On the surface, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (now Stellantis) had a great idea for a new lightweight 2-seat sports car. The 2012 co-development agreement with Mazda that led to the 2017–20 Fiat 124 Spider was originally intended to produce a new Alfa Romeo model. However, its CEO, the late Sergio Marchionne, […]

By the time Subaru rolled out the 2008 WRX and WRX STI in the U.S. the car had already enjoyed massive success. Debuting in 2000 as a 2002 model, it was arguably the first modern rally-bred car sold here in significant numbers. Turbocharging and all-wheel drive have a way of […]

If you’ve recently been looking for a cheap modern BMW with a manual transmission, you may have noticed that they are no longer so easy to find. Just a few years ago, if you had $5k–$10k to spend, you could have your pick of numerous models, 3 and 5 Series […]

There aren’t many high-end sports cars that become truly affordable, both in purchase price and in real cost of ownership. The 2002–08 Mercedes-Benz SL55 AMG, however, is one such unicorn. Typical market prices are less than the cost of a new Toyota Camry, and you get a sweet supercharged V8 […]

The new Mini entered the market in the 2002, now under BMW ownership, and was immediately successful. This was an era of retro-fabulous versions of European classics. Volkswagen’s New Beetle had turned up a few years prior, and Fiat gave its venerable 500 the same treatment just a few years […]

Jaguar ended production of the immortal E-type in 1974. Its immediate successor, the 1975–95 XJS, was neither as pretty nor as fun to drive. When the XK8 coupe debuted in 1996, it had styling that once again evoked Jaguar’s sporting heritage. But arguably, it wasn’t until 2005 when a truly […]

The affordable sports car has always been the foundation of the car-enthusiast hobby, and for decades such cars were plentiful. The Mazda Miata became the king of this segment in the 1990s, evoking everything drivers ever loved about their British and Italian sports cars while providing modern Japanese reliability. That’s […]

There’s a certain kind of person who’s drawn to Volvo station wagons. Typically, that person is a driving enthusiast who loves the practical applications of a wagon, affording all the cargo capacity of an SUV along with the performance and handling of a passenger car. The “long roof” cognoscenti smile […]

As the world nervously prepared for the click over to the year 2000, Audi was staging a comeback. A rough patch in the 1980s after the “60 Minutes” unintended-acceleration exposé had seen it nearly pack up in the U.S. and head back to Ingolstadt. The early 1990s saw a complete […]

It’s nice to be first. Ask Jeff Bezos. Or Bill Gates. Or the Netflix guy. And, yes, even Mitsubishi. It didn’t nail it right out of the gate — that came later with the Lancer Evolution (see “Affordable Classic,” July 2021) — but the Eclipse GSX marked a lot of […]