Welcome back to our Forgotten Sporty Cars series, where we recall some of our favorite (and not so favorite) sporty cars. A reader of The Garage asked us to take a look at the Honda CR-X, and of course we were more than happy to oblige. 

1984-1987 Honda CR-X First Generation

In 1984, North America met a new Civic, and with it, a peppy little two-seater called the CR-X. Small, light, and nearly bullet-proof, The CR-X won a loyal following with its good looks, user-friendly interior, and incredible handling and steering. 
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I had a list of great, and not so great things that happened in the automotive universe this year. Really, I did. While I pondered, and researched those “things”, the reality was I kept coming back to two defining themes that stand to make the year 2008 an extraordinary year in the history of the culture of cars.

I. The Mighty Big Three on the Brink of Collapse

The day of reckoning is here for GM, Ford, and Chrysler. For all of us consumers and enthusiasts who wondered how long these companies could sell the North American public crap products until it finally caught up to them, we have our answer. Too many brands, too many cars. And many of those cars are not appealing to consumers. 

Many of you are likely bracing yourselves for another rant against our domestic automakers. You will not be getting one from me today. Witness the car pictured below.
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Hit: Subaru Announces Revised WRX for 2009

For the 2008 model year, Subaru released an all-new WRX. The Subie fanatics could hardly believe it-a kinder, gentler, softer WRX was the long-awaited replacement. To make matters worse, the car carried the same engine as before. Subaru acted fast, and in the summer of 2008, announced plans for a revised WRX. More power. More aggressive exterior styling. Sportier interior. Tauter suspension settings. Essentially, all of the things the 2008 WRX should have been, but wasn’t. 
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I have a secret to share. My wife, family, and friends do not even know it, but I am about to tell the auto blogging community: I seriously like this little Hyundai in a big way. The Elantra Touring is a five-door hatchback that has, until now, been a European market car only. 

Hyundai is pitching this car as the “sporty” Elantra, with sharper suspension tuning and steering. The powertrain is, sadly, a bit pedestrian-the standard Elantra 2.0L four rated at 141hp, coupled to your choice of a five-speed manual or four-speed automatic. At least the five-speed promises a reasonable 31mpg on the highway. I think an extra 20hp and an extra cog in the tranny are a must here, but could be forgiven given the price.
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Welcome to The Garage’s second installment of forgotten (or forgettable) sporty cars where we recall an era of small, frugal but sporty looking cars that modern manufacturers have have forgotten about themselves, save for the Scion tC. This week we recall the Nissan Pulsar. Although the Pulsar was sold worldwide in several body styles, we are only concerned with the sporty cars imported to North America.

1983-1986 Nissan Pulsar NX

The first Pulsar imported to North America was the NX, which was essentially a rebodied Sentra. Buyers could choose from either an anemic four cylinder or a fuel injected turbo, but all Pulsars were all show, with little go or much in the way of impressive handling. The most remarkable feature of the Pulsar is its angular, ‘Totally 80’s!’ styling with requisite pop-up headlights.
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While it had been known for some time that Mercedes-Benz and McLaren were nearing the end of the line for the SLR exotic, Mercedes announced a final-run edition dedicated to one of its most famous drivers, Stirling Moss. “Regular” production of the SLR is scheduled to end near the end of Spring, 2009, when the Moss edition is expected to start in June, and end in December, with a run of 75 cars.

Like the 300SLR race car Stirling Moss drove himself, the modern iteration is no daily driver. The car has no roof, and no windshield-just a couple of windscreens to (hopefully) prevent you and your passenger from a mouthful of bugs. Of course, performance is devastatingly fast. With 650hp on tap, 0-100kph comes in 3.5 seconds. Without a roof, top speed is well over 200mph (but Mercedes does give you a tonneau cover).

According to Autoblog, any Mercedes fan can buy one of the 75 cars to be built….as long as they already own an SLR. This is not an uncommon practice in the highest tier of exotica-the Ferrari Enzo was also sold by invitation only. Don’t argue that the brand is being exclusionary-this is an important car (to them). They get to choose the buyer. 

