Jeff Zurschmeide

The Toyota MR2 rocked the sports-car world when it arrived in 1984. With a mid-engine, rear-drive design that stood on the shoulders of the Porsche 914 and Fiat X1/9, the lightweight Toyota offered nimble steering and adequate speed at a truly affordable price. American buyers stepped up, purchasing more than 37,000 of them in 1985.…

Aston Martin was under Ford Motor Company’s ownership from 1987 to 2007, an era in which even its most ardent fans would have to agree the brand was in the doldrums — or at least a bit lost. Yet Ford’s money in that era certainly saved one of Britain’s legendary marques from the graveyard, and…

In 2005, Pontiac brought forth what would be its last sporty car. The 2006 Solstice was an attractive — even rakish — convertible 2-seater with excellent balance and handling. The Pontiac’s introduction was followed up later in 2006 with a badge-engineered döppelganger called the Saturn Sky and Europeans got the same model as a revived…

“Why don’t we get the great cars that the Europeans get?” has been a constant complaint of American enthusiasts, regularly falling on deaf ears at the car companies. Well, except for one pair of ears — those belonging to the legendary Bob Lutz. Before he had GM importing Opels to sell here as Saturns (and…

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, nixed that plan, saying that…

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 sedans and coupes galore. There…

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 wrapped in a sexy folding-hard-top…

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 later.  Europeans got a host…