And although it has marginally grown larger and heavier over the years, (now known as the less romantic MX-5) the Mazda two-seater’s popularity has prevented it from going the way of many of the Japanese sports cars on this list. While the most recent Eclipse was a subjectively good-looking car, it lacked the spunky, well-tuned nature of its most memorable predecessor. But it was the 1989 Miata that established the Japanese automaker as a committed maker of cars for driving enthusiasts that continues on today. You can update file permissions with a FTP client or through cPanel's File Manager. With a 3.0-liter V-6 pushing out 270-hp in 1991 and up to 290-hp by the end of its production in 2005, the NSX was nothing more than an exercise in the capability of Japanese engineering (with flip-up headlights!). Unauthorized distrbution, transmission or republication strictly prohibited. The Supra was available in base trim with the incredibly capable 3.0-liter inline-6 putting out 220-horsepower, but more serious customers could opt for the monster 320-hp twin-turbo version. There's a reason that Ayrton Senna proudly owned one, and if it's possible to find an un-modified example, you should too. The 1990s were the peak for Honda, Toyota, Mitsubishi, and Mazda, with a myriad of sports cars and European giant-slayers to choose from, many of which were affordable to the working class speed junkie. The Mitsubishi GTO is a front-engine, all-wheel/front-wheel drive 2+2 hatchback sports coupé and Grand Touring car manufactured and marketed by Japanese automobile manufacturer Mitsubishi for 1990–1999 model years, across a single generation with one facelift.Manufactured in Nagoya, Japan, the four passenger coupés were marketed in the Japanese domestic market (JDM) as … With 320 horsepower from its twin-turbocharged six, the Supra Turbo trumped its 300ZX rival by about a half-second in zero-to-100 km/h runs. Marketed as the first “Everyday Supercar,” the Acura actually forced Ferrari to make its cars more reliable and easier to maintain. Unfortunately, many surviving models have been modified by the tuner crowd beyond recognition, so finding an original-spec Supra is extremely difficult. Despite a current lineup of excellent-handling cars like the Mazda3 and Mazda6, the Hiroshima-based automaker is still lacking a sporty coupe for those who can do without 4 doors. Lesser powered, fuel-sipping versions of the CRX made for great commuter cars. While the 1990 Nissan 300ZX retained the V6 from its lame predecessor; everything else was new. The Supra started out in 1976 as a rival to the likes of American personal luxury coupes like the Buick Regal and Oldsmobile Cutlass, essentially a Celica with a stretched nose and an inline six. The 1991 Honda (Acura in the U.S. market) NSX was a mid-engined response to Italian supercars that boldly exclaimed: "Japan can do it too!" Unfortunately, the Talon was discontinued in 1998, and the Eclipse eventually lost its AWD and high-strung turbo versions. We round off our list with one of Japan's crowning motoring achievements. Built to rival such 1990 Japanese super sports cars as the Toyota Supra, Mazda RX-7 and Nissan 300ZX, the 3000 GT (sold as the Mitsubishi GTO in its … If only Mitsubishi would look a little harder at its own history…. Available with up to 200-hp upon its demise in 1997, the MX-6 was a direct rival to the Honda Prelude, and was just as capable in every way. Noting the demise of entry-level European sports cars from MG, Triumph, Alfa Romeo and Fiat by the 1990s, the Miata definitely filled a hole in the marketplace. In order files to be read by the webserver, their permissions have to be equal or above 644. Bigger, fatter, and oddly styled from the folded-paper school of design, Nissan knew it had to reset the next Z due in 1990 — and boy, did it ever succeed. If you are the webmaster of this site please log in to Cpanel and check the Error Logs. Although the car retained its basic shape design, it would pass through three revisions in … Fully loaded, the Mitsubishi sports car nearly tipped the scales at 3,800 lbs. The current two-seat, front-wheel-drive Honda CR-Z hybrid sports car is supposed to be a reincarnation of the CRX, one of the greatest entry-level sports cars ever made. While we have a modern equivalent of the excellent 300ZX in the form of the 370Z, the 240SX has no true spiritual successor in Nissan's lineup. Targeting what was considered the top super sports car of the time — the Ferrari 348 — Honda set it sights fairly high with the original NSX, a two-seat, mid-engine, rear-wheel drive super car powered by an all-aluminum six-cylinder gas engine featuring Honda’s revolutionary Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control (VTEC) system. Upon its inception in 1991, the 3000GT in top-spec VR-4 trim offered technology seen only on today's high-end sports cars. Voiture disponible sans délais. For the money, nothing could touch the Acura NSX when it came to its remarkable handling. 5. With up to 200-hp until the end of its production in 1995, the second generation MR2 would do well as a working-class Porsche Boxster/Cayman rival, and would send the message to the masses that Toyota wants to be fun again. But the fatter, more complicated and less driver-focused targa-topped roadster couldn’t deliver its predecessors’ driving mojo.