BACK TO FRONT

That these two technically rather different cars could ever have been viewed as peer-to-peer, class rivals says a great deal about the shape of the ‘warm’ hatchback market just over 40 years ago, and also how it has evolved in the years since. The Ford, after all, was front-wheel drive and thus pointed the way to the future of the segment, while the Talbot, the product of a last-ditch government financial aid package, was resolute in its old school, rear-wheel drive configuration.

But the first hot Fiesta and Sunbeam (the Lotus version didn’t appear until 1979) burst onto the scene at near enough the same time and, for a brief while, represented the sharp end of the performance hatchback sector.