The Lotus Europa (1966-1975) is a regular on the pages of DailyTurismo because it is a good-looking classic with low production numbers (9300 models total across all years of production) and a simple asking price. However, if you are not a midget, you might find it hard to fit in a Europa. The roof is […]
This next car comes as a tip from Pat who writes: No affiliation with the ad but came across this 1 owner, 260k mile MR Spyder for sale:I imagine there are more comfortable ways to travel a quarter of a million miles but had to laugh at the over 100 service records on the carfax. […]
Production of the Mitsubishi 3000GT (and the Dodge Stealth corporate cousin) started in 1990 (and continued through the 2000 model year) and was met applause and love from the motoring world. However, if you wanted a sun-friendly version, you were fresh outta luck. Until Mitsu worked with ASC (American Specialty Cars) to create the 3000GT […]
The Puma Spyder was a convertible version of the Puma GTE, which was a low volume oddball built first on the Brazilian Volkswagen Kharmann-Ghia chassis and later the Volkswagen Brasilia chassis. It was the brainchild of Brazilian racer and businessman Genaro “Rino” Malzoni and sold in limited numbers in its home market, but a few […]
If you haven’t been to Hawaii, you might not understand this next car. The Islands are a beautiful place to visit, but not the best place for nice cars. The roads are pretty bad, weather is severe, and the salty ocean air is corrosive, so you wouldn’t want to drive a Ferrari. But you might […]
The Lancia Beta Zagato was a quasi-convertible version of the Beta coupe along the lines of the Baur Targa-ized BMWs from the same era. The Zagato (or Spyder) is a very affordable way to get into an Italian car designed by Pininfarina produced in limited quantity, and it was super cheap…at least until a few years ago when people figured out that it was a Lancia. LANCIA! This is the Italian marque that was founded in Turin in 1906 by Vincenzo Lancia and his buddy Claudio Fogolin. Sure, Lancia was taken over by Fiat in 1969 and it turned into a has-been “other brand” like Fiat’s version of Pontiac/Oldsmobile/Buick…but Lancia was the company that won Formula 1 races in the 1950s and Juan Manuel Fangio wont the 1956 championship with a Lancia-Ferrari racing car that pioneered the use if the engine as a stressed chassis component. Later Lancia won the 1972 World Rally Championship with a rear-drive Stratos (and later the 037) when everyone else (ahem, Audi) was running all-wheel-drive. But this car is a Beta, so it is as far from racing as you could get…but Lancia won the 1981 World Sportscar Championship (with races at Dayton, Sebring, Monza, Silverstone, Riverside, Nürburgring, LeMans, Spa, Road America, and Brands Hatch) with a heavily modified Beta Montecarlo. Bottom line…buy this 1981 Lancia Zagato Spyder offered for $11,500 in Syracuse, NY via craigslist.
If you are in the market for a cheap ($5k-$7k) late model (MY 2000+) sports car (two seats…rag top…etc) there are a few obvious choices. The Boxster makes a good case — but potential maintenance issues will be huge. The MX-5 Miata is ubiquitous and not special enough. The Audi TT suffers the same potential […]
The 3rd generation (W30) Toyota MR2 Spyder was the last version of Toyota’s mid engine runabout to be sold anywhere in the world. It was a decent handling little car and I recall driving one new at a dealer’s lot back around the year 2000; it was light and superbly balanced. Prices are cheap today […]
You might be know (based on the weather around these parts these days..sheesh) but summer is coming. And tipper SecondMouse send us the following comment with this next car: Cheap, reliable, shift it yourself fun in the sun on the cheap: Find this 2001 Toyota MR2 Spyder offered for $3,900 in Houston, TX via craigslist. From the […]
The 3rd generation (W30) Toyota MR2 Spyder was the last version of Toyota’s mid engine runabout to be sold anywhere in the world. It was a great handling little car and I recall driving one new at a dealer’s lot back around the year Y2K. It was light and superbly balanced, the only complain could […]