You could buy all 10 of these hot hatches for the price of a new Alpine A290

Possibly the finest Golf GTI of all, the Mk5 saw VW nail the hot hatch recipe once again with a 198bhp turbo four-pot and proper terrier-like handling. This one’s a looker: a three-door with a manual 'box, black paint, tartan seats and a sunroof. Better still it’s covered just 92,000 miles at the hands of its two former keepers so far.

We’re still not over the retirement of the Fiesta. Thankfully, Ford sold so many of the critters there’s probably enough stock to last until the end of time. At £3,495 this entry level metallic blue ST-1 is nothing short of a bargain for one of the all-time hot hatch greats. And yes, we know this is technically the sixth generation of Fiesta, but it's the Mk7 on our shores thanks to the facelifted Mk4 being so often referred to as a Mk5. 

Opting for the harder Nürburgring Edition would’ve tested our ability to get all of these hot hatches for less than the price of the Alpine, so we’ve settled for a standard, pre-facelifted VXR from the Corsa D generation. No bad thing, mind, since this one still has 189bhp, excellent alloy wheels and proper Recaro seats.

You’d never know this S3 had over 143,000 miles to its name, such is the condition of its boxy exterior and leather-clad interior. What’s more, the four-pot has had a remap so it’s likely pushing more than its original 222bhp. Could be plenty of power for just £2.5k, then.

Quite simply a black, big-booted Megane Renaultsport with red calipers. It’s also the five-door version so your rear-seat passengers won’t look completely uncivilised getting out, and given it's wearing a fresh set of Michelin Pilot Sport 4s, it’s not been run on a budget either. What a thing.

Let’s mix things up with an automatic, for those days when you look at your fleet of used hot hatch heroes and fancy a relaxed cruise rather than a blast up a mountain. Now, we're not sure an R53 Cooper S with the JCW kit like this one should be considered a cruiser, even if it is an auto, but oh well. This one does at least have several optional extras bolted on, like a panoramic roof and leather Recaro seats. Fancy.

Perhaps a left-field pick, but this Leon Cupra R is properly menacing in the advertised spec. Blacked out with yellow brake callipers and tunnel-sized mid-mounted exhausts out back, it uses the ubiquitous 2.0-litre TFSI VW Group engine.

The five-cylinder Focus is the second-most expensive car on this list. But that’s fine, because the posher ST-3 example we’ve found has just 76,000 miles on the clock, so there should be plenty of life left in it.

The brilliant 208 GTi was a return to form for small Peugeot hot hatches, and we can't believe the French firm hasn't followed it up with a new one. Sad. Anyway, the turbocharged four-pot and six-speed manual gearbox combine fabulously on a windy back road; here’s a prime example on the cheap.

Yep, we’ve even managed to recruit a track-ready EP3. But what makes this Type R special is the engine: it uses a ‘K24’ four-cylinder, punching it to around 260bhp. There’s a long list of other mechanical upgrades too, from a new air box and intake manifold to adjustable coilover suspension. This thing sounds like a hoot.

What do we reckon folks? Our calculations put this fleet of 10 cars at a combined £32,976 - £524 less than the cost of a single, entry-level Alpine A290. The choice is yours…