Which "classic" hot hatch would you most like to own?

[white_goodman]

I'm not sure if I've ever driven a "bad" hot hatch (maybe a 2005 Polo GTi but I'm not sure if it was that bad) but the ones that I remember most fondly were the hatches from my youth (the 80s and early 90s). They were simple, light and despite today's hot hatches being a lot quicker I think more distantly removed from the "cooking" models. A lot more power in percentage terms and with features like alloy wheels and body-colour bumpers, they looked a lot more exotic than the rest of the range too. Nowadays, even the "base" model has these features. I think that even the most ardent FWD hater would be able to find some enjoyment in driving these cars. So which one would you most like to own today? Let's make 1995 the cut-off point. People often say that the Clio Williams was the ultimate "classic" hot hatch but by the time that came out, my interest had moved on to the rally reps (Integrales, Evos, Imprezas and Escort Cosworths etc).

I've never driven one and I expect the drive isn't that great but from a purely visual perspective, I've always liked the S1 Escort RST (a classic 80s Fast Ford).



I used to prefer the mk1 to the mk2 Golf GTi but now my Golf GTi of choice would be a mk2 GTi 16v 3 door. I regret not ever owning one of these, as the mk4 Golf GTi that I owned later was a pale imitation. I've never driven a 16v but the 8v that I drove was pleasant but a little underwhelming but I can see that it would still be a nice car to live with day-to-day.



However, having owned a 1.6 for 18 months and writing it off, I promised myself another (a 1.9) one day but never got around to it. So for the pure nostalgia, the timelessly pretty looks and the intoxicating driving experience, I choose the 205 GTi 1.9.



So if you could own any "classic' hot hatch from the 80s/early 90s, which one would it be?

Edited by white_goodman on Friday 24th March 04:04

[white_goodman]

Zetec-S said:

+1 for the Escort, I always liked these as a kid, although I preferred the series 2



If I had space I'd consider one as a bit of a project, before prices get too far out of control. Although as someone above said, you shouldn't meet your heros, so perhaps not a good idea.

Also a big fan of the Mk2 Golf GTi, I regularly see a mint looking example in red going the opposite direction on my morning commute.

Yes, the S1 RSTs started rising in value years ago but you could pick up an S2 for fairly cheap. I see that these have gone up too now though! I know that it's probably a case of don't meet your heroes but I was born the same year as the mk3 Escort came out and the S1 RST was a proper 80s icon, so I do have a soft spot for them. There was a S1 RST in need of some restoration on A/T for 995 notes last night (honestly), it would have made a good SOTW! I wouldn't normally consider buying something that needed so much work doing but bearing in mind what restored ones seem to be going for, it looked like quite the bargain! It has gone now though unsurprisingly.

[white_goodman]

DSGbangs said:

If you have never driven a Mk2 Gti how do you how 'bad' the mk4 gti is? Or are you just going on everyone bashing the mk4 on the internet?

To be honest the mk2 gti was a bit over rated, the mk3 was boring and the mk4 really slow without a remap.

OK. I can see how that looks. I have had a brief blast in a mk2 8v. My only frame of reference at the time was the new mk5 GTI and my 205 GTi 1.6. It was nice but didn't feel as fast, exciting or sharp as either of them. Having owned a 205 and later a Corrado VR6 though, I would vouch that over a longer period of time, a mk2 Golf would still be a perfectly pleasant car to drive as a daily. The 205, although great for a blast when you're on it would drive me mad on a day-to-day basis. I did own a mk4 2.0 GTi for a year and can confidently say that it's no GTi and probably the worst GTi ever made. It had none of the sharpness of the classic hot hatches and was slower off the line than many 1.2 superminis!