One might recall that in the early 1980s, Pontiac introduced the Fiero. It was a mid-engine, four-cylinder, small, two-seater car. When the Pontiac stopped producing the Fiero, there was a gap in its lineup. The customers of the niche started to look elsewhere. It was 2002 before Pontiac would try to fill that two-seater gap …

Today, the Ford Mustang, Chevy Camaro, and Corvette are often what come to mind when you think ‘American sports car.’ And before that, there were cars like the Shelby Cobra and Daytona. However, not every American sports car is as well-remembered. Few remember the Cheetah, for example. And despite being significantly newer, not many remember …

By 2006 the Mazda MX-5 Miata had become the benchmark for affordable roadsters in the United States. It had been on the market for over twenty years, with competitors disappearing in its wake. Then, the Pontiac Solstice appeared on the scene. Shoppers suddenly were forced to consider Miata versus Solstice before making a choice.  Miata Debut The …

The original Z3 debuted in 1995 as a ’96 model and sported gorgeous lines reminiscent of BMW’s 507 roadster, a retro-inspired interior, and an anemic 1.9-liter four-cylinder engine that didn’t do the athletic chassis justice. Despite its disappointingly weak engine, the BMW Z3 was a wildly-successful two-seater that essentially created the premium roadster category back …

The Toyota MR2 Spyder descended from a proud lineage of affordable and insanely fun mid-engine performance cars dating back to 1985. Compared to the much more popular first and second-generation MR2 models, the Spyder was a focused lightweight sports car that did more with less. And we mean less—the MR2 Spyder tipped the scales at …