Autocar names the Lancia Delta HF Integrale as the best sports car in the C segment of all time

A true legend. The Lancia Delta HF Integrale defined an entire era within the compact sports segment (if I may use the term) and over the years has earned fame as a cult classic or legendary car. And to put it back in the spotlight, the people at Autocar have chosen it, in a reader survey, as the best of all time in its category.

When Lancia was not going through the upheavals it is now experiencing within the same stable as Chrysler, the brand built the sales of this model on rally competition. The most famous version was the HF with a 190 hp engine and several advances that, for the time, were unthinkable in a road car, let alone in the C segment, such as the self-locking differential and electronically controlled independent suspension.

Curiously (or perhaps not so much?) the models that took almost all the top places in this survey are the Mk1 versions, the first versions of these cars. Is it just me, or do most of us miss the originals?

The list of winners chosen by Autocar is as follows:

• Lancia Delta Integrale – 14.3%
• Peugeot 205 GTi 1.6 – 7.9%
• Ford Focus RS (Mk1) – 7.7%
• VW Golf GTi (Mk1) – 6.8%
• Ford Escort Cosworth – 6.5%
• Honda Civic Type R (Mk1) – 5.8%
• Seat Leon Cupra R (Mk1) – 5.7%
• Peugeot 306 GTi-6 – 5.4%
• VW Golf GTi 16v (Mk2) – 5.0%
• Renault Clio Williams – 4.9%

Do you think there should be any changes to this list?

Source | Autocar