In many ways, the 1990s were the peak era for Japanese sporty-car offerings, from hot GTs to specialized sports cars to affordable compacts. The variety at the time was astounding. Today, most attention focuses on cars beloved of the drift crowd, like the Supra, 300ZX, and RX-7, while the cheaper compact coupes have fallen into oblivion. However, most of these Japanese sporty cars were fun, reliable machines that were well-reviewed by the pundits of their time. Not everyone is born to be a legend, and if small packages are your thing, these are treasures worth revisiting.
Those who enjoy small cars know what I’m talking about. With no excess bulk, compact packages can be zingy, tossable, and fun, especially if they were conceived from the start to provide a sporty flavor. All of today’s cars fit that mold.
To keep the list reasonable, all today’s featured cars fit certain criteria: All were FWD compacts from Japanese makes, built to cater to the then-burgeoning sports car segment. All were available in the US market. (Japanese automakers had a few others at home that we never got.) And all have fallen, to one degree or another, into undeserved oblivion.
Mazda MX-3
Perhaps the best-remembered model in this list, the Mazda MX-3 impressed those who took to its pod-like jellybean shape and fine dynamic qualities. The car got glowing reviews when it reached the US in 1992, but sales dropped off fast, and the MX-3 departed in 1996. An undeserved fate for a good, affordable performer.
In the early 1990s, Mazda was in a sporty mode. They had found a neat niche with their Miata roadster in 1989, and their 1991 LeMans victory had the company pushing performance as their calling card across the lineup.
Mazda conceived the MX-3 as a “casual sporty coupe,” aimed at young professionals. Developed at the height of the Japanese economic bubble of the late ’80s, it was a 2+2 based on the Mazda 323/Protegé platform, with nice accommodations for two, occasional seating for four, and peaky performance. The latter was preferred by project manager Takayuki Hasashi.
Styling was very 1990s organic, but appealing. If there’s a shape that says “neat 1990s” in today’s group, it would be the one. Also, the model’s Kammback tail silhouette gave it an accomplished “sense of motion” even while standing still.
Period reviews glowed about the MX-3’s handling and performance. But the biggest news for the car came under the hood. The base engine was an 88-hp 1.5L OHC four, which wasn’t too exciting, but the sporty GS model had a brand-new DOHC V6 engine, the K8. It was related to the 2.5L KL engine in the latest Mazda MX-6 and Ford Probe, but it displaced only 1,845cc, making it one of the smallest production V6s ever.
Yep, this is a V6-powered MX-3 GS. Found by Roshake in Budapest.
Even with twin cams, 24 valves, and a lofty 7,000 rpm redline, the V6 boasted only 130 hp, so it didn’t bring the performance jump some might have expected with a six-cylinder engine in a small coupe. Fuel economy was a bit disappointing too. However, a stick-shift MX-3 GS was still good for 0–60 times of around 8.6 seconds, and it felt much smoother and more refined than a four. Those who owned these zingy little sixes miss them to this day.
Honda Civic del Sol
Is this one forgotten, or one many wish to forget? By most standards, the 1992–1998 Honda Civic del Sol was an accomplished machine, but many in the Honda community just scratched their heads when it came out. Understandable, as it was a huge departure from the much-loved 1983–1991 CRX hatchback. (Honda didn’t call the Del Sol a CRX in the States — US cars were called Civic del Sol — but it was sold as the CRX del Sol in other markets.)
Honda has a habit of thinking outside the box, sometimes to their peril. Admittedly, much of the thinking behind the del Sol likely responded to the realities of market, where the CRX was now just one more sporty compact in an oversaturated segment. So, when the time came to design the CR-X’s third generation, Honda staff wondered, “How do young people wish to enjoy sports cars?” and came up with the answer “Youthful freedom.”
Honda also had to have seen the huge response to the ragtop Mazda Miata, which was seen as a return to the fun of ’60s British and Italian roadsters, but with Japanese reliability. Unlike Mazda, though, Honda didn’t want to develop a new RWD convertible platform, so they based the Del Sol on the FWD Civic platform and settled for a lift-off roof panel rather than a true convertible.
