The long road of the hot hatch is paved with gold, but it has some deep potholes and some wild twisty bits. Wikipedia would have you believe the AMC Gremlin from 1970 was the first hot hatch, and it may have been in spirit as it was small by American standards and marketed as “a pal to its friends and an ogre to its enemies”. However, it came with either a big ‘ole straight-six engine or a V8 and the braking and cornering ability of a tugboat.
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