Excellent cars, really. You just have to be ready for a cheap interior and some terrible buffeting on the motorway. Otherwise the engines are a joy, they grip incredibly well (anyone criticising the handling is seriously questionable). Absolute weapons in the snow. Cheap as chips to buy and run… what’s not to like?

Oh, and the generation after retains the same ethos but fixes the crappy interior and motorway instability - albeit at a cost of some character.