Honda engineers were not folks for easy answers, so they gave the Del Sol a high-tech party trick: the “TransTop,” which automatically lifted up the rear deck to stow the roof panel. This video shows how it worked.
This got a lot of media coverage, because there’d been nothing like it in the US market since the Ford Skyliner “retrac” of the late ’50s. However, American Honda decided not to offer TransTop in the States because it would have cost too much, so US Del Sol buyers had to manually remove the aluminum roof panel (which weighed 24 pounds) and stow it themselves, with no robotic arms to help. In the long run, the manual top was less of a repair and maintenance headache, but it wasn’t such a conversation piece.
Not that the Del Sol had no other virtues. It was based on the excellent 1992–1995 Civic, with double wishbone suspension all around, smooth-revving 4-cyl. engines, and slick 5-speed gearboxes. The base model had the 102-hp 1.5L SOHC engine from the Civic sedan, while the Del Sol Si had the 125-hp 1.6L DOHC version from the Civic EX, plus four-wheel disc brakes. Starting in 1994, there was a new VTEC model, which had stiffer suspension and a hotter 1.6L engine with Honda’s variable valve timing system. This had 160 hp — an impressive 100 hp per liter — but it was peaky, so Honda gave it very short gearing that had it buzzing away like an old MG Midget on the freeway.
Unfortunately, the Del Sol wasn’t the best platform for the hot engine. Even with the fixed roof pillars, the Del Sol wasn’t nearly as stiff as the old CRX, so it wasn’t as nimble or buttoned-down as a Miata. For most buyers, the Del Sol was better with the Si engine, which gave above-average performance without teenage exuberance.
The Del Sol wasn’t a bad car, but it didn’t grab ragtop lovers like the Miata did, and the CRX faithful were annoyed that it lacked the previous model’s tight, solid feel. Lack of rigidity also means that it’s more prone to squeaks, creaks, and rattles than a Civic sedan or coupe, but if you like the idea of a distinctive-looking Honda with a little more wind in your hair, a Del Sol could be an interesting proposition.
Nissan NX 2000
Here’s one that’s certainly nearly forgotten, another wondrously performing pocket rocket whose looks were just too challenging for most: It’s Nissan’s little-remembered NX 1600/2000, sold in the US for only a brief couple of years, from 1991 to 1993.
Styling for the NX was done at Nissan’s US design center in San Diego, led by Jerry Hirshberg, the designer of the Buick “boattail” Riviera and the also-controversial Infiniti J30. Internally, the sketches for the NX were considered fresh and daring for Nissan, whose ’80s designs had been pretty boxy.
Yes, Nissan went edgy with the NX. Hoping to appeal to the youth market, their ads for the new car featured surreal artwork by comics artist Bill Sienkiewicz (best known for his Marvel Comics work). Nissan proclaimed the NX the “King of Fun,” ready to get folks out of “dullsville.” Edgy! Too bad the youth of the time was looking at used CRXs instead.
If you could get past its curiously round grilleless face and odd sunken headlights, the NX delivered. It was based on the 1991 Sentra, and had the same 1.6L and 2.0L fours. The NX 2000 was the one to have, with the same 140 hp as the Sentra SE-R and Infiniti G20. Light weight, a stiffened chassis, four-wheel discs with optional ABS, and a limited-slip differential gave it great all-around performance. The NX was ranked among the best-handling FWD vehicles on the market.
The NX looked very Sentra-like inside.
It was the interior that really showed off the NX’s Sentra connections. The cabin was efficient and well laid out, but not very sporty, even with the optional T-bar roof (which became standard on the NX 2000 in 1993). Still, the car’s goal was pocket rocket fun at accessible prices. In that, it delivered: A loaded NX 2000 was thousands of dollars cheaper than a Honda Prelude Si or Toyota Celica GT-S and at least as good to drive. Period reviews generally loved the car. Unfortunately, it just didn’t sell, although like many sporty Nissans, it seems to have gained a second life as a track racer. From oblivion to cult status?
