The Demise of the Affordable Sports Car

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Through the 60s and 70s there were quite a few affordable sports cars available to those on a budget. Today the cheapest sports cars will run you well over 30k out the door. Why is this?

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Three things;
1: These cars existed when it was very viable to have _both_ the family/work car _and_ the weekend/sports car on a middle class salary.
2: These cars existed when you could buy a house _outright_ with the wages you might've earned in 2-4 years.
3: These cars existed before legislators managed to choke automotive design with stacks and stacks of regulations.

The_Crimson_Fucker
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yall, hear me out and this is from experience. C4 corvettes, big enough for you a friend and actually quite alot of space in the hatch, Close to the road and with 300hp, you can have a blast. All that for 7K, thats how much i bought my '95 vette.

BlickolasCage
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The real biggest challenge is safety and backwards emissions laws. Those old sports cars were so minimalist in their design that they were cheap and lightweight by default, but that meant they didn't fare well in a crash, and you can't legally sell cars like that now. In places like the U.S., small cars are also held to much more strict emissions standards (which is stupid), so anything the size of a classic British roadster would need a very carefully designed engine with heaps of electronic emissions equipment to pass ridiculously strict emissions standards, or it would need to be a hybrid, and both options are expensive.

If emissions standards could be reversed to be less strict on small cars and more strict on big ones, we'd see gobs more small fun cars on the roads. However, big gas guzzling vehicles have higher profit margins, which is why we're stuck with the royally stupid safety and emissions regulations that legislate small affordable fun cars out of existence.

Thinginator
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I am middle class, decently employed, living below my means and I will never be able to afford a new car, let alone a sports car. The system has fucked us young people.

ileutur
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Sad thing is that these days the internet has really skewed what people see as a fun car, so many people hate on cars for having less than like 400hp these days, and they don't realize there's more to having fun in a car than acceleration and speed

babbleoop
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Absolutely 100% agree with you. All cars are giant fat bloated pigs these days . I think it’s just a way to force consumers to spend more . Sad thing is manufacturers sell brilliant cars outside of US, but force everyone to buy these giant fat things .


At least the Toyota GT86 and Miata are as close to real sports cars as we get .

The new Z is a massive disappointment.

AndySomogyi
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As an nd2 owner. Im still mad at toyota for not putting the s-fr concept into prodution. A cheap ~10k usd base price and ~100hp tiny coupe would have been a dream.

crottemole
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Seeing how little these cars cost in todays money makes me realize my generation got the short end of the stick

Detah_
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Agreed. No OEM will sell a car for $20k while folks line up to buy the cellphone edition for $40k....

jamesonpace
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I own a 1991 Honda Beat. It's the antithesis of the modern American car market and I love it for that fact. Coming off of a motorcycle, the safety isn't much of a concern to me compared to the sheer joy of 9000rpm on a naturally aspirated motor with ITBs in a car that weighs under 1700lbs.
Honda teased an S1000 based on the S660, but didn't bring it to fruition. Yamaha showed off a small, 1.0L mid-engine sports car, but that was killed by a change in management. Now, rumor is, Toyota is considering a stab at a small displacement, mid-engine sports car with a price tag under $20k. If they bring it to market, I'll sell my Fit and buy one, no questions asked.

Sarin-Q
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It is the crash test requirements that killed the sports car. Instead of a humongous engine they had light weight, about 600kg. Today even small cars like a Toyota Yaris weigh over 1100kg

ngauruhoezodiac
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You’re not wrong in the Fit suggestion because today, compromise is needed. We have a ‘14 Mazda 3 — base model, no less — and handles great. Under 10K used. 40mpg

But SUVs became the status symbols years ago. Weird.

thenexthobby
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Yes, that would be great.
I bought an 18 month old Spitfire back in ‘74. It was my daily driver but not really up to the job. Hardy a week went by without something breaking - I loved it but it broke my heart and my wallet.
In 2002, i bought a 12 year old Japanese import Miata - Eunos Roadster on the badge.
It was my daily driver for a few years and I drove it for over 150000 miles without any issues - same clutch, one set of brake pads and just enough servicing - oil change etc.
Additionally, it was an absolute hoot to drive, even getting the tail out occasionally but in a very controlled way.
Sadly it was stolen and written off. I miss it.

seanoneillsongs
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I think the biggest issue as to why this class of light sports has died out, and as you touched on in your video, is cost. Light sports cars may have been cheap to buy, but the maintenance costs plus the fact that you could not have one as your only car meant you now need ANOTHER car. Now you're in on two cars, their maintenance costs as well as somewhere to store them which is probably way more expensive than the purchase costs on the previous two points combined. As you mentioned, wages have stagnated so the additional costs of the previous items makes the idea unattainable for a lot of people. This is also why the MX5 endures, as it is 'just enough' that it could be your only car if you really wanted to. In this current economic climate, it is the bottom floor for sports cars and this won't change until costs go down or low and middle incomes start going up.

potatoesriceandbread
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My kingdom for a 2-door economy car! I've been wanting a small car (in rebellion of my town's fixation on SUV's and Pickups) that could be just a little fun, the idea that sports cars are still luxury products when you should be able to save money by taking two doors off the Kia Rio and put a couple extra options in there to have a really good cheap starter coupe is still a little galling. most people commute by themselves and most people shouldn't need to pilot a $50K wrecking ball in order to feel like their car is a good buy.

EmmisonMike
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The thing that always boggles my mind is the fact that the government is all "no you cant buy an affordable kei car its not safe, no these cars arent safe they have to be BIGGER" but then they let people drive sports bikes at 120mph and have mopeds/scooters on the roads unlicensed and just blatantly disobeying traffic AND pedestrian laws. They need to make up their minds (they never will)

treyusher
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By no means a mechanic/car enthusiast/gearhead, but the last two years I've discovered I love this stuff and bought a 88' Supra and a 01' Celica GT-S. Done a ton of work on them myself and they are both miles away in driver experience and fun than modern cars. I honestly have zero interest in anything newer, Toyota just did it right back then and I don't need more.

rushnerd
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From the states here! If you think about it, an entire generation is being forced to turn to used, old, and outdated sports cars that have depreciated from their original price, just to get into today’s car scene or enjoy a sports car at a young age.

Most people can’t afford to take out crazy loans or finance modern performance cars. More and more I’m starting to see people buying up NA Miatas, C4 Corvettes, 986 Boxsters, and really anything they can get their hands on. Im starting to worry about whats going to happen when the reserve of used and neoclassic sports cars vanishes..

smokentoken
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Toyota and Subaru attempted this with the original FR-S and BRZ

francisj
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Nd miata and gr86 are keeping the “affordable” sports car spirit alive. Those cars have souls

Torresmeza