Nissan 350z

  The Nissan 350z is a proper sports car for the everyman. If we had just one sentence to describe the Nissan 350Z, that'd be it. While there are plenty of unobtainable sports cars out there to drool over, the 350Z's relatively compact dimensions, rear-wheel drive, two seats, muscular engine and sharp handling come at a price that real people can actually afford.

The Nissan 350Z represents the fifth generation of "Z" sports cars from this Japanese manufacturer. At its debut, the 350Z represented a key component of Nissan's rebirth in the North American market. For much of the late '90s and early new millennium, Nissan's lineup was full of lackluster cars. The Z brought back the company's spirit of fun and performance that had been missing ever since the discontinuation of the previous 300ZX.

For the 350Z's final year, only the roadster is available -- the coupe has been replaced by the new 370Z coupe. The roadster version of the latest-generation Z is expected soon. As such, most people interested in a 350Z will be looking at a used model. The 350Z's a fine choice for a used sports car, though keen shoppers will want to pay close attention to the car's changes and updates through the years.

Mazda MX5

The latest generation MX-5 didn't really need a facelift - it looked good anyway - but Mazda felt it had to do something to get us excited about its new six-speed F1-style paddles. Of course, all Mazda needed to do was drop in the autobox without too much fuss - but that's hardly going to grab the headlines. So now you get the Mazda Powershift models in 2.0-litre hard-top and soft-top versions.

Mazda has done a fair bit of tinkering, though. They made the front headlights more swoopy, redesigned the bumpers, changed the sills, made a few cosmetic changes in the interior (they ditched the piano-black panel on the dashboard for a more conservative graphic grey arrangement), uprated the suspension and tweaked the engine.

The overall effect is a more aggressive-looking car. It's also given Mazda the opportunity to make the Roadster Coupe a bit fancier than its soft-top sibling to fully justify the higher asking price. For an extra couple of grand, Roadster Coupe buyers not only get a retractable hard-top, but some chrome around the grille, headlamps with chrome bezels and chrome door handles. More chrome, then.

Honda S2000

Honda first introduced the S2000 in the year 2000, drawing inspiration from the company's S500, S600, and S800 sports cars of the 1960s. Built with an eye toward lightweight, race-car-style performance, the S2000 came with few luxury features and was powered by an energetic four-cylinder engine that made a remarkable 240 horsepower from just 2.0 liters -- without a turbocharger or supercharger.

As could be expected for such an uncompromising car, the S2000 immediately drew raves from enthusiasts and the typically performance-crazed automotive press. But it also drew criticism from some potential buyers, who found the car's intense performance difficult to live with compared to more civilized contemporaries such as Mazda Miata and BMW Z3.

Toyota MR2 Targa Mk1

The first MR2 rolled off the production line. Rumoured to be the MX100, an abandoned Lotus project, the unique little car immediately impressed the motoring critics of the day. Toyota's mid-engined affordable sports car was only seriously rivalled by the X1/9, though Japanese reliability was surely an advantage.

The mid-engined rear wheel drive configuration is relatively rare in road cars. The configuration appears in exotic sportscars like Ferrari and Lambourghini. From an engineering point of view the mid-engine layout makes sense and helps to produce a car that handles brilliantly. The cost of this layout is felt in terms of lack of luggage space, but as long as you pack in soft bags and don't take the kitchen sink, the MR2 has plenty of room.

Nissan Silva

Silvias were initially powered by the CA18DE and CA18DET engines carried over from the end of S12 production, with an intercooler added to the CA18DET for a slight increase in stability and power. In mid 1990, (for the 1991 model year) the SR20DE and SR20DET engines debuted, offering improvements across the board in power and torque due to increased displacement and a more efficient turbocharger than was offered on the previous cars. One of the other simple changes that was made between the CA generation and the SR generation was switch to a single colour paint job, instead of the two-tone colour sets that were previously offered. On top of this, the SR motor later debuted another variant of the platform known simply as the 'Black Top'. Identifiable by its black and silver rocker-cover (as opposed to the traditional red/silver cover), it featured a number minor changes, resulting in little performance gain. It is vastly different to the more powerful 'black top' used in the S14 and S15 variants. Amazingly, a revised and revamped version of the Nissan SR20 engine that first appeared in the S13 is still in use today, as can be seen in the following sections of this page.