90's and 00's British Sports Car Equivalents?

Slow afternoon here at the office.

When I turned 16, my first car was a '67 Triumph GT6. Only two years older than I was. I got hooked into LBC's from then on. (Healey's, MG's, Austin's, etc).

My son, now 13, will be getting his license in a few years and I realized that I keep looking at cars from that generation for his first car. Problem is, I can't really think of anything that would be similar other than "the answer" and maybe one or two others.

Criteria would be small, slow hp but nimble and fun, easy to wrench/learn on, etc.

All I could come up with:
1) Miata (duh)
2) MR2

What am I missing from the list?

I could look for a Mini equivalent which opens up Civics, Swifts, Golfs, etc, but let's keep it to low budget "sports cars" for now.

-Rob

318Ti?

http://nashville.craigslist.org/cto/4808314890.html

Being generous with "low budget", I come up with:
Miata
MR2
S2000
Z3 and Z4
Solstice and Sky

Volvo 240, safe, rear end swaps, 16V head swaps, OEM turbo bits and swaps available from the OEM parts bin.

> my first car was a '67 Triumph GT6. Only two years older than I was.

Isn't that funny. Me too!

> small, slow hp but nimble and fun, easy to wrench/learn on

My best answer is E30. Maybe Z3. And Miata.

And a CRX if you can find one that's not beat to death.

Ha. My first car was a 72 GT6.

Oh, MR2 or a Rolla GT-S. Rolla XRS is pretty neat too, if you want something more modern.

Is one of the criteria to find a simple car that is only a couple years older than Junior then that would limit choices to year 2000 and newer?

JohnRW1621 wrote: Is one of the criteria to find a simple car that is only a couple years older than Junior then that would limit choices to year 2000 and newer?

Kinda, although I think anything from '95 to '05 would work.

If he had his choice, it'd be my truck with a cabover sleeper, a car hauler, and a Formula Vee.

So, it's not a mission to find something, just one of those Friday afternoon open ended discussions that got me thinking. Since I've got NO car guys at the office, I have to turn to the boards.

Although I agree E30's, Scorpio's and Volvo's are cool, they're more "saloon" ish than "sports car" ish.

(Yeah, open for interpretation for what's a "sports car", but it's all just in good fun)

-Rob

FC RX-7, in non turbo version?

Alfa Spiders were still imported through the early '90s.

Mercury Capri?

The car I had senior year of HS and through college was a 95 Ford Probe GT. It was a great little car and was what introduced me to the idea that a car can go fast in more than just a straight line. Enough power to have fun without getting in too much trouble, big enough to move back and forth to college, still looks good 20 years later, you just have to get past the name.

turn... talk to your kid... say, "kid... your shineola out of luck" Your life may be easier... but I had a better choice of cars growing up

Loz, I learned to drive a manual gearbox in a '73 GT6.... what's the deal with the GT6 being so popular for a rare car?

I think the Miata captures the spirit of a LBC, however if your looking for a modern example of poor quality with flair, look no further than anything Italian.

Fiero, mr2, first gen neon two door.

My first cars were muscle era. Im only 33...

May need to open up the options to FWD cars. Probe, MX6, Honda SI's, Focus SVT, etc- lots of quick cars that were FWD.

Perhaps look through some old SCCA National results for other ideas. That's one way I've brainstormed for Challenge cars.

'91-'93 SE-R

*EDIT...and a Starlet...or a Celica.

oldeskewltoy wrote: turn... talk to your kid... say, "kid... your shineola out of luck" Your life may be easier... but I had a better choice of cars growing up

LOL!!!

He's convinced I had better music, but don't know about cars.

He said if we don't get him a Vee to race every weekend, he like a first gen MINI, an Audi TT or a pre-68 Mini.

And, I agree, it's weird that so many of us had GT6's. Mine took me all through high school with rotten floor that dad and I welded up. Sold it to a British car used parts shop in Dallas to fund the engine rebuild on my Bugeye before I went to college.

-Rob

'04 Saturn Ion Redline.

Lets look at the climate at the time. It was around 1985 when you bought the then 18 year old Triumph. At that time, Triumph had ceased in the US for about 5 years. I suspect that so many here bought them because they were quickly loosing value as fears of parts and availability swirled around. Saturn is currently in a similar situation.

The GT6 was the big engined version of the much more common Spitfire.
Redline being the sporty version of the common Ion.

Neither was likely thought of as the "typical choice" for their time.
Neither was really an uncommon car for it's time, just fading and at the time thought of as an "old car." Notice, not "classic", just 15-20 years old.

I am trying to be more about the similar buying experience and brand/marketplace position than I am trying to be about driving style or "roadster/coupe feel."

Saabs could be similar.
Chrysler Crossfire (first sold as an '04 model.) The Benz influence that has now left Chrysler.
A V-6 Tiburon could also be classed as similar. A car from Korea before "car from Korea" was said with reverence and pride.

First gen CRX is to classic Mini as Miata is to MGB. Although you should allow the second gen because it's just easier.

Lotus M100?

On a more serious note, I agree that you need to include the FWD coupes that were popular in the mid/late 90s. DSMs, Probes, MX-6s, Prelude, Celica, etc.

Why pre-68? If you're not in Kahlefornya, up to 89 is now legal in classic mini land. An early RX7 is probably the closest to an LBC in driving dynamics outside of "the answer."
Don't forget people are racking up miles and depreciation on the toyobaru twins. They'll rapidly get more affordable, especially the Scion version because they don't have the Subaru built in fanboibase.

FX-16

Rob, I'd recommend going with your son's instincts and pick up a first gen MINI. It's a valid instinct. Better that it's his choice and not something Dad's trying to influence him with. (And if it were me, and my son was interested in racing a Vee, I'd have found a way to do that too, even if it was rebuilding a rusty relic as a father/son project).

I also agree with your son's thoughts on music!

What about a Z3 coupe? Not the M Coupe, but the 2.8 and 3 liter models. While these are fairly rare, many of the bits that make it go are shared with the more common Z3. They're not that fast by today's standards. Seems like it's the closest thing to a newer GT-6.

Your kid needs a C5. Yup.