What Was The First Hatchback?

[AngeloUccello]

I just wanted to gather some opinions on this: according to you guys, what was the very first hot hatchback? Cheers

[Mexman]

Generic answer, but wasn't it the Mk1 Golf GTi?

[anonymous-user]

I am not sure of the dates, but what about the Sunbeam Lotus? NB: that is a rear wheel drive car, and if your definition of a hot hatch requires FWD, it won't count.

EDIT: Wiki tells me that the Golf predated the Sunbeam by two years anyway.

[ScoobyChris]

TG suggest a couple pre-dating the Golf...

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/hot-hatch/history...

Suspect the answers will vary depending on how people define a hot hatch though...

Chris

[anonymous-user]

Ha! A so called car website that spells Lancia as "Lanica". OK, that is obviously a typo, but its presence suggests poor attention to detail by the website's authors. Like the TV show itself, the website appears to have been thrown together without much thought. I doubt that the TG team care - the punters will flock in their thousands regardless of content.

Edited by anonymous-user on Sunday 30th April 18:32

[a8hex]

Mexman said:

Generic answer, but wasn't it the Mk1 Golf GTi?

How about Ringo Starr's hatch back Mini?

[Roy Lime]

BMW 02 Touring?

[craigjm]

Most would say it's the Simca TI but that was predated by the Autobianchi 112 Abarth

[Qcarchoo]

Autobianchi A112 Abarth

[mark beavan]

Again, it depends on the definition, but what about a Jaguar Etype in fhc form?

[anonymous-user]

Definitions are elastic. The Triumph GT6 became hot by its second iteration, and had a hatchback, but sports cars are probably outwith the definition. An MGB GT is a hatchback, of course, but an MGB lacks hotness.

Hey, a Jensen Interceptor is sort of a hatchback (sort of), but now I am just being silly.

[craigjm]

mark beavan said:

Again, it depends on the definition, but what about a Jaguar Etype in fhc form?

I think the generally accepted definition is a fast sporty version of a normal run about car with a hatch. An e-type in every sense of the word was never a normal run of the mill car.

[Carfield]

Renault 16 TX perhaps - the ancestor of the Octavia vRS

[williamp]

Aston DB2/4 was a hatchback and deffo "hot"..

[craigjm]

williamp said:

Aston DB2/4 was a hatchback and deffo "hot"..

Wasn't really an attainable car for the average driver though was it

[Twig62]

Chevette HS ?

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

A.G. said:

A40 had a boot? (Looked like it should have been a hatch though.

[Allan L]

The Reliant Scimitar GTE of 1968 onwards would seem the original hatchback and is hot by most standards.
The original VW Golf was six years later and was luke-warm at best

[2 sMoKiN bArReLs]

A.G. said:

FTW Nope!

Tenner says Im older than you

Edited by A.G. on Sunday 30th April 19:56

That's not a hatchback (it's a window & a boot!) A hatchback is an all in one jobbie

[AMG Merc]

Peugeot 104ZS Rally. Great fun and revved to 8000 (often!).