hot hatchers around the world.
Don’t expect to be able to get hold of one for cheap due to their age though – a well looked-after model can go for around and often over £30,000!
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