An Appreciation of the Classic 3dr Hot Hatch

 My pick for early American Hot hatch, Citation X11. Could also be had as the Pontiac Phoenix SJ.

135hp wasn't bad for 1981 and there were a lot of special bits on the car.  Won SCCA SSB that year with Jon Henricy at the wheel.

Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) said:

My pick for early American Hot hatch, Citation X11. Could also be had as the Pontiac Phoenix SJ.

Heck yeah. The X11 was never going to be a hero car, but it deserves a nod, especially compared to some of the halfhearted and downright cynical junk they were cranking out way back then.

How about another early American effort in the form of the Cosworth Vega - deeply flawed, naturally, and not a traditional two-box hot hatch shape, but still a hatchback and a decent effort:

I'm surprised the Omni GLH and GLH-S haven't really been discussed yet (pic from this GRM article):

One from the "why didn't we get those?" file, the MkIII Ford Es-Cort XR3:

The first time I saw one of these I was struck by how much sharper, more athletic, and better proportioned these are than the lumpen, knock-kneed 'Scort and Lynx cousins we got in the US. It was as though Ford had designed a really tidy little car for the rest of the world, and then made the American version deliberately dorky and unathletic to avoid confusing us with excessive competence. 

And then there's the 205. I saw a black one in traffic when I was too young to know what it was and never got close enough to really get a good look, but the sawed-off back end, the tidy proportions, the incredible wheels, the red stripe, and the glow from those exotic yellow headlight bulbs. Man that thing looked like a good time!

DarkMonohue 

One from the "why didn't we get those?" file, the MkIII Ford Es-Cort XR3:

The first time I saw one of these I was struck by how much sharper, more athletic, and better proportioned these are than the lumpen, knock-kneed 'Scort and Lynx cousins we got in the US. It was as though Ford had designed a really tidy little car for the rest of the world, and then made the American version deliberately dorky and unathletic to avoid confusing us with excessive competence. 

my dad's buddy had a Lynx RS or XR (?)in 91 or so that I recall being a fun little thing

In reply to DarkMonohue :

In my opinion the Peugeot is the best looking hot hatch ever. It's just right. Others, like the Euro Esc0rt and VW GTI are close.

Gearheadotaku (Forum Supporter) said:

 

 My pick for early American Hot hatch, Citation X11. Could also be had as the Pontiac Phoenix SJ.

135hp wasn't bad for 1981 and there were a lot of special bits on the car.  Won SCCA SSB that year with Jon Henricy at the wheel.

 

Good shout on the X-11!

Those are often forgot about, and brings to mind the perennial Chevy vs. Ford debate because 1981 made me think of another X-car: 

the Fiesta XR2

A shame that we had such a short run of the Mk.1 Fiesta in the USA.

In my book, Ford definitely wins the historical battle as far as hot hatches go, and I'd choose the XR2 in this specific case as well --- the X-11 curb weight jumped out at me when I saw the spec of 2650lbs and even the higher horse rating wouldn't sway me from the 1850lb XR2 despite the lowly 84hp.

wikipedia wrote:  "With a quoted performance of 0–60 mph (0–97 km/h) in 9.3 seconds and 105 mph (169 km/h) top speed, the XR2 hot hatch became a cult car beloved of boy racers throughout the 1980s."

Looks great with those pepperpot alloys too! Although I also like the classic RS 4-spokes  - recently saw a LHD example fitted with those and there was also some amusing commentary referencing that listing which is the junior 1.3 SuperSport variant:

"Rare now and granted worth it's place in history but it was and forever will ever be a cheap fur coat and no nickers car for the 1980s. As was the later XR. Tarted up to look fast when they clearly was not. By way of a hot hatch comparison if not price there was the 150bhp Chrysler and subsequently Talbot Sunbeam Lotus which embarrassed nearly every Ford (and most of the rest in class) into a cock hat. The reality was the Ford won out because it was way cheaper to buy despite it probably rotting at the same rate of any competitor. Understandably the Ford gushers out there will wet them selves over this but at the lights you will be just a plodder whereas the Sunbeam lotus will today still outclass most of the 80s alternate buys. Having said that this looks a very well presented example and it has to be case of find another as good...

 It therefore looks like this could be a smart long term investment. Just not for me even if I did have the money it would be sunk into something else from the 1980s."

Neat little history tidbit - written by Andy Talbot:

"The Supersport was meant to test the water for Ford’s sporting developments on a road going car. “Was there a market for it?”, they pondered? Originally, Ford had no intention of producing a competition Fiesta, but Ford Motorsport at Boreham started a programme using 1.6 litre US Spec Fiestas and THAT project resulted in the Mk1 Fiesta XR2. 

The XR2 was already under development as the company rolled out the Fiesta Supersport. The US market version of the Fiesta that Ford had been playing with, had a 66BHP 1.6 litre Kent engine, so that was used as the basis of the powerplant that was put into what was essentially the same Fiesta 1300S base as the Supersport.   A mix of the American spec bottom end and the 1600GT head and cam from the Mk2 Cortina was used along with a 32.34 DFTA Weber carb attached to a 1300 pattern manifold with a bigger bore and 4 into 2 cast iron exhaust. The Mk 3 Ford Econobox XR3 donated its four-speed box to the XR2 but with a final drive altered.

Ford needed the Supersport and XR2 to appear different, especially in terms of marketing, so the Supersport retained the standard square headlight units whilst the XR2 would use the round 7” headlight units, similar to the US version of the supermini. Intended as a limited edition run until the end of 1981, the XR2 was quickly rolled out by Ford’s Special Vehicle Engineering department, to meet demand for a Ford ‘hot hatch’

Along with the round US style headlights, the XR2’s fresher look included Wolfrace Sonic alloy wheels (aka ‘pepperpots’), but 1 inch slimmer than those fitted to the 2.8i Capri. The XR2 became Ford’s first 100MPH Fiesta. Like the Fiesta Supersport, the Mk1 Fiesta XR2 only lasted 2 years before being replaced by the Mk2 Fiesta based XR2.

Only 3000 were produced before it was outgunned by the replacement Mk1 Fiesta XR2 with 1.6 litre engine in December 1981, as Ford got more serious. However, it was exclusive then and remains so today. "