It’s June 1992, you have £2k to buy a hot hatch…..

[Peter C]

The Strada is tempting, so is the Gordini. 

[IronStar]

Literally anything.
Alfista in me is screaming Alfasud, but those rust for fun. So, er, alfasud for ~1200 and save 800 for welding?

[sporty-shite]

In 1992, I did buy a MK1 Astra, albeit the 1.6SR. It was a couple of years later that I bought the car I would choose from this list, which is the Sud Ti. 

[wesacosa]

in 1992 I probably would have chosen the XR3 but now I'd take the Strada Abarth 

[FakeConcern]

In 1991 I bought this

Close enough?

I can't remember what I paid though...

[Asimo]

Visa.

 “Hen hut” indeed!

[83C]

XR3i or Astra GTE for me. All the smoll Italians are lovely but their propensity to rust puts me off.

[Popsicle]

Astra GTE for me. I will always remember lusting after a couple for sale locally for around £4k in 1989 iirc, way to rich for 18 year old me.

[MantaGTE85]

I would have the B reg Fiat 130 TC, and keep some more money for future repairs. I can't believe they were still rusting in those days. But then I must not forget that my (also Strada-based) C reg Ibiza GLX was already suffering from rough and previously-fibre-glassed rear arches, sills and front wings when I bought it in early 1994.

[New POD]

Do I have £2k for the insurance too? 

Sold a C reg metro turbo in Early 1992, for £1800, and even though they'd just started ramping up the insurance on hot hatches, there wasn't much for less than that. An Astra GTE was definately over £3k. A mk1 fiesta XR2 was £2k 

[warren t claim]

XR3i for me. Especially as they're sold with a free nosh from an OAP. 

[2flags]

Lancia Delta for me.

[AnthonyG]

Probably the Golf, although I reckon a decent example of a XR2 would be OK.

A 205 GT, or whatever the other mildly warm one was (1.4 XS?), would likely be better than either, and easier to insure back in the day.

Most of the others would be absolutely shagged by 1992, unless owned by old ladies who had been talked into buying one by an enthusiastic salesman.

Fun Fact: I bought a C reg Visa GTi for £350 hammer price at Leominster Car Auctions in summer 1993. Sadly the insurance company said FUCK NO, so it went back through the ring the following week.

In retrospect it’s probably for the best they did refuse a 19 year old me, I might not be here to tell the tale if they had accepted the risk….

[Wibble]

I’d probably have gone with a Golf. Astra and Escort as second and third.

[J-T]

Well according to their write up, they’re all shit, rusty, unreliable and impossible to fix. I particularly enjoyed,

”No image. Looks like a hen hut. Rust is endemic”

In 1992, father JT chose one of these on an ‘85 B plate;

Not the one in the pic, that’s one of the three I’ve owned. His was a white one (for some reason they only colour coded the white ones, all other colours had a black plastic body kit/bumpers. He stuffed it royally, rolled it 3 times and ended up upside down in the middle of a field. I did have a photo of it post accident somewhere but I can’t find it now. Anyway, they have a really loyal following from those that have owned them, they were always rare and now virtually extinct. They really did piss all over XR3is etc. 

[Timewaster]

They list a Cherry Turbo but not a 205?  Or the quick Corolla.

1994 I paid £4k for a very nice 4 year old 205Git from a showroom,  so there would have been plenty about for £2k

 

That list looks more 1985 than 1992.

[JeeExEll]

Strada 130.

Or look around for a Chevette HS or Capri 3.0S or 2.8i.

[captain_70s]

Alfasud. Given that everything in the list rots like fuck anyway.

[Urko]

4 hours ago, FakeConcern said:

In 1991 I bought this

Close enough?

I can't remember what I paid though...

'Kin ell - my Xr4x4 was E some numbers ROL

[somewhatfoolish]

I want the Uno but it also gives me the fear due to grenade potential, so I choose the Visa.

[sierraman]

Golf GTI, if not XR3i

[Stinkwheel]

Visa Gti every single time for me. Owned a late 115ch one in about 2001-2 for a while. It was mint and i part ex'ed a CX GTI Turbo 2 for it with Roger Bradford(RIP) at the old CX Centre near Huntingdon

Loved that car but it made you drive like a hooligan as it worked best when pushed. Id have another in a moment if they werent so damn rare. The guy i sold it to put it into a tree, RIP E66GRP.

[artdjones]

I can't make up my mind, Uno or Visa.  While they both can rust, they aren't absolute rotboxes like some of the alternatives.

[Westbay]

Gordini Turbo ...{sigh}

[EyesWeldedShut]

Visa GTi please - my memories remind me that they were fast, incredibly light and stuck to the road well. Why I ended up with a R5 still escapes me.

[grogee]

Visa GTI please. Fiat Strada Abarth would be proper exciting, 2-litre & carbs. In fact I don't know why I'm discounting the Fiat or an Alfa, they're all going to rot at an alarming rate.

I suppose if it's 1992 as per OP, I'd be able to get underneath it and give it a good rustproofing before it fully dissolves.

Sensible head says Astra GTE or Golf GTI.

Many of these look incredibly exotic now, I should imagine the amount of UK RHD Mitsubishi Colt Turbos and Cherry Turbos is close to zero.

[grogee]

I thought Alfa 33 Green Cloverleaf was 1.7 only?

[Noel Tidybeard]

in the absense of an MG Maestro on the list it falls to Ashtray GTE

[MorrisItalSLX]

I’d probably have the MG Metro Turbo, but the Lancia Delta GT looks very tasty.

[sierraman]

The Civic looks a bit out of place, picking it would be like going to an Indian restaurant and ordering a chicken omelette.