Encyclopedia Hoonatica: "We should add a hatchback version!"

EH-hatchback-added An old friend of mine once recalled his father car shopping at the local American Motors dealer in the fall of 1972. He was torn between the utility of the Gremlin and the styling of the Hornet coupe — both of which had been out for two years — until the salesman took him around the back of the building to see the very first Hornet hatchback they’d received, still un-prepped. His dad bought it immediately. Hatchbacks have not been around nearly as long as coupes and sedans, generally speaking. In fact, the Hornet was the first American-built hatchback model. (The Gremlin was considered a compact wagon at the time.) More to my point, the Hornet hatchback has not been around as long as the rest of the Hornet line-up, and that is the subject of our trivia contest quest for encyclopedic knowledge today. I want you to name all the car models that had a hatchback version added later, after the car was first introduced. Now, “car model” is a somewhat nebulous term. So, just to be clear, I’m looking for hatchbacks that were added to an existing platform mid-cycle, not as part of a new generation across the model range. The Caveats (there are always caveats):

  • Production cars only, obviously. If it wasn’t in meaningful serial production, it doesn’t fit this category.
  • 3-doors and 5-doors are both good, as are so-called “liftbacks.”
  • “Later” means LATER. As in, introduced after the car was shipping — preferably by at least half a model year or so. So DON’T mention that hatchback that was announced alongside the other body styles and just didn’t ship quite as quickly. (Yeah, THAT one.)
  • Non-identical cousins based on a common platform are likely to get a pass today. You can still nominate a “hatchback-come-lately”™, despite an earlier hatchback version, as long as it was only offered in a different wheelbase or in a different market. You might also be able to argue that an earlier hatchback version sold under a different brand name shouldn’t disqualify your nomination, as long as it wasn’t a blatant case of badge engineering.
  • Motorcycles? Airplanes? Boats? Sure, if you can come up with one, why not. Lots’a luck with those.

Difficulty: This one’s somewhat odd; the vast majority of the fruit is neither low-hanging nor truly obscure. How This Works: Read the comments first and don’t post duplicates! Bonus points for adding photos. Image Sources: Ate Up With Motor’s Flickr Stream, the Pedia that is Wiki, and manufacturer press photos.

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