Picture a hot hatch in its most natural environment. What comes to mind?

The Nurburgring is GT3 racer territory. Autobahns? Super-sedan turf. But if it’s gravel, or forests, then bingo, it’s hot-hatch heaven.

While the earliest cars terrorised suburbs and car parks, injecting a small, boxy bodyshell into motorsport was the work of Renault and Talbot-Lotus, who battled in the World Rally Championship. Both companies saw the strengths in short overhangs on loose surfaces.

Race cars had to be related to a mass-produced road car after Group A replaced the exciting, but dangerous, Group B era. So Lancia turned to its humble Delta HF, already with a turbocharged engine, and stuffed it with an all-wheel drive system. It took the ’87 WRC gong, and was upgraded for successive seasons, to win the next six.

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2017 Mercedes-AMG A45

1989 Lancia Delta HF Integrale 16v

ENGINE

1991cc inline-4, DOHC, 16v, turbo

1995cc inline-4, DOHC, 16v, turbo

POWER

280kW @ 6000rpm

144kW @ 5750rpm

TORQUE

475Nm @ 2250rpm

304Nm @ 3500rpm

WEIGHT

1480kg

1300kg

0-100KM/H

4.16sec (tested)

5.7sec (0-97km/h)

PRICE

$78,611

u00a319,625/AU$39,400 (when new)

$75,000 (used)

Here’s one we found on Trade Unique Cars

1990 Lancia Delta Integrale 16v – 56,000km, manual, E85 tune, $75,000

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It’s not the absolute pinnacle, but the Integrale 16v still came with widened tracks, four-wheel drive, and upped power. This one’s been kept in great nick, but also copped a full engine rebuild and an E85 tune.