Sports cars are, ultimately, cars that are fun to drive. And the cheaper a car is, the more fun you're willing to have with it. Here are the ten best combinations of these perfect characteristics, as chosen by Jalopnik readers.
Welcome back to Answers of the Day — our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers. Enjoy!
Photo Credit: Jimmy Flink
10.) Toyota MR-2
Suggested By: brain1321
Why it's best: Back in the 1980s, Toyota was a little worried that its increasingly dull Camrys and Corollas were killing interest in the whole brand, so the company decided to use its manufacturing expertise to build some budget sporty cars to spruce up its image. That's how the world ended up with a mid-engine sports car built with parts from a Corolla. It was (and often still is) the perfect poor man's exotic.
Photo Credit: Jacob T. Meltzer
9.) Nissan 240SX
Suggested By: spngr311
Why it's best: Some might call the 240SX more of a ‘sporty car' than an out-and-out sports car, but it's hard to argue against a lightweight, RWD car that wasn't priced into the stratosphere.
Photo Credit: Dave L
8.) Ford Mustang
Suggested By: Jack Trade
Why it's best: Again, when the Mustang came out in the mid 1960s, it wasn't exactly a sports car in the classic small, light, rorty mold, but if there has ever been a presence in the market for something that's low-cost and fun to drive and own, it's been the Mustang. Sports cars are about being young and enjoying the open road, and the Mustang brought that to Americans like nothing else before or since.
Photo Credit: Alden Jewell
7.) Toyota Corolla AE-86
Suggested By: Ravey Mayvey Slurpee
Why it's best: The AE86 was part of the same anti-boring campaign that gave the world the MR-2, only the front-engine AE86 was even simpler and cheaper than its mid-engine cousin. These coupes were one of the last hurrahs for an old automotive formula – a high-tech small engine sold in a cheap rear-wheel drive coupe. That AE86s also provided platforms for low-budget competition programs - not just drifting, but all kinds of on-track racing – made them legendary.
Photo Credit: Chewy Chua
6.) Mazda RX-7
Suggested By: ODD DOOD
Why it's best: An affordable, chuckable, rotary-powered car – what more has to be said? Old RX-7s may have been a little liberal with their consumption of petroleum products, but they rewarded their owners with a driving experience paralleled by few, especially at its price. RX-7s grew steadily faster, heavier, and pricier as the years grew on, and there is little to compare with the simple, beautiful first-generation car.
Photo Credit: Robert Nightingale
5.) Triumph Spitfire
Suggested By: Jstas
Why it's best: Many people will tell you that the British sports cars of yore were made obsolete by the 1989 Mazda Miata. These people may never experience the glorious, wonderful ownership experience of the two days a year you finally get your Triumph running right. You can tear ass around some country lanes with the bravado and urgency of someone who knows their car may break down within the next ten minutes.
Photo Credit: Alden Jewell
4.) Honda CRX
Suggested By: luisthebeast
Why it's best: Front wheel drive or not, the CRX was a small, peppy car with a budget price tag and a curb weight that put an RX-7 to shame. If you want to be a hater and pooh-pooh its front-wheel drive drivetrain, you've clearly never enjoyed the downright brilliant CRX's handling and roadholding. It might not have the performance that you might expect of a modern sports car, but if power wasn't what you were looking for back in the 1980s (and it is by no means a necessity in the sports car genre), then a little Honda like this was just about perfect.
Photo Credit: Your Pal Marnie
3.) MG TC Midget
Suggested By: My X-type is too a real Jaguar
Why it's best: Beginning with 1929's based-off-a-Morris Minor M-type Midget, MG defined the sports car for most of the 20th Century. This is what beardy people will tell you at your local car show, while you cry from boredom and think about how you could be doing much more interesting things with your life, like learning the fine art of flower arrangement. Well, those beardy types do have a bit of a point, and MGs like the archetypal postwar TC practically brought sports cars into American culture and defined the market with a pretty body, exciting road manners, and a reasonable price tag. Thanks beardy history types!
Photo Credit: Alden Jewell
2.) MGB
Suggested By: Hart 88
Why it's best: Like the TC before it and like the Miata after it, the MGB was a car that offered more fun per dollar than just about anything else on the market. It didn't burn rubber like a muscle car, but it could slide through the bends and look good doing it. They're quickly becoming classics just because it's still hard to find anything that's just as stylish or sporty for its price.
Photo Credit: Smudge 9000
1.) Mazda Miata
Suggested By: Spiegel
Why it's best: It might have cost more than an Accord when it was new, but there has never been a sports car quite like the MX-5 Miata. It's girly, it's manly, and it's affordable and reliable enough that everyone can share an opinion on it. There no question that Miatas blew the sports car market open when they debuted, and there is little against the claim that Miatas are still the most dominating presence in the low-cost sports car world. Everyone knows it's the best, some of us just try and fight it.
Photo Credit: Latham Papworth