1960s and 1970s The 1961
Mini Cooper was one of the first performance cars to use a small body and an
FF layout, both key characteristics of a hot hatchback. However, the Mini was not produced in a hatchback body style until 2001 and is therefore not considered a hot hatch. The first car to meet the criteria of a hot hatch, the
AMC Gremlin, was introduced in the United States on April 1, 1970. Promoted as "America's first subcompact", it came standard with a 3.3 L straight-six engine with an optional 3.8 L upgrade. By the 1972 model year it was available with a 5 L V-8 engine. The manufacturer described the Gremlin as "a pal to its friends and an ogre to its enemies," emphasizing its performance and radical design in comparison to other cars in its class. Compared to the Volkswagen Beetle, it was two inches longer, achieved comparable fuel economy, and sold for $1 less in the eastern US, though its base engine delivered 128 horsepower, more than twice that of the German subcompact. The first European hot hatch was the
Autobianchi A112 Abarth, introduced in September 1971. It was prepared by the motorsports division of the
Fiat Group, at first with a 982 cc engine, obtained by increasing the stroke, coupled to a sporting
exhaust, a twin-choke
carburetor, and a different camshaft. In 1973, the
Simca 1100 Ti was launched. It had its power increased by 40% to 82 hp (61 kW), which resulted in a 0 to 60 mph (97 km/h) time of under 12 seconds and a top speed of 105 mph (169 km/h). Other upgrades included front
disc brakes, front and rear
spoilers and
alloy wheels. The
Alfa Romeo Alfasud Ti was launched in the same year. Along with a 5-speed gearbox, it featured a more powerful version of the standard 1.2 litre engine, brought to 68 PS (50 kW; 67 hp) by adopting a
Weber twin-choke carburettor, allowing the small saloon to reach 160 km/h (99 mph). The
Renault 5 Alpine (called
Gordini in the United Kingdom), which went on sale in May 1976. It had a top speed of and could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in under 10 seconds. The car credited with establishing the popularity of hot hatches is the
Volkswagen Golf GTI, which was announced at the 1975
Frankfurt Motor Show. and released in July 1976. The Golf GTI was originally designated to be sold only in
West Germany, but from 1977 Volkswagen began exports of the (left-hand drive only) GTI. Production of right-hand drive GTI's began in 1979. The Renault 5 Alpine and Volkswagen Golf GTI, with the addition of a more powerful engine, sharper
handling, distinctive body styling with additional spoilers and alloy wheels, helped create the birth of a huge market for small, practical hatchback cars with performance to match contemporary coupes such as the
Ford Capri 2.0,
Lancia Beta Coupe 2000 and
Renault 17 TS. With top speeds above , the Alpine and GTI enjoyed a short run of unparalleled sales success until the early 1980s. There were two hot hatches created specifically for competition. In 1978, Vauxhall created the
Chevette HS and HSR by fitting the 2.3 litre
slant-four engine, using a 16-valve cylinder head. Fitted with two Stromberg carburettors the engine developed 135 bhp (the HSR developed 150 bhp). In 1979, Chrysler developed the
Lotus Sunbeam which used the Lotus 1973 cc
16V slant four engine. Power output of and a 0-60 mph time of 6.6 seconds. Despite being
rear-wheel drive, the Sunbeam is considered a hot hatch.
1980s Until the early 1980s, the
Volkswagen Golf Mk1 GTI and the
Renault 5 Alpine/Gordini dominated the retrospectively named hot hatch market segment in many European markets. From around 1984, the market for hatchbacks with sportier performance grew, and many manufacturers added a hot hatch variant to their range. Power increases were achieved through upgraded carburettors (e.g. the
Ford Fiesta XR2), fuel injection (e.g. the
Peugeot 205 GTI), turbocharging (e.g. the
Renault 5 GT Turbo), supercharging (e.g. the
Polo G40) or fitting larger engines (e.g. the 2.0 litre
Fiat Ritmo/Strada Abarth 130 TC). Other significant hot hatches of the 1980s include the
Ford Escort RS Turbo,
Opel Kadett GTE (also known as Vauxhall Astra GTE),
Renault 11 Turbo,
Lancia Delta HF Integrale (all-wheel drive),
Citroën AX GT and
Suzuki Swift GTi. By the end of the 1980s, the hot hatch was hugely popular in Europe, and was pushing into other worldwide markets. The brief heyday of
Group B rallying pushed the hot hatch genre to its limits, and small numbers of ultra-high performance variants were manufactured to comply with the rally rules (often termed "
homologation specials"). These vehicles represented a brief, extreme branch of the hot hatch, and included such notable vehicles as the
Lancia Delta S4,
MG Metro 6R4 and
Peugeot 205 T16.
1990s European manufacturers continued to produce hot hatches through the 1990s, including the
Ford Fiesta RS Turbo,
Ford Escort RS Cosworth,
Peugeot 106 Rallye / GTi,
Peugeot 306 GTi-6 / Rallye,
Renault Clio Williams,
SEAT Ibiza GTi / GT 16v / Cupra,
Volkswagen Golf GTI / VR6 and
Ford Focus ST170. Japanese manufacturers also began to produce hot hatches, including the
Honda Civic Type R,
Mazda 323 GT-R,
Nissan Pulsar GTI-R,
Suzuki Swift GTi and
Toyota Corolla GTi.
2000s Hot hatches continued to get faster through the 2000s, with an increasing number of models using turbocharged engines. During the 2000s manufacturers started to emphasise the
sub-brand of their hot hatch derivatives such as Renault's
Renault Sport, Opel's
OPC, Vauxhall's
VXR and Fiat's
Abarth. European-built hot hatches from the 2000s include the
Abarth Grande Punto,
Alfa Romeo 147 GTA,
Audi S3,
Ford Fiesta ST,
Ford Focus ST/RS,
MG ZR, Mini
Cooper S/
JCW,/
Golf R. and
Proton Satria GTi. 2011
Audi RS 3, 2013
Mercedes-Benz A 45 AMG, and the 2015
Ford Focus RS. With these models expanding the definition of hot hatches from front-wheel drive to also include all-wheel drive, the hatchback versions of the
Subaru Impreza WRX/STI that have been produced at various times could be considered to be hot hatches. However, the WRX/STI is generally considered a compact saloon (to rival the
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution), rather than a hot hatch. The majority of hot hatches continued with the traditional front-wheel drive layout, with many models producing in excess of and the
Ford Focus RS 500 producing . The
BMW M135i/M140i is a rare example of a rear-wheel drive hot hatch from the 2010s. Another technical development for hot hatches since 2010 is the increasing use of
dual-clutch transmissions. The
W177 Mercedes-AMG A 45 S, which was introduced in 2019, is the first mass-produced hot hatch that exceeded the border, with its
M139 engine producing . == Asia ==