Isuzu Impulse/Geo Storm
If the Nissan NX is mostly forgotten, this duo is truly obscure, from brands that are now disappearing into the memory hole. The Impulse was by Isuzu, back when it still made passenger cars. Its counterpart was the Geo Storm, offered through GM’s short-lived “captive import” brand.
We’ll start with the Impulse, as it was the genesis of both cars. While it had always lagged in size and brand recognition against Japan’s Big Two, Isuzu had offered neat sporty compacts for decades. Unlike the old Isuzu 117 coupe and the 1980–1990 Impulse (called Isuzu Piazza in Japan), which were designed by the hand of Giugiaro, the 1991 Impulse was an in-house effort led by former GM stylist Shiro Nakamura, and it was developed with great input from GM, which had acquired part of the company. The outgoing RWD car had offered more style than substance, but, as with many things in those heady early ’90s, Isuzu aimed to impress with the new Impulse.
If Geo isn’t obscure enough for you, the 2nd-gen Isuzu Impulse was also sold in Canada as the Asüna Sunfire.
The new Impulse arrived in spring 1990 in three-door hatchback XS form, with a 1.6L DOHC four offering 130 hp. It had MacPherson strut independent suspension tuned by Lotus (which was also part-owned by GM in those days), and standard four-wheel discs. The Impulse XS had decent performance and sharp reflexes, but wasn’t very refined. Contemporary reviewers complained about its noisy engine, and the Impulse wasn’t as tightly built as a Nissan or Toyota.
In 1991, a far more exciting Impulse RS version was added, with all-wheel-drive, an intercooled turbocharged 160-hp engine, and a passive rear steering system. It was much faster than the FWD version, but Isuzu only sold about 600 of them in the US before the AWD model was withdrawn in 1992. The 1992–1993 Impulse XS got a bigger 1.8L engine with 140 hp, but it didn’t help sales. Neither did the odd “wagonback” body style added for 1991. The Impulse was dropped in 1993 after selling only about 13K cars.
This is the Geo version of the wagonback body.
While the Impulse was a flop, GM had more luck with its Americanized sibling, the Geo Storm.
The Storm arrived alongside its Isuzu-badged sibling, but its shrunken-Camaro lines were a telltale sign that GM design chief Chuck Jordan had had a much bigger say in its styling. It was basically an Impulse in a GM suit, but some of the Isuzu’s more expensive features were dropped or moved to the options list, including the Lotus-tuned suspension and four-wheel discs. There was no AWD turbo version, and the Storm also offered a cheaper base model with the milder 95-hp SOHC engine from the Isuzu Stylus sedan.
Young buyers seemed to like the Storm’s racy styling, and the base model was cheaper than the Impulse XS, so it sold much better. It was also offered through select Chevrolet dealerships, which were easier to find than Isuzu showrooms. The Storm was only dropped after 1993 because Isuzu decided to drop its slow-selling passenger cars to focus on trucks and SUVs.
The 1992 Storm had a facelift that deleted the original popup headlights.
The Storm was a common sight in the early ’90s, often in bright colors like yellow or teal (remember when every other ’90s car was teal?), but try to find one today — like a lot of cheap-wheels cars, many went to the junkyard long ago.
Honorable Mention: Eagle Talon
Here’s one I wasn’t sure to include in this list, as I doubt the related Mitsubishi Eclipse has fallen into oblivion. But the Eclipse’s siblings, the Eagle Talon (above) and the Plymouth Laser, are obscure nowadays. Unlike the others in this group, these coupes were made by a Mitsubishi-Chrysler joint venture, Diamond-Star Motors, and were built in a factory in Normal, Illinois. This made them cheaper than a lot of Japanese-built cars, which suffered from dollar-yen exchange rates that drove up US prices.
The Talon was a highly respected sports coupe in its day, offering a 195-hp turbo four and all-wheel drive, just like the Eclipse, so it probably doesn’t belong on a list of forgotten coupes. The Plymouth Laser (below) might qualify — it was always rarer than the Eclipse or Talon, it didn’t offer AWD until 1992, and it was dropped in 1994 — but it was made in the US and sold under an American brand, not a Japanese make.
