What was the first hatchback car?

Answer 1

I remember the Australian GMH Holden Torana Hatchback...

it was a two door car and the hatch was actually the boot lid and rear window.

the hatch was VERY heavy... and very large..

it used a 6-cylinder or 5 liter V8 engine..

It was made in 1976-77-78 in Australia

There is locally a Toyota Corona Liftback car, a 4 door and the boot and rear window lift up in one piece.. these were fully imported cars.

not sure what year they were made..

The VW Golf hatch started in 1976... which is a true Hatchback...

and continues to be made.

LEE in Scone NSW

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ACTUALLY...

The LX Holden Torana was a long way from being the first hatchback vehicle, and it wasn't even the first Oz-built hatchback (that title belongs to the Morris Nomad of 1969). Same with the Golf, which arrived as early as 1974 in some markets. And yes, it is still being made today after more than 30 million examples, though it shares nothing but its name with the original Mark I model of that era.

Nor was the 1965 Renault 16 the first hatchback, or the Austin A40 Farina. The first British hatchback was the Aston Martin DB2/4 Mk III of 1953, but even that wasn't the first hatchback car.

The earliest American hatchback was the 1949 Kaiser Traveler, which sported a very early version of the hatch we so love today. It was, however, a two-piece unit, not unlike the tailgate unit used in Holdens, Falcons and Valiant wagons of the 1960s and 1970s, and Hillman Minx series models prior to the Hunter, among other station wagons of the era.

The French probably invented the hatchback in 1938, when the Citroen Traction Avant 11CV Commerciale was first produced, albeit somewhat briefly. That is... unless somebody else can come up with something even earlier than that.

David Edlin

Motoring Historian (NZ)

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