Sports Coupe Conundrum

TF Works FR-S spotted while on the job up in Highland Park, IL 

In my blog Aging I spoke about how similar the performance numbers are of the BRZ/FR-S and Mazda RX-8, yet you could get yourself into the Mazda for 1/3 the price. 

But there is another... 

[photo cred: Mike Lazzara]

That's a picture of me driving my buddy's Honda S2000 at his request. And as you may have noticed, I'm thoroughly enjoying myself. 

This car is outstanding. Everything just feels right. Clutch, shifter, seat, driving position—it's stellar. Not to mention gorgeous (mismatched bumper aside…).

My buddy's S2000 prior to its track day injury and subsequent bumper transplant

Now, I haven't driven an RX-8 since my days working at the local car wash back in high school (circa 2003), but I have no recollection of one making any sort of impression on me.

For me, the S2000 takes the cake by a hefty margin. 

I can remedy the fact that it only came as a convertible with a hardtop, which means literally the only negative thing I can say about this car is its lack of storage. I know, I know, "It's a sports coupe, idiot. Go buy a GTI." But the FR-S, RX-8 (and -7), my Cobra, M3s, and many others all have room behind the seats for junk, if not passengers. 

The Honda roadster has been in remission since 2009, but that works to its advantage. When they were new, they cost nearly twice as much as the Toyobaru does now. And that's not markup, these cars are posh. The interior is stylish, clean, and chic—one of my favorites. These days you can easily find an AP1 S2000 in good shape for $14,000. 

Sign me up.

But don't open up the Autotrader browser just yet. A fourth contender recently caught my eye—one with enough potential to put it ahead of the others:

[photo cred: caranddriver.com]

It's the next generation Mazda Miata. With a drastically better looking body and the potential return of a turbocharged motor, this new Miata looks very promising. I will continue to drool over the idea of them sticking a Mazdaspeed3 motor into it, but since I know that will never happen, I'll just just get excited that the epitome of cheap, fun, speed will no longer look like it was modeled after a smiling Goldfish cracker. 

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Bay Area's Finest

This summer the wife and I will be moving to the West Coast. We recently took a trip out there to scope out the neighborhoods around the Bay Area and find a place where we'd like to live that we might stand some chance of affording. These are the cars of those 'hoods:

In white, representing Oakland; and in red, representing Sunset—A pair of Volk-loving Evo Xs

From the East Bay, representing Berkeley, this shockingly decrepit 914:

Berkeley itself is actually quite nice

From Inner Sunset, about as clean a 240 as you can find these days:

Everybody is always getting all hot and bothered about the El Caminos of the late 60s, but this absolutely gorgeous first gen that started life in 1959 deserves some respect:

Nighttime iPhone photo, my apologies

Pacific Heights, bringing the heat with this sick F430:

How about this supercharged first gen MR2 with carbon fiber everywhere and a set up solely for the destruction of mountain roads:

Having been the proud owner of a '97 Explorer XLT 5-speed that was passed down to me from my parents who had bought it new, I'm especially partial to this rare, souped up, soccer mom-mobile: The Saleen XP8 Explorer:

Supercharged Chevelles are cool too.

One of many, many Miatas on the West Coast that are completely stock with the exception of a roll bar:

I'm not at all a bike guy, but for whatever reason, I love this Triumph:

The wife loves these V-dubs, so we got a shot of her next to this slick MKVI GTI:

Stayed tuned for more, we move in less than 3 months! 

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2013 Chicago Auto Show

A few quick impressions and some mediocre photography from this year's Chicago Auto Show:


Ford's STs, both the Fiesta and Focus, are affordable pocket rockets with loads of power. Each brings a much needed aesthetic boost to their respective segments.

Focus ST

Fiesta ST

Toyota on the other hand, is apparently trying to attract some new clientele: 

This inexplicably extravagant display for
the new Avalon doesn't seem to be fooling
any– Oh, wait! Maybe the ginger kid is...
Nope, he's trying to figure out what
 the floor is made of.

This Camry "Rowdy Edition" has me wondering if
Toyota forgot that Scion exists

Honda continues to hint towards signs of hope for the future of the brand in the form of yet another concept car: the EV-Ster, an all electric, tiny, lightweight, RWD sports car that, in its current form, does 0-60 mph in 5.0 seconds. The best part? It has dual-lever tank-style steering in lieu of a steering wheel.

It probably doesn't have very good steering feel,
but it's so cool.

Honda: Make this car.

Also loving the bright-colored driver's seat.

Reminds me of the old Ford GT90 concept. 

I'm a firm believer that the fifth generation Camaro is inherently gaudy, and there was no shortage of evidence of that fact at CAS. However, I was happy to see this exemplary and unpimped example of a third gen:

Gaudy vs Glory - The Gaudy

Gaudy vs Glory - The Glory

The most popular car at the show—by a wide margin—was the C7 Corvette. After 10 minutes of slowly bumping and nudging my through the amorphous blob of spectators I was finally able to see it up close and in person. I'm happy to say that I no longer feel an urge to play automotive designer and photoshop my own renditions of the way the rear end should look. I do like that they've brought back the Stingray name since now I can add it to the list for my future collection of cars named only after badass animals. So far I've got a Cobra, and I'm just about ready to pick up my Panda.