The End
Many of the sporty cars featured here didn’t do so well in the market. Some were too pricey, some had unappealing styling, and others lacked image or a strong distribution network. Young professionals with more money were no longer so keen on sporty coupes by the mid-’90s, and the younger single buyers who still liked cars like these couldn’t afford the monthly payments or the insurance. Also, child seat laws were making 2+2 coupes a bad choice for parents with little kids. The oversaturated coupe segment quickly dried up.
These smaller Japanese coupes aren’t numerous anymore, and the complex turbo cars may suffer from too much backyard hot-rodding, but you can still find them if you look around. They still have a lot to offer as affordable, economical, tossable fun.
Additional photos by Cohort posters Roshake, J.C., and canadiancatgreen.
Related CC Reading
Curbside Classic: 1992 Mazda MX-3 GS – Smallest Production V6 Engine Ever? (by Paul N)
1993-1998 Honda Civic del Sol/CRX – More Reboot Than Sequel (by William Stopford)
Curbside Classic: 1991 Nissan NX2000 – Not That Hard Pill To Swallow (by William Stopford)
Car Show Classic: 1991 Isuzu Impulse RS – Diesel? No Dude, Turbo! (by Dave Skinner)
Curbside Classic: 1992 Geo Storm GSi – Storm Trooper (by Paul N)
Nice article, I had completely forgotten about the NX (and have never seen one in person).
Another car to add to your list is the Toyota Paseo. That also had poor sales; perhaps not surprising considering the uninspired powertrain and driving dynamics combined with clean but hardly memorable styling
I looked at the del Sol as a possible alternative to the Miata, but went with the Mazda for three (3) reasons. First, at 59.75 inches tall, removing the roof for me was a two-person job, so without the “TransTop”, which we couldn’t get here in the US, the roof would’ve stayed in place most of the time, which kind of defeats the purpose of a removable targa top in the first place!
Next, Honda put the engine in the wrong end of the car, IMHO! If they had turned the engine around and put it behind the seats, it would have been much more appealing, much like a Japanese Fiat X1/9 or Fiero, that had Honda’s legendary reliability! It would have also been a much better competitor to the Toyota MR2, which was yet another iteration of the mid-engine layout, but was only available with a sunroof or T-Tops until the third-generation MR2 debuted. The front-drive layout gave the car a reputation, deserved or not, as a “Chick Car”, or more charitably, a “Secretary’s Car”, keeping it off of most “serious” driver’s shopping lists.
Finally, there was the usual dealer gouging from both Honda and Toyota that kept both the MR2 and del Sol off of my shopping list, with “Additional Dealer Markups” or “Availability Charges” of between $3k and $5k over “sticker” (list) price!
Two (2) more notes. The del Sol as a mid-engined car could have slotted below the S2000 in Honda’s lineup as an entry-level sports car, but the odds of Honda building two (2) low-volume sports cars in its model lineup were virtually nil, as it would have been a very tough sell making a business case to the bean counters. So the del Sol went bye-bye and the S2000 replaced it in the lineup, but the S2000’s higher cost and razor like-demeanor went too far in the other direction, making the S2000 tougher to live with as a daily driver, unlike the Miata, which while it wasn’t as razor sharp as the S2000, was a much better-balanced package for daily use. The vertical, roll-down rear window in the del Sol, while it improved ventilation, wasn’t a great styling statement. The del Sol would have looked much better with the Mazda MX-3’s “bubble-back” hatch, giving the del Sol a profile much like a Porche 924/944, which the Mazda MX-3 seemed to echo.
There were some great handling FWD cars from the 90s none of these qualify though, not one of these Japanese sporty cars will hold a candle to a PUG 306 2 door hatch as it 3 wheels at high speed on turns under full control, nice enough looking sporty cars but looks are all,
306 begat the Xsara which took tarmac rallying by the throat and shook it, FWD stomped all over the AWD rocketships and kept doing it.
