#SportyCars
Japan Serves Updates on Two Sporty Names
It’s been a good few years for tuners who cut their teeth – or at least lusted after – sporty machines from Japan back in the day. Recent developments have seen the return of a Civic Type R and freshened Nissan Z, new versions of which are set to hit our shores later this year.
This week, Honda showed off their new R at the Tokyo Auto Salon in Japan, while video surfaced of Team Nissan demonstrating the aural delights of the forthcoming Z.
Rare Rides Icons: The Ford Capri, a European Mustang (Part III)
Today we conclude the Ford Capri’s story with its third and final generation. After the Mark I’s promising start as a simple and affordable sporty coupe, the Mark II went a bit too soft and comfortable and diverged into many different trims as Ford tried to appeal to a wider audience.
“We can fix it!” exclaimed Ford. Time for Capri Mark III.
Junkyard Find: 1987 Nissan Pulsar NX XE
Rare Rides Icons: The Ford Capri, a European Mustang (Part II)
We continue our series on the sporty European market Ford Capri today. Introduced in 1969 as a pony car to suit customers outside of North America, Capri proved an immediate success across Europe and found a more limited customer base in North America too. By the mid-Seventies, times had changed and it was time for a new Capri, the Mark II.
Rare Rides Icons: The Ford Capri, a European Mustang (Part I)
Across two generations and nearly two decades of production, the Ford Capri existed as the European market alternative to the very America-centric Mustang. Basic or more luxurious, thrifty or more powerful, Capri played an important role in its day: It brought a practical, fun driving experience within reach of the average European family consumer.
Rare Rides: A 1990 Buick Reatta Convertible in Nearly New Condition
Today’s Rare Ride represents the only time in history Buick built a two-seat car, and the only time a Buick had pop-up headlamps. It was also the last time Buick made a factory convertible in the United States, as the Opel Cascada wasn’t built domestically and was not a real Buick.
Let’s check out the Eighties low-volume experiment that was Reatta.
Rare Rides: The 1990 Chrysler LeBaron GTC Turbo Convertible, Variable Driving Excitement (Part II)
In our last installment of the Chrysler LeBaron story, we covered the model’s inception via a coachbuilder in Detroit, and its development from a trim into its own model line.
Today we cover LeBaron’s last stand.
Rare Rides: The 1990 Chrysler LeBaron GTC Turbo Convertible, Variable Driving Excitement (Part I)
Today’s Rare Ride is one of the rarest versions of Chrysler’s third-generation LeBaron, in its run up to the final days and the conclusion of the very long-lived K-car platform. Sporty, turbocharged, and done up in black, the LeBaron had a long and winding road to get to its terminus.
Let’s talk about that history a bit.
Rare Rides: The 1988 Buick LeSabre T-Type Coupe
Today’s Rare Ride is just one of the many attempts General Motors made throughout the 1980s and ’90s to chase after those youthful customers who ate dinner after 5:15 p.m.
It’s an aggressive Buick LeSabre T-Type from 1988.
Regular Passenger Cars Are Tanking As Performance Variants Hold Their Own
There’s a reason we run Midsized Sedan Deathwatch. North American consumers want space for six dogs, and nothing’s going to stop them from forking over big bucks for cargo volume and a third row. Traditional passenger cars be damned.
Increasingly, it looks like the market has been condemned — it’s down 12 percent over the first four months of this year. But the shrinking market presence isn’t solely the domain of the midsize. Compacts are in trouble, too. Full-size cars? You know the answer. However, if the vehicle in question started out as a conventional grocery getter but piled on the horsepower before leaving the factory, chances are it isn’t hurting.
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