Hot Hatches

The Vauxhall Astra GTE was Luton's answer to the Golf GTI, the sharp-suited Mk1 of 1983 and the teardrop Mk2 that followed, ending with the 156 bhp 16v red-top of 1988. A guide to both generations, the digital dashboard, what survives after the Max Power years, what to check, and what the sale rooms now pay for the rarest of the 1980s hot hatchbacks.

The MG Maestro put the octagon on Austin's family hatchback, first with the troublesome twin-carb 1600, then the 115 bhp 2.0 EFi, and finally the 152 bhp Tickford-finished Maestro Turbo of 1989, the fastest production MG there had been. A guide to the whole Maestro family, what survives, what to check, and what the handful of sale-room results say a good one is worth.

The Ford Focus RS is the fast Ford of the twenty-first century, three generations of it from the 4,501-car Mk1 of 2002 to the 345 bhp four-wheel-drive Mk3 of 2016, with the matte-black RS500 between and the ST170 and ST before them. A guide to what each one is, how they drive, what to check, and what the sale rooms pay now that the first cars are classics.

The MINI Cooper S R53 put an Eaton supercharger on the first BMW-era MINI and made a 163 bhp hot hatch out of it, built at Cowley and sold from 2002 to 2006. A guide to the R50 it grew from, the 2004 facelift, the John Cooper Works kits and the 2006 GP, what goes wrong, and what they are worth now that the first of them are classics.

The Ford Fiesta Mk1 was Ford's first front-wheel-drive small car, a clean-sheet supermini that sold a million inside three years and founded a nameplate that ran nearly half a century. A guide to the Mk1's story, the XR2 and Supersport, why survivors are so scarce, what to check, and what one costs today.