The North American automotive market has been one that used to avoid having hatchbacks as part of the mix, but for the past few years, this is the market that we’ve seen embrace these small and active vehicles to give us more of the fun we want in a small car. The movement toward hot hatches for us to have an exciting drive has helped this become a more popular area for the driving fun we want to enjoy. Models such as the VW Golf R, the Ford Focus RS, and the Honda Civic R make this area of the market fun.
With the fun in mind, here are some hot hatches that were never sold here, but maybe they should be in some form:
Ford Escort RS Cosworth – While this vehicle is no longer built, it was part of the 1990s lineup that was offered in Europe and was the platform that competed in Group A of the World Rally Competition. The goal was to build 2,500 to qualify for racing, but over 7,000 were built and sold between 1992 and 1996. This car could have been some fun for us if we wanted a WRC model.
Renault Clio V6 Renault Sport – While we don’t see cars from this brand offered in the US it certainly could be the next brand to make its way to the US to bring us a hot hatch for some fun on the road. This little car is like having a Hellcat in a hatchback and it’s certainly offered with a ton of French flavor and style and certainly a shame we never got it in North America.
Vauxhall Astra VXR – This car could make its way to the US with the roots it has based in the Opel brand name. This is a sport compact car that has a powerful small engine with 280 horsepower coming out of the turbocharged four-cylinder engine and the capability to reach a top speed of 155 mph and sixty mph in six seconds. Why didn’t we get to drive this car?
Audi RS3 Sportback – This has been one of the most popular and powerful hot hatches from Audi and it offer you an incredibly powerful small engine that delivers between 340 and 400 horsepower for the ride you’ll want. This impressive model can hit sixty mph in 4.3 seconds and it happens to be one of the few Audi models that we don’t get to drive in the US.
Renault Sport Megane R.S. 275 Trophy-R – Here is a car that just looks fast and sporty to be one of the most impressive hot hatches for the drive you want to experience. This car brings you 275 horsepower and only weighs in at 2,800 pounds to be a lightweight performance model that should have been offered in the US, but Renault continues to deny us the pleasure.
Nissan Pulsar Sunny GTi-R – Shh, this is the hatchback version of the GT-R and it weighs in a half the sports car and packs the same turbocharged performance to be the right way to have the drive you want. This car was built between 1990 and 1995 to be a fun and active car that wasn’t brought to the US in this form with its 230 horsepower, which was a good number at the time.
Mazda 323 GTR – The size you recognize for this car that was built between 1992 and 1994 with only 2,200 being built, this little car could have been one that would give us a lot of fun for the drive. This car showed up with 200 ponies and 184 lb.-ft. of torque, but it would have been the second of the detuned GTX models and therefore it wasn’t offered for North America.
Renault 5 GT Turbo – This brand seems to have a long history of building hot hatches we would have loved to drive on our roads, but didn’t get to at all. This car is one that shows up with low power but lots of fun with the lightweight that was less than 2,000 pounds. This car could have easily been one we wanted for the drive, but it never showed up on our streets.
Lancia Delta HF Integrale Evoluzione II – Here is another amazing model that was bred to be part of the WRC series. This is a car you’ve seen in different videos on gravel and its one that truly gives you the driving dynamics you want for your ride in your area, but you never got to have it. This car has the power and the qualities you wanted back in 1993.
Volkswagen Rallye Golf/Golf Limited – While we probably don’t need an old Golf R since we already have one, this car was impressive even as far back as 1990 and in this form it was a dynamo out on the WRC tracks around the world. This car showed up with 207 horsepower and a top speed of 150 mph to make sure you could have fun, just not in North America.
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