Corvette Summer – When a Plucky Kid and His ‘Vette Captivated America Among pop culture contributions the late 1970s offered society – from bell bottoms to disco fever – few bursts of Americana optimism shone brighter than the bemused 1978 coming-of-age joyride film Corvette Summer starring a young Mark Hamill cruising the dusty streets of…
BMW 2002 – The Unexpected Spark Igniting BMW’s Future Among enthusiast favorites bearing the roundel badge, BMW’s diminutive yet delightfully spunky 2002 model claims an outsize influence jumpstarting the fabled brand’s modern sporting heritage. Unplanned and unexpectedly potent, this tidy notchback coupe distilled the essence of BMW’s lauded driving purity into an affordable compact-sized package…
Lotus Esprit – Britain’s Supercar Dark Horse Punching Far Above Its Weight Among 1970s automotive startups, few newcomers created shockwaves like a modest British specialty maker’s ground-hugging sharp-edged glass fiber sportster. Wowing crowds at its 1972 debut and then gaining fame alongside Agent 007 only a few years later, the angular Lotus Esprit two-seater coupe…
Porsche 928 Retrospective – Among Porsche’s most iconic sports car models, the rear-engine air-cooled 911 garners endless worship as a triumph of focused driving engagement persevering through decades of production. However, Porsche itself once envisioned a very different halo coupe succeeding the 911 before finances and fortunes changed course. Developed at the height of the…
Among Japanese automakers in the 1980s, few beyond flagship luxury brands attempted mid-engined sports cars owing to complexity and costs resisting mass-market viability. Toyota bucked convention by launching its peculiarly named, economically priced MR2 (Mid-engine Runabout 2-seater) in 1984. What seemed a gambit to attract younger buyers evolved across three distinct generations spanning 26 years…
The Ford Escort: Blue Oval’s Bantam Brash Hot Hatch Few automobiles embody pragmatic yet peppy motoring for the masses quite like Ford’s long-running Escort compact. As Ford’s analog to arch-rival VW Golf and analog to the British Ford Cortina, the little front-drive blue oval model connected owners worldwide with a fun, functional fusion of Yankee…
The Ford RS200: Rapid Rally Hero Turned ’80s Icon Among motorsports cars that transitioned for production-based homologation duties in the 1970s through the 80s, few proved more brutally effective—or primed for infamy—than Ford’s staggering RS200. Developed to spearhead Ford’s Group B rally effort against all-star competitors ranging from Audi’s indecently quick Sport Quattro to the…
Among automotive marques with lengthy production histories, few encapsulate the accelerated pace of cultural change through their era quite like Chevrolet’s quirky yet quick Corvair. Introduced in 1960 as a reaction to growing small car imports, the revolutionary rear-engine Chevy compact rode eccentric engineering and a burgeoning performance image to meteoric early sales. But conflicts…
