Hot hatch icons take over the new issue of evo – car pictures of the week

We love French performance cars at evo. The French have given us some of the best hot hatches over the years, aiding in definition of the breed and setting the benchmarks by which most hot hatch pretenders are measured. So when it came to dreaming up evo Eras follow-up ideas, a face-off between some 1980s French hot hatches was one of the first lightbulb moments.

Here follows a battle between a Citroen AX GT, a 1.6 Peugeot 205 GTI and a Renault 5 GT Turbo. Not much more proof is needed that the number of horsepower at your disposal has nothing to do with the amount of fun that can be had.

Then on the other end of the spectrum, there’s France’s history with delectable delicate sports cars, one of the best of which is Alpine’s A110. How to perfect a near-perfect coupe? Make it wider, more aggressive, with wider tyres, KW adjustable suspension and a worked-over engine for 338bhp. Oh, and some delicious near-OEM-standard custom coachwork as a visual tribute to Alpine’s historic rally cars. That, in addition to some spectacularly loud colour and spec choices, plus some very special O.Z Racing wheels, is the fine work of Ravage Automobile. Jewel-like cars.

Fear not, we’re driving the latest greatest new cars in the new issue too, across a broad spectrum, from Volkswagen’s Golf Edition 50 to Ferrari’s 849 Testarossa supercar. We also head off to the Nürburgring for some tuition and laps in a new Porsche 911 GT3, to Tennessee in the US for an audience with The Tail of the Dragon and to Monaco for Rallye Monte-Carlo 2026. 

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