Whenever there's a really bad crash on television, the reports are usually topped off by a policeman giving us very dry commentary about the cause of the accident, which is usually something along the lines of "the driver failed to adapt the speed of his vehicle to road conditions". This next story will tell you what he actually means!
Most people who buy hot hatch think it gives them license to go faster than everybody else. Sure, it's got better traction and better brakes. But does that compensate for the fact that you might be an idiot?
The Opel Corsa OPC is a serious little hot hatch. Launched a few years ago, it not only packs a punch thanks to a 1.6-liter turbo engine but it also looks quite sexy in that metallic blue paint and with its triangle exhaust.
It's a lovely car, or should we say it was a lovely car. Overtaking on the inside lane (the right hand lane where the slow traffic is supposed to be), the OPC driver dabs the brakes to avoid a near-crash with another road maniac and ends up spinning into incoming traffic.
After hitting a bus, the whole front end of the car is destroyed and the engine is pulled clear off. That, friends, is the definition of a writeoff, not to mention serious injury. Remember, the normal Corsa is not a very safe car in a crash, but once you put a huge engine in there bad things are bound to happen. Euro NCAP doesn't actually rate hot hatches, just the base models, so be careful if you own one.
Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida. Full profile
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