In reply to mad_machine :
Yeah, what the 318ti lacked in speed it made up for in handling. I remember running ours at Sebring short course. You could just pound on it all day.
In reply to mad_machine :
Yeah, what the 318ti lacked in speed it made up for in handling. I remember running ours at Sebring short course. You could just pound on it all day.
To continue on the sad theme of stuff-we-never-got-here,
would be this Abarth Biposto with that killer option of dogbox from the factory...
...but it was such a ridiculously expensive option that not many got spec'd that way.
example:
https://collectingcars.com/for-sale/2016-abarth-695-biposto-record
.
But it's also a good illustrator of the phenomenon of from-the-factory hardcore hot hatch, and thankfully thanks to BMW we did actually get blessed with one of those (perhaps even the originator of this particular faux racer thing as applied to hatchbacks) which was the MINI GP.
Even VW who tends to be somewhat conservative got in on the game and came out with a boyracer special,
but of course denied it to North America.
:
I still blame Ralph Nader for cramping our lifestyles over here LOL,
what a damnable Karen!
I raced a three-door hot hatch for a while.
I'm a serial Rabbit owner so yeah I agree, I almost finished an 83 GTI with a leftover Bertils Beetle Cup engine but I needed money and the entire thing went to Wisconsin. That would have been smoking
The Simca 1204 is also the direct ancestor of the Omni / Horizon.
I'll see if I can come up with a list of 50 3 door hatches sold in the US - defined as a body style sold in 1960 or later (to avoid questions of whether things like the Chevy Nomad qualify), with seating for four and a roofline designed for rear passenger headroom with a steep rear window that lifts and minimal to no perceptable trunk lid. This keeps out things that are more properly fastback coupes, or don't really look like a 3 door hatch (e.g. Scion TC). It's a bit of a tough distinction, but if the roofline plunges almost immediately after the door line, it seems to be more of a fastback. So here is my attempt at counting these, in alphabetical order, with any performance (or at least performance-pretending) models noted.
Only halfway there - did I miss any?
@MadScientistMatt
Awesome list! Thanks for compiling it, and it is a rather daunting task to do so too. I like the specific parameters that you chose as well.
One missing from the list which immediately jumped out to me is the Renault Le Car...
...not very hot by any means really, but we did get lucky with its crazy cousin too as a fairly good number of them were imported and federalized over here, excerpt below from C/D june 1984 issue:
Thanks, and I thought of a few others I missed the first time around. This brings me up to 35, still a long ways to 50 even without versions that would never qualify as a hot hatch.
I owned a Simca 1204. It was definitely a hatch, but hot didn't enter into it, even remotely.
Nice additions to the list!
Not sure about the Opel Kadett though, I think that we only got the B-version...
https://rememberroad.com/what/opel/1970-opel-kadett-rallye-1-9-imported-sizzle/
...and by the time the C-version had came out with a proper hatch then Buick had already given up the ghost at trying to sell them over here?
Turboeric said:I owned a Simca 1204. It was definitely a hatch, but hot didn't enter into it, even remotely.
LOL
Your comment made me glance again on google and saw this entry which made me giggle...
LeMopar!
:
:
Kadett Bs had a two door hatch / wagon version; we even had a build thread for one that had been bought in Italy. I'm not sure if it was sold here or not though.
Why are the Scirocco and Corrado not on the list?
Hot? Check
Hatch? Check
MadScientistMatt said:Kadett Bs had a two door hatch / wagon version; we even had a build thread for one that had been bought in Italy. I'm not sure if it was sold here or not though.
Awesome! Is there a link to that thread? I'd love to see it --- yet another reason why oldschool forums are far superior to all the other gizmo widjit social media platforms out there today, because a forum can be so easily searched compared to FB or whatever for example, all with a deep historical archive that's not only preserved but a forum thread can be instantly resurrected with new info or commentary even if it's like 10 years old, plus the level of detail provided in forum threads are just about peerless.
Another addition to the list:
Fiat Strada
Although I think we mostly got the 5dr version over here as far as sales go, but there are very few survivors of either version anyway because Tony liked crappy steel LOL
And of course,
we were denied the hot variant.
vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) said:Why are the Scirocco and Corrado not on the list?
Hot? Check
Hatch? Check
Or the Plymouth Arrow
Here's the Opel Kadett 2 door wagon thread.
The list I drew up didn't include the Scirroco, Corrado, or Arrow because I was leaving fastback designs off the list. Fastback designs did fairly well in the US, at least in the '80s, and I was trying to list the more utilitarian and boxy sort that didn't catch on as well.
Many thanks for the link!
Pretty awesome, but unorthodox and somewhat questionable to designate it as a hatchback since it's a wagon --- it did however conjure to my mind the glorious 510 wagons for some odd reason, but was mistaken that they ever came in a 3dr config, altho there are some custom jobbies out there...
The classic 900 has already been brought up, but talk about an unorthodox hot hatch!
I'm only bringing it up again because it was the reason I didn't really need anything else from 1991-2018 and they're all I drove, it simply fulfilled all my needs then some so never saw a reason to play with anything else...
...which means that I missed out on the JDMania that was happening back during peak Fast & Furious days, although I was curious about it all and even read Sport Compact Car also even visiting the NOPI Nationals to see what all the hubbub was, just never got enthused enough to abandon my Swedish lover.
