
When the Alfa Romeo 4C arrived in the U.S. for 2015, the brand skipped the soft reentry. Instead of a sensible sport sedan (which would come later), it brought a mid-engine coupe with manual steering and minimal sound deadening. It was a bold, slightly defiant move — and one that immediately set the 4C apart.…

When the Nissan 350Z arrived in 2003, it was more than just a new sports car — it marked the revival of the Z nameplate after a seven-year absence in the U.S. More importantly, it marked a philosophical change from the complex and expensive 300ZX. That car had priced itself out of the market by…

It’s possible that the only thing worth complaining about in Acura’s third-generation Integra is a steering wheel so bloated with a ’90s-era airbag that it dominates an otherwise inoffensive and durable interior. Truly, that’s it. Produced for eight glorious model years, the Integra’s combination of a screaming VTEC powerplant, low cost, capable handling and livability…

The Infiniti G35 and G37 Coupes were grand tourers known for being as easy on the eyes as they were on their owners’ wallets. Based on Nissan’s FM platform, which underpins its more famous Z cars, the coupes also shared mechanicals with sedan counterparts that borrowed their name, if not their beauty. Athletic and powerful,…

Unlike many of its early-2000s counterparts, Ford’s Focus SVT had something truly special going for it. It wasn’t the most powerful car in the sport compact world, and it certainly wasn’t the most aggressive-looking. But it may have had the most passionate development team behind it, ensuring that it filled the driver-centric niche for which…

The Nissan 240SX wound up being a commercial failure over its 10-year production run, yet it was a cultural success long into the decade that followed. After years of strong sales of its inexpensive front-engine, rear-drive Silvia in Japan and other markets, Nissan decided to bring the car to the United States in 1989. It…

Back in the late 1990s, before the Fast became Furious, Honda Motor Co. found itself the fortunate beneficiary of a momentous shift in car culture. Almost overnight, Honda Civics and Acura Integras became icons among a group of enthusiasts known as much for their ill-fitting pants as for their slammed hatchbacks. That these cars offered…

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 making a 3,200-pound car move…

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 valid firsts for car enthusiasts.…

If you want to out-Miata the Miata, there’s really only one option. You’ve got to pull out all the stops for mass reduction and centralization. You’ve got to go lighter and more focused. You’ve got to make a mid-engine sports car. So, some 23 years ago, that’s what Toyota did. The 2000–05 MR2 Spyder was…