Autocar Lunchbox: First car adventures, our favourite hot hatches and more

We round up our hottest stories, pictures and videos for you to devour in your lunch break

It’s everyone’s favourite part of the working day, lunchtime, and you’re no doubt craving a hefty dose of car-related content. 

So we’ve revived our Autocar Lunchbox feature to bring you our favourite videos, stories, photos, quotes and more all in one place. Here are today’s picks:

*HOT NEWS*

We've still got months to wait before the new eighth-generation Volkswagen Golf GTI touches down in UK showrooms, but we already have an idea of what to expect, thanks to an early passenger ride in a development prototype. Join us at VW's secretive Ehra-Lessien test track to find out if the latest iteration of the hot hatch icon will be the best there is. 

*First ride: 2020 Volkswagen Golf GTI prototype*

*VIDEO OF THE DAY*

What's better than a Suzuki Jimny? Two Suzuki Jimnys. The new Jimny is one of our favourite cars of the moment, for reasons even we can't figure out sometimes, but think it's down to its charm and honesty and its off-road brilliance.

And it is but the latest in an extended line of Jimny that stretches back half a century. Which made us think: let's put the latest Jimny into some kind of context by driving a classic of what was once often kindly, albeit incorrectly, known as the 'Suzuki Jeep'. So we got our hands on a 1980s Suzuki SJ410 and put it through the same paces as the latest Jimny as the modern car meets one of its heroic predecessors.

*PHOTO OF THE DAY*

Readers have been getting in touch to tell us all about their first car and how it shaped their love of motoring, and Raymond Chandler's account of VW Beetle ownership is one example of why a first car can be more special than anything that comes after. Click below to read how he won a student rally tournament with just 1200cc on tap and managed to block out the sound of the engine with a well-placed duvet.

*Your first cars: Autocar readers share their stories*

*FROM THE ARCHIVE*

We love a good hot hatch here at Autocar, and we really love a great hot hatch. To find out which is objectively the best of the bunch - and whether we might be looking at some older models through rose-tinted glasses - we grabbed our five favourites and headed to one of the best roads the UK has to offer. 

*Best hot hatches through the ages: Autocar's top five face off*

*POPULAR OPINION*

Unless you like video games, it can be tricky to get your automotive fix in the midst of a nationwide lockdown, but Steve Cropley has had hours of fun playing around with various manufacturers' online configuration tools. The trouble is, he reckons, customers could soon be better-versed in new cars than the people paid to sell them.

*Steve Cropley: Feed the soul with a configurator binge*