A History of Hot Hatches: Affordable fun.
They're known as 'sweet little supercars', but why? And who came up with this brilliant idea?
'Hot Hatch' is a term that all car lovers use and love to drive. They're small but powerful, affordable but fast. They're just spiced up versions of normal family hatchbacks that you might find going about on the roads. They have a more powerful engine with a lighter body, which makes them fast and fun to drive. And if you wreck it, it's much cheaper to repair than any supercar.
When did all of this start?
Probably in the 1960s, when the Mini Cooper came about. It was really tiny, especially compared to the huge sedans American companies were bringing about. It was light, with a sharp and agile engine, and is one of the most desirable cars to drive/own today. It became really famous because of the epic movie 'The Italian Job', where there was a legendary car chase featuring three Minis. You could do any form of stunt driving in it, and it was quite sturdy too. The Mini Cooper S was amazingly successful in Rallying, winning the Monte Carlo rally four years straight. But the term 'Hot Hatch' hadn't been coined yet.
The Mini Cooper. That just looks fantastic, doesn't it?
The car that started the breed. The 1976 Volkswagen Golf GTI.
The car that made that term famous, was the 1976 Golf GTI, which was a huge hit in sales. It was so famous, that Volkswagen brought out so many facelifts, with the Mark VII on sale now. It is believed that the original Golf GTI had some sort of 'Magic' in it, and every single car nut would love to drive it even today.
What happened after the Golf came out?
There were a flurry of new hot hatches in the market, from the likes of Ford, Renault, Peugeot, MG, and so many other mainstream brands. The one that became most famous of all of these was the Ford Escort Cosworth, as the engine was just brilliant and it was properly 'hot'.
The modern market is full of hot hatches from so many different brands. The big three German manufacturers: Audi, BMW and Merc, all have their own hot hatches. There's Honda, Subaru, and obviously Ford with their best-selling Fiesta ST, which is deemed brilliant in every way. But of course, the king of all hatches has been, is, and will forever be, the Golf GTI. I think.
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Comments (18)
The Golf is king because it was the first. The true king of hot hatches is the Peugeot 205 GTi 1.9. It was cheaper, handled better and was faster than all of the rest at the time.
I must have said the Golf is the Grandfather, then.
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I see you used my advice😂😂
Yes. Good suggestion.
My pleasure
There can only be One
The Brera? I don't know much about it. And the Golf was my opinion, you can choose to differ.
147 GTA
A history of hot hatches? More like 10 short lines about hot hatches.
Thanks for the title suggestion.