Hi Guest!
Hey - did you know if you click on the title of a thread it will take you to the first unread post since you last visited that thread?
but were afraid to ask: 
STOP!! Never post your email address in open forums. Bots can "harvest" your email! If you must share your email use a Private Message or use the 
smilie in place of the real @
Pretty Please - add it to our Events forum(s) and add to the calendar! >> 
billspohn
Jedi Knight
Offline
It always depresses me when I look at a page of auto ads and all the dealers have are trucks and sedans.
There are very few sports cars - Miata/Fiat, Corvettes, the Toyabaru twins....and a bunch of people under the mistaken impression that a Camaro or Charger is somehow a sports car.
There are a couple of cars from the recent past that do qualify, though, both of which I own and can confirm that they are indeed sports cars.
The first is the Pontiac Solstice coupe. Only 1266 made before Pontiac was cancelled, and less than 300 of the manual transmission GXP (turbo) cars. Like any car, they are middle of the road on handling when issued, made to accommodate young Turks and little old ladies, but with minor suspension modification they handle very well indeed, and are subject to easy modification for power.
The factory stock 260 bhp could be boosted to 290 bhp and the torque from 260 Tq to 340 Tq with a simple factory available retune. A simple change in turbo and retune with a computer can boost power to 400+ without ever needing to open up the engine - simple bolt ons only. My moderately tuned car gets 30 mpg+ on the highway and does a 1/4 mile under 13 wecs, flat. Due to rarity, the coupe version has depreciated much more slowly and with time will probably climb a bit again. The convertibles offer the same performance potential with considerably lower prices - under $10K now in a lot of cases, vs, approaching $30K for coupes.
The other modern sports car that caught my eye was the BMW Z4M. I looked for one when I was thinking of replacing my 88 Fiero GT that was my daily driver for 20 years (300 BHP turbo with modified suspension etc.) Given that I prefer sports coupes, I looked for a Z4M coupe but came up empty. It was in 2009 just after they had discontinued that model, and none were for sale. I ended up buying the Solstice and have been very happy with it.
More recently I found out a couple of things. The reason I had trouble finding the Z4MC wasn't just that they had been new, it was that they only sold about 130 in Canada and 1815 in North America. They were really the last of the true M cars (the BMW marketing people suddenly realized that slapping that letter on anything up to and including their trucks would result in additional sales and all they needed to justify it was different wheels or some such).
These cars used the 3.2 l. straight 6 S54 engine which is naturally aspirated and produces 330 bhp at 7900 rpm, and they also got the giant floating disc brakes of the even rarer M3 CSL, and were only made with a 6 speed manual trans, so are specced for competition or spirited street driving. Unusually, they, like the Solstice, bring higher prices for the coupes than the convertible versions.
Nothing (except a V12) sounds as nice as a straight 6 at that sort of rpm, IMHO.
So collectible interesting sports cars are out there for those who look hard.
My pair:
There are very few sports cars - Miata/Fiat, Corvettes, the Toyabaru twins....and a bunch of people under the mistaken impression that a Camaro or Charger is somehow a sports car.
There are a couple of cars from the recent past that do qualify, though, both of which I own and can confirm that they are indeed sports cars.
The first is the Pontiac Solstice coupe. Only 1266 made before Pontiac was cancelled, and less than 300 of the manual transmission GXP (turbo) cars. Like any car, they are middle of the road on handling when issued, made to accommodate young Turks and little old ladies, but with minor suspension modification they handle very well indeed, and are subject to easy modification for power.
The factory stock 260 bhp could be boosted to 290 bhp and the torque from 260 Tq to 340 Tq with a simple factory available retune. A simple change in turbo and retune with a computer can boost power to 400+ without ever needing to open up the engine - simple bolt ons only. My moderately tuned car gets 30 mpg+ on the highway and does a 1/4 mile under 13 wecs, flat. Due to rarity, the coupe version has depreciated much more slowly and with time will probably climb a bit again. The convertibles offer the same performance potential with considerably lower prices - under $10K now in a lot of cases, vs, approaching $30K for coupes.
The other modern sports car that caught my eye was the BMW Z4M. I looked for one when I was thinking of replacing my 88 Fiero GT that was my daily driver for 20 years (300 BHP turbo with modified suspension etc.) Given that I prefer sports coupes, I looked for a Z4M coupe but came up empty. It was in 2009 just after they had discontinued that model, and none were for sale. I ended up buying the Solstice and have been very happy with it.
More recently I found out a couple of things. The reason I had trouble finding the Z4MC wasn't just that they had been new, it was that they only sold about 130 in Canada and 1815 in North America. They were really the last of the true M cars (the BMW marketing people suddenly realized that slapping that letter on anything up to and including their trucks would result in additional sales and all they needed to justify it was different wheels or some such).
These cars used the 3.2 l. straight 6 S54 engine which is naturally aspirated and produces 330 bhp at 7900 rpm, and they also got the giant floating disc brakes of the even rarer M3 CSL, and were only made with a 6 speed manual trans, so are specced for competition or spirited street driving. Unusually, they, like the Solstice, bring higher prices for the coupes than the convertible versions.
Nothing (except a V12) sounds as nice as a straight 6 at that sort of rpm, IMHO.
So collectible interesting sports cars are out there for those who look hard.
My pair:
Attachments
Last edited:
