In commenting on the list of cars teens want, I got to thinking about the state of entry level sports cars in North America. There isn’t a single, market grabbing entry level sports car, aka pocket rocket, available in North America today. Honda enthusiasts may disagree, but the civic hasn’t been a pocket rocket since the SI circa 1989 & even then it wasn’t really all that special until it was built up.
The Garage definition of a Pocket Rocket is a small, affordable car which is fun to drive.
Arguably, the original pocket rocket was the Mini. Small, affordable and fun to drive. Built for more than forty years, with a motorsports history that has been matched by very few other cars, the Mini has developed an incredible following of enthusiasts.
In the late seventies, Volkswagen introduced the Rabbit. A cheap, affordable little car that was fun to drive. In 1982, VW upped the ante with the Rabbit GTI. A little more horsepower that a regular Rabbit, with a beefed up suspension & sportier interior made for a car that youthful enthusiasts clamoured for. The chassis responded very well to simple, common upgrades like tires and springs. There was incredible aftermarket support for the GTI that supplied real performance improvements that were often a simple bolt on. Even a hot cam was only a couple of hours work for the home tinkerer. It was always fun seeing the reaction on spectators faces at a local autocross when a GTI lifted the inside rear wheel six inches off the ground. Later in the Eighties, the GTI started to gradually move upscale, with size and price that moved upwards accordingly. The grassroots GTI was forgotten by VW.
In 1989, Suzuki introduced the Swift GTi. A 1900 pound, 2 door hatch that had just a tick over 100 horsepower. A taught suspension, coupled with fat tires & 4 wheel disc brakes made for a little car that was an absolute blast to drive. With a reworking of the stock ECM, the 1300 cc engine would spin to over 10,000 rpm. Yes, you read right, 10,000 rpm! Best of all, it was cheap. In Canada, you could pick up a loaded GTi (no a/c of course) for under $13,000. Unfortunately, the Swift’s reputation was overshadowed by it’s anemic cousins, the 3 cylinder Chevy Sprint & Pontiac Firefly. In 1990, Suzuki was sued by VW & forced to drop the i and the car became the Swift GT part way through the 1990 model year. Had the Swift been marketed by Honda or Toyota there is no question it would have sold much better. As it was, the car was produced until 1994 and was never replaced in the Suzuki model line up.
As far as I can see, the Swift Gt was the last true pocket rocket sold in North America. The GTI is still available, but at a starting point of almost $30,000 it is hardly affordable. Toyota had the right idea with the echo/Yaris, but the car was downright slow. You could hop it up with the available TRD bits, but to do the full job would almost double the price of the car. The Dodge SRT-4 comes close, but it’s not very friendly to the backyard mechanic. The current Mini, while very cool is hardly inexpensive or easy to work on. In Europe, all sorts of small, sporty and affordable beasties are available & the aftermarket is there to support all of them.
It’s time for some car manufacturer to build a real Pocket Rocket that we can buy here.