But for me, even the mighty ZR-1 hasn't ever been able to match its only real American rival: the Viper. And now that is has lost the Dodge nameplate, the glorious V10-powered death trap is better than ever. Two models will be offered for the new car: the base SRT and the slightly more upscale GTS (also, there's word that an ACR version of the new car will be launched soon).

The SRT

Hood vents and tow hook.

Those curves!

The GTS.

Carbon fiber cross brace, tubular headers, KW coils. Yes, please.

Jaguar is finally making real sports car again, and man, do they look good. Between the new F-type and the XKR-S of last year, it's the first time I've been excited about Jaguars since the XJ220—keep it up fellas!

Jaguar F-type

Carbon fiber inlay

And then there's this: 

The AMC AMX/3

If you're like me, when you first saw this car you immediately thought Pantera! But you'd be wrong. It's a AMC concept car from 1970. According to the poster board propped up next to it, it was built specifically to compete against the Pantera and the once rumored mid-engined Corvette. It has a 390 CI V8 making 340 horsepower, and this particular example is one of only 6 cars built. This thing is absolutely beautiful—if only it had made it to production . . . I blame Romney.

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AR Originals v1.0

A few AR originals for your eyeballs:

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Car of the Day: Alfa Romeo 164S

Up until Fiat's return to the U.S. in 2011, it was pretty rare to see an italian car on American roads unless you happened to live in Orange County. But perhaps even more rare than the exotics prowling the suburbs of SoCal are the more budget-friendly oddities of the 80s and early 90s.

Case in point: the Alfa Romeo 164S

I wasn't able to get very good pictures of the 164S, so I'm borrowing this one—there are very few interesting cars out and about in Chicago this time of year, and it's been a while since I posted, so it'll just have to do![photo cred: commons.wikimedia.org] 

It looks part Benz E-Class, part Subaru SVX. The one I spotted sports two of the most tacky automotive faux pas ever conceived: two-tone body work and gold trim. Slightly less tacky however, is Alfa's 3.0L 2-valve V6 motor putting out around 200 bhp. Better yet, Alfa fans could also get the AWD-equipped Q4 model with an upgraded 4-valve V6 making 230 bhp—Not too shabby. Either way, you get one epic looking engine:

Yes, the intake runners came polished from Alfa [photo cred: classiccar.co.nz]

Personally, if I was shopping around in the 164's heyday and looking for a spry, FWD, midsize sedan, I'm not sure the Italian job would've been at the top of my list. Saab 9000s or even second gen Taurus SHOs come to mind. However, starting next year, if I find myself in the market for a featherweight track toy, Alfa Romeo's first offering stateside in nearly two decades, the 4C, will certainly be on my wish list!

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P.S. For your amusement, here's what a modified 164S can look like:

[photo cred: http://www.flickr.com/photos/travisrockphotography]

Check out his flickr stream, it's chock-full of some insane cars. 

Car of the Day: Acura NSX

Often times I find myself thinking about the future, and as a car guy, that typically means endless hours spent perusing the internet for incredibly impractical used sports cars that my brilliant, dashing, well-traveled, and extraordinarily wealthy future self could potentially buy. A few weeks ago I became particularly intrigued by the thought of owning what was—until the launch of the Lexus LFA—the sexiest sports car to ever come out of Japan: the NSX.

A lot of people seem to hate on the NSX for it's sub-300 horsepower rating, but let's not forget what it was up against back in '91: Corvettes and Carreras at the time were putting out 250 bhp, and even Ferrari's 358 only made 300. Unfortunately for the 270 horsepower Acura, one year after its release Chevy's new LT1 V8 debuted in the C4, matching the Corvette's power with that of the 358—which sounded impressive until Dodge unleashed their 400 bhp Viper that same year. 

The years went on and power numbers rose across the board until the NSX was killed off in 2005 when comparably priced Corvettes were making upwards of 400 horsepower—not to mention the new Viper's 500—while the NSX seemed like it was still watching reruns of Darkwing Duck on betamax with its 290 bhp.

Not to worry though, yesterday's over-engineered future car is today's bargain, right? Well—slight problem: You can get yourself into a C4 Vette for the price of a handful of jellybeans and a used handkerchief, but if you want to park 3000 lbs. of aluminum Acura in your garage you'll be looking at upwards of $25k; double that if don't want the flip-up headlights.

For whatever reason though, none of this is enough to stop me from lusting after one. A properly set-up, lightweight, as-much-power-as-you-need exotic lite. Now seven years out of production, a used example is a cheaper alternative to a new Cayman R or Evora S with a sleek yet understated body that's not quite as ostentatious as a McLamberrari. The addition of a steering wheel and shift knob from the JDM-only NSX-R easily turns the interior into one of my absolute favorites, and makes a C6 ZR-1's look like a parts-bin sourced afterthought (which it probably is). Not only that, but with Acura's everyday supercar you get Honda reliability—plus titanium connecting rods.

Bring on the second gen! 

Honda NSX-R Interior [photo cred: netcarshow.com]

C6 Corvette ZR-1 Interior [photo cred: zorly.com]