Daihatsu Charade Gtti

Running the owners club I've had a few of these cars. I'm now down to just two, my original grey car that got me into this and the original works rally car that I tracked down from the Isle Of Man.

These are simply great cars. Simple to work on and quite cheap to run. Fuel consumption is good and servicing is quite easy and cheap but the best thing is not the dreary economic facts but the damn huge grin these little turbo'd triples can put on your face. One of my previous GTtis was really nicely set up and honestly kept me from driving my Subaru Impreza Turbo for over a month. Not only was the handling excellent but the acceleration was excellent with a great sound track too. These car really do handle its not just grip but they are nicely balanced. Just make sure your bushes and shocks are not worn. I had the replace the front top mounts as these were quite worn and what a difference it made. You heart loads of boastful stories about people thrashing this and that but I can honestly say I kept up with an Escort Cosworth that was really going for it for over 2 miles round some twisty b roads... until one of the bolts holding the anti roll bar on came loose and nearly chucked me into the bushes !

These cars have a cult status and I now run the owners club. If you see one , buy it, if you know of one seek it out as it really is worth the hype. I've driven many of the highly regarded hot hatches, not all but a good number and whilst the std GTti handles well not great a lightly tweaked one is a real serious weapon and one of the best hatches I've driven. Real character and the only hot hatch I can think of with the same amount of personality was Fiats great Strada Abarth 130TC, which was in a different league to the 205 and Golf , the GTti is right up there.