Let’s just hope the buyers of the SLR Stirling Moss won’t total them at the rate that Ferrari Enzo owners seem to be destroying their completely irreplaceable pieces of automotive history.

While Chrysler typically idles its plants between December 24th and January 5th, today the company announced that it would be closing all 30 of its US plants on December 19th, and ordered no employee to return to work until at least January 19th. 

This latest announcement follows news that GM will be idling approximately 30% of its North American manufacturing during the first quarter of next year, in a plan to reduce vehicle production by 250,000 units. Ford also announced plans to add an additional week of no production “to a number of plants”. 

Chrysler claims one of the reasons for the extended shut-down, apart from an obvious over-abundance of dealer inventory, is the fact that banks are not lending money to willing customers. In fact, Chrysler reports that they have lost an estimated 20%-25% in sales to the credit crunch alone. It should be noted that earlier this year, Chrysler Financial announced that it would no longer offer leases on its new vehicles, and tightened up lending terms to prospective buyers.

Still, closing the door on all of its factories for a month paints a bleak picture for Chrysler-a company who many believe are the weakest of the Big Three, and without help from the Federal government, could be the first to go down.

The rumormill suggested that the new NSX was edging closer and closer to production, but today Autoblog confirmed that Honda has shelved the project. These are proving to be brutal times for Honda sports car and racing fans, as Honda earlier announced plans to sell its once promising Formula 1 team. 

What the production NSX was to have been like was based on rumor and speculation-Honda did a fine job of keeping details under wraps, as they typically do. While this news is disappointing, the NSX filled a very small niche. Honda is hurting in a global recession, just as most manufacturers are. While sales are down, Honda was prepared for the economic downturn, with small, handsome, solid performers like the new Fit and the Civic. These cars are the focus of Honda currently, as well as the upcoming Insight hybrid.

Production of the last generation NSX ended in 2005, so it’s not as if Honda was feeling forced to rush a new NSX into production anyways. For the time being, the Nissan Skyline GT-R remains THE Japanese super-car. Once the economy sorts itself out eventually (we hope), Honda could revive plans to bring the NSX back. But for the time being, the NSX is not the right car for right now.

When GM was called to submit a plan to Congress on how they planned to make themselves a leaner, more competitive company, they declared they had four core brands-Chevy, Buick, GMC, and Cadillac. GM appears committed to keeping Pontiac around (for now), but as a niche brand. So what will that leave us with? With some help from Autoblog and Automotive News, here is what we think.

The G3

The Garage reported that Pontiac was preparing to sell a badge-engineered Chevy Aveo as the G3 a couple months before GM reported how much trouble they were in. We had no problem with a small Pontiac, but as the performance division of GM, the G3 promised nothing more than what you already got with the Aveo, unless you count a flashier exterior. Now that Pontiac is being scaled down, expect a very short life-span for the G3. 

Interpretation: Any community college business professor would have advised GM that this was a complete waste of money and effort. A tiny, anemic, uninteresting car goes against what Pontiac tells us what they are supposed to be as a brand. Pontiac responded to our initial criticism of the G3, but this decision by GM is proof that the G3 was an ill-conceived idea from the start.
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We had so much fun with the ‘Forgotten Marque’ series, we couldn’t leave well enough alone. Our new series puts the spotlight on “sporty” cars-they never earned the sports car designation, but they were a diversion from the otherwise mundane offerings by mainstream manufacturers. We kick off our series with the Ford EXP and Mercury LN7. 

1982-1985 Ford EXP/Mercury LN7 Series I

Ford’s “global” car, the Escort, came to North America in 1981. Sensing a lack of a small, sporty car to slot below the Mustang, Ford was able to quickly add a sporty, two seater body on top of the basic Escort mechanicals.

The EXP was the first Ford two-seater offered in 25 years, but comparisons to the original, iconic Thunderbird end there. Powered by a 1.6 liter, 70-hp four, coupled with a 4-speed manual, the EXP was actually 200lbs heavier than a comparable Escort. Performance was less than stunning. Road & Track reported 0-60mph in 15 seconds. In 1984, Ford offered an EXP Turbo version of the same engine, delivering 120hp. Unique front fascia and rear spoiler treatments separated the Turbo from lesser EXP’s.
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