Only recently has all that old JDM stuff been fascinating me endlessly as more and more of it gets imported over here and from all my various lookings have gotten fairly well-versed in some aspects of it, but still pretty green and far from knowledgeable of all the intricacies...
...but I'm also still very averse to driving a RHD car,
so that reigns in some of the lust when looking.
Love it when I discover certain cars were available in LHD.
The Nissan Sunny GTI-R is one that gets me excited!
Pretty much a flop as a WRC Group A car, with only one podium at the hands of Stig Blomqvist, it was otherwise lackluster against the competition, yet still has cultivated a sort of legend status.
Cool to see them in LHD...
In reply to Oldboy Speedwell :
Toyota did a weird 3 door wagon version of the Corolla:
2007 Cayman S and a 2012 Golf R here.
I'd love a 1984 GTI.
Was going to edit the GTI-R entry this morning to add a short excerpt but apparently timeout window for editing exists so will insert the selected script here...
...source: evo magazine #271, march 2020, from the cover story "The A-Team (the group A heroes that redefined the performance car)" wherein it was a roadtest featuring Mitsu Evo 6 vs. Lancia Integrale vs. Celica GT-Four vs. Impreza STI vs. Sunny GTI-R vs. RS Cosworth
:
"Day two dawns and I really, really need to drive the Sunny. And at our first fuel and jet wash stop, as drivers and cars shuffle their order, the little red Nissan awaits. Of all the cars here, it's the Sunny that illustrates what happened when a manufacturer ruthlessly exploited the Group A regulations, creating a bizarre concoction of humblest shopping hatch and rallying warrior with seemingly little to glue the two disparate halves together. And also how a lack of understanding of those very same regulations could render an entire multi-million-yen project effectively useless before it had even got off the ground. You've probably read Henry's retelling of Nissan's 'interwarmer' fiasco at the start of this story, but the net result of it was that the company's campaign was sunk before the first stage.
It feels like eons since cars had interiors as basic and bland as the Sunny's. The flat cloth seats, scratchy plastic and simple dials are only augmented by a trio of secondary dials for boost, oil temperature and pressure. On its tiny 14-inch wheels it looks meek in one sense, but the bonnet bulge from the driver's seat is a pretty massive clue as to the qualities of the 'red top' SR20DET engine - perhaps best known in the UK under the bonnet of the Nissan 200SX. It's an absolute cracker: punchy, with little lag and an appetite to rev freely.
It may have been a miserable rally car, but the GTI-R is a formidable road car. It doesn't even feel overtly four-wheel drive; it's like some larger-than-life hot hatch that's time travelled through space to 2020. As it takes apart a particularly tough, twisting road, only the average response of the middle pedal and the sedate driving position betray that it's nearly 30 years old. You'd not fear even a contemporary hot hatch in the Sunny, it's such a bizarre but deeply covetable little monster."
.
*footnote & addendum on that 'interwarmer' which was mentioned, earlier I had grabbed that action image with upside-down lightpod from Steve McKelvie's blog, that photo was from the 1992 Monte Carlo Rally and there's an interesting story as to why they were using it:
but, back to the topmount intercooler, the heat-soak was so bad that Nissan would give any little thing a go to try and supplement it, like this minor hood scoop mod LOL
Not hot, but hopefully it will get a little warmer in the next few years.
SUPER CHEVY!
But man,
a Vauxhall replica would be a jawdropping stunner...
Has anyone mentioned these:
mblommel said:Has anyone mentioned these:
- Mitsubishi Mirage Turbo
- Isuzu I mark Turbo
- Mitsubishi Cordia Turbo
- Isuzu Impulse Turbo
- Chevy Sprint Turbo
- Ford EXP Turbo
- Mecury Capri RS Turbo (fox body)
- Dodge Shelby Charger
- Chrysler Laser Turbo
- Daihatsu Charade GTI
Excellent additions to the USA list!
Some esoteric oddballs there for sure, but of those ten if had to choose, it would be the I-Mark RS for me,
I mean those things are cool!
But man,
talk about totally forgotten or never knew existed,
the Starion stole all of the spotlight from the Cordia and today they are barely ever remembered...
It amazes me in a sad way at how few such survivors exist today,
perhaps it was Cash 4 Clunkers that helped kill off a good number of them?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Car_Allowance_Rebate_System
A while back I was obsessed with trying to find a FX16 but despite being a bonafide USA-Special it proved to be a very difficult task finding one that was in decent shape because seemingly only such a small number of them have survived.
I still want one!
The sound!
In reply to Oldboy Speedwell :
I always had a soft spot for the I Mark Turbo. The "handling by Lotus" badges always grabbed my attention.
I used to know a guy about 20 years ago that had an FX16. He loved it. At the same time I was driving a '91 CRX Si which I loved just as much.
I went to high-school in the late 80's. Our parking lot included a Mirage Turbo, Chevy sprint turbo and Shelby Charger. My science teacher drove a Chrylser Conquest TSi. In our town I'd regularly see an I Mark RS and a Pulsar NX sportbak.
My brother in law at the time had Renault Le Car, which was a riot. Speaking of Renault, what about the Fuego Turbo?
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