The days of noisy boy racers flying past in souped-up cars with offensively loud exhaust pipes look numbered.
That’s because their beloved ‘hot hatches’ are accelerating towards demise as car makers cull them from their ranges as part of their transitions to electric vehicles.
Two of the nation’s most popular have been confirmed for the chopping block by their respective manufacturers in recent weeks.
Ford says production of its much-loved model is due to cease in November – and it is no longer taking new order.
And Honda has said its big-spoilered offering will disappear for good next year, bowing out with a final edition version that’s just been unveiled to culminate its near 30-year lifecycle.
Riotous petrol-engined hot hatches are now being replaced by a new breed of silent electric performance cars that are likely to cause far less offence, though might not provide the excitement craved by boy racers congregating in McDonalds car parks.
End of the road for the boy racer? With their beloved hot hatches now disappearing, could it kill off a modern-era motoring movement?
For some, the demise of the antisocial boy racer hooning around our roads will be a good thing…
Hot hatchbacks are high performance variants of run-of-the-mill family cars.
While they’re fast and relatively easy to customise into anti-social vehicles with bigger exhaust systems and whooshing dump valves that when passing your house in the evening will make you leap out of your armchair – they are also practical enough to cope with the rigours of day-to-day life, with lots of space in the back and traditionally big boots.
But as manufacturers brace for an electric future, they are increasingly being motivated to kill off their combustion engine vehicles at alarming pace to avoid Government-imposed fines for failing to achieve adequate EV sales between now and 2030.
And its hot hatches that have become prime candidates to kill-off earliest.
Stricter emissions regulations due to come into force have also rendered many of these unleaded-gulping motors unviable for sale.
Ford has reacted to these mounting pressures, confirming last month that its Focus ST is no longer available to order in the UK – ahead of production climaxing at the end of this year.
Ford has confirmed that the latest version of the Focus ST is no longer available to order in the UK. The Focus is going out of production shortly
It ends a 23-year run for the hot hatch that’s spanned four generations of Focus family cars, much to the upset of petrolheads across the country (previous generation pictured)
Given its hooligan looks and adoration among boy racers, Jeremy Clarkson once comically suggested Ford renamed this version of the ST the ‘Asbo’
The blue-oval brand had still been taking deposits on the ST until April, but on 26 May culled it from its updated dealer price lists.
It ends a 23-year run for the hot hatch that’s spanned four generations of Focus family cars, much to the upset of petrolheads across the country.
Ford UK said that while it is no longer taking new orders, there are ‘around 170 built and unsold’ STs currently available within the dealer network.
Just a week after Ford ditched Focus ST availability, Japanese rival Honda confirmed its Civic Type R – an icon among boy racer ranks for almost three decades – will bow out in the next few months.
Honda’s Civic Type R Ultimate Edition will be the last version of the long-running hot hatch after 28 years
Honda said it’s removing the Type R from its line-up next year because ‘the industry is changing and our model range is having to evolve with it in accordance with European legislation’
The Civic Type R has epitomised the boy racer scene for decades, thanks to its scintilating performance, big exhausts and even larger spoilers
The Honda Civic EP3 of the early noughties has become a modern classic and is widely considered one of the best hot hatchbacks of all time
Unveiling an ‘Ultimate Edition’ version at the start of June, it said the Civic Type R’s 28-year lifespan is being ended in 2026 by the EU’s stringent emissions regulations.
Honda said it’s removing the Type R from its line-up next year because ‘the industry is changing and our model range is having to evolve with it in accordance with European legislation’ being introduced in the next 12 months.
Only 40 Ultimate Edition Type Rs will be made – and just 10 are guaranteed for UK customers, with prices likely to exceed £50,000.
The Focus ST and Civic Type R’s expiries come in the tyre tracks of a series of hot hatches being axed in the UK.
Last year, Hyundai called time on its i20N and i30N, while Ford terminated its Focus RS in 2018.
The Fiesta, which Ford lowered the curtain on in the summer of 2023, took with it the ST variant, while Peugeot’s 308 GTi was terminated in 2020, having only been available for around a year.
It means that very few front-wheel-drive hot hatches now remain, with the VW Golf and Polo GTI, Mini Cooper S, and Ford Puma ST among the increasingly limited options.
Those wanting a four-wheel-drive performance model can still get their hands on a Golf R, Mercedes A45 AMG S, or Toyota GR Yaris – though these hot hatches are seriously under threat from the tightening EU emissions regulations due shortly.
In the last few days, Toyota confirmed that production of its GR Corolla hot hatch will move from Japan to its Derbyshire factory in the UK to appease huge demand from US customers. Though despite being built in Britain, the GR Corolla isn’t a car that’s sold here.
Instead, brands are focussing on a new wave of electric performance models.
Car makers forced to kill off their hot hatches over emissions regulations and the EV transition running towards the end of the decade, we’re seeing the arrival of electric performance models, like Abarth’s 500
Alpine’s new A290 is a hot hatch version of the recently-launched Renault 5 E-Tech. It promises to be one of the best electrified performance cars we’ve seen so far
The Hyundai Ioniq 5 N is another electric hot hatch on sale currently. It’s not cheap, though, starting from an eye-watering £65,000
Peugeot on Friday revealed its new e-208 GTi – an all-electric spiritual successor to the 205 GTi of the 1980s and ’90s
The Abarth 500, Alpine A290 and Hyundai Ioniq 5 N are all zero-emission – and zero noise – cars already on sale to fill the void left by the traditional hot hatchback.
Though they’re not cheap.
The Fiat 500-sized Abarth rings in at £30k, Alpine’s tuned-up take on the Renault 5 E-Tech starts from £33,500, and Hyundai’s souped-up electric SUV is an eye-watering £65,000.
On Friday, Peugeot unveiled its e-208 GTi on the eve of the Le Man 24 Hour race.
It has been dubbed the battery-powered spiritual successor to its legendary 205 GTi from the 1980s and ’90s – though readers [in the comments, anyway] are plenty upset about the use of the GTi emblem on an EV.
