The greatest
hot hatchback of all time according to the readers of
Autocar is Lancia’s unforgettable Delta HF Integrale, a
high performance car that was bred directly from the
factory's very successful rally programme and which was
the runaway winner in the magazine's voting.
The English weekly
motoring magazine asked its readers to vote for what
they believed to be the greatest hot hatchback ever,
starting back in April. More than 3,500 votes were cast
on Autocar.co.uk throughout April and May, and
14.3 percent of them were for Lancia’s homologated rally
legend, the Delta HF Integrale. Its closest challenge
came from the Peugeot 205 GTi 1.6, which attracted 7.9
percent of nominations, followed by Ford’s original
Focus RS with 7.7 percent of the votes.
Chas Hallett, editor
of Autocar said “It’s no surprise Autocar readers have
voted for the Lancia, when launched back in the 80’s it
very quickly acquired a large and enthusiastic fan base
founded on its rally success. Interestingly, it is the
oldest car in the Top 10 – proving age is no barrier to
desire.”
“The closeness of the
voting didn’t surprise me either,” Hallett went on.
“Voting for a greatest hot hatchback is clearly a very
personal choice. Even here at Autocar, we can’t
agree – which is why we’ve written about so many of them
in this week’s magazine!” On sale today, Autocar’s
bumper 9th June issue contains twenty-two extra pages,
all of them devoted to the greatest hot hatchbacks ever.
Steve
Gales has owned his Lancia Delta Integrale Evo II since
1998. “I bought it at four years old,” he told
Autocar, “and paid £20k for it. At the time, it was
a big step up for us; we traded in a Clio Williams, but
still had £8.5k to find. But it’s worked out perfectly:
the car’s worth about £20k today.” The Integrale wasn’t
top of Gales’ shopping list, however. “We went shopping
for an Impreza Turbo originally, but back in ’98 were
disappointed by the bland interior and the nine-month
waiting list. So I suggested an Integrale to my other
half, we drove one, and we both loved it. We use the car
all year round – do about 3000 miles a year,” he goes
on. “I do the basic servicing myself: oils, filters,
brakes and suspension maintenance. For cambelt changes,
due every three or four years or 24,000 miles, I use a
specialist: they cost about £400 a time.”
VW's
hot-hatch category creating Golf Mk1 only made it to
fourth place on the list with 6.8 percent of the votes,
while the Ford Escort Cosworth rounded out the top-five
with 6.5
percent of
nominations. Not-so-highly rated in the Autocar
hot hatchback poll were the Renault 5 GT Turbo, original
Mini Cooper S, Citroen Saxo VTS and Renault Clio 197,
which all scored less than 2.0 per cent of the vote.
Autocar "Hot Hatch"
Vote, Top 10:
| 1st |
Lancia Delta
Integrale |
14.3% |
| 2nd |
Peugeot 205
GTi 1.6 |
7.9% |
| 3rd |
Ford Focus RS
(mk1) |
7.7% |
| 4th |
VW Golf GTi
(mk1) |
6.8% |
| 5th |
Ford Escort
Cosworth |
6.5% |
| 6th |
Honda Civic
Type R (mk1) |
5.8% |
| 7th |
Seat Leon
Cupra R (mk1) |
5.7% |
| 8th |
Peugeot 306
GTi-6 |
5.4% |
| 9th |
VW Golf GTi
16v (mk2) |
5.0% |
| 10th |
Renault Clio
Williams |
4.9% |
