I once had a drive in a Ford Fiesta 1.6 turbo 130hp and I must say I was quite impressed with the performance. Handling and power was excellent BUT Ford was stupid enough to fit it with pretty shitty brakes. Only 2 disc brakes at the front. The Mark VW Golf Mk I & II GTi are famous for their performance, my uncle just told me he had one 10 years ago and he said even when he compares it to his 330Ci it still is impressive. But finding a good old GTi is very hard ... most aren't in a very good state.
If I had to choose one old small sporty car I would still go for the Mini Cooper S