I got on the order list for the Del Sol Si in ’93. I thought it was brilliant and would have been a great supplement to my Nissan truck in my mid-30s universe. Sadly my dad passed away unexpectedly so extra funds normally spent on my playthings went towards stabilizing life for my family. No regrets but I would have greatly enjoyed the Honda….
I miss cars like this – in some ways the 1990s were the pinnacle of refinement for these cars, but like you noted they were already on the way out by the time these cars appeared.
Of these, I like the del Sol the most. There’s one that I see occasionally around here – it’s a base model (I believe they were called the del Sol S), which is unusual because it seemed that most were Si’s or VTECs. This particular one appears to be in great shape and is driven by someone who looks like he’s in his 50s or so; I’m assuming the original owner. Seeing that car driving around always provides a quick throwback to an earlier time.
I find the NX2000 very attractive; the rest (other than the Diamond Star trio) not so much. The Mazda in particular just seems to have awkward proportions and details, and the Isuzu add made me laugh: no goosebumps for me, at least not in a good way. But it’s great to see the opinions of others.
The Storm probably was entirely styled by GM Design due to Isuzu having fallen out with Giugiaro over the I-Mark/Spectrum. It always made me think the Geo version had the “pure” styling and the Impulse soft trim changed to make it look like the earlier Impulse.
Nope: The Impulse was designed in the Isuzu studio in Japan; Takao Honda did the coupes, Masayo Magata did the wagonback. However, their boss, Shiro Nakamura, had been a GM designer earlier in his career, and he said they were inspired by GM cars. He said, “I admire a lot of GM designers because, at the time, they had the most beautiful, authentic designs. They had a very good feeling of what design should be.”
Sadly, America didn’t want small fun cars. When the 1980s wound down, manfacturers had mastered the small car and was ready for the new age of sporty small cars. But the Market returned to big vehicles, especially SUVs.
So many great little cars!
Ford EXP/Mercury LN7
Toyota MR2/Corolla FX
Pontiac Fiero/Sunbird conv.
Honda CRZ/DelSol
Mazda Miata/RX-7/MX-3
Nissan NX/Staza
Isuzu/Geo Storm twins
Diamond Star Triplets
Plymouth Duster Horizon
So many great little fun cars at the apex of design, but NO MARKET!
Instead the money was gushing over the Ford Explorer. Sigh. For the next 30 years, right up to today, we have these SUVs EVERYWHERE.
What…no love for the Acura Integra? Outside your time frame, but the 1986 RS I bought new was a blast to drive.
The Integra overlapped in terms of market, but it’s not forgotten or very obscure, and it wasn’t always a coupe. (There was a five-door version of the first generation and four-door versions of the second and third.)
I really liked the longroof Impulse/Storm. I’m not sure who coined the term “wagonback”, but to me, it was one of the (if not THE) last Shooting Breaks sold in the US.
Personally I love the Del Sol, but I get why the Honda fanboys dismissed it and still to this day it doesnt get the love from most of them. It replaced their beloved CRX and was WAY different. People hate change and the styling is a love it/leave it look. Plus the Honda fan boys did have some legit gripes like chassis flex and the trunk not being nearly as useful as the big hatch in the CRX.
As for the others, I do like the MX-3 and really wish they had stuck that tiny v6 in the Miata. The Nissan is ugly and the Geo Storm has kind of a trailer trash rep to it around here in my part of the world. Same poorly dressed, greasy haired, cigarette sucking demographic drove busted up Storms, Cavaliers, Dodge Neons or 3rd gen Camaros.
I remember the hey day of these sporty Japanese coupes. They were great all around performers, got great gas mileage, and were easy to live with. Until you got married and had a couple of kids. Cars like the ’90 Civic Si were equally capable, and much more flexible and usable. I fondly remember my ’90 Civic as one of the best cars I ever owned. I went with Mustangs in the 2000’s and while I enjoy them, I will admit that the Civic and my early Datsun 280Z 2+2 were a bit more practical.
This was a great time for sporty cars, and all of these are near to my heart – although just near, as over the years I own/ed a cousin to each of them rather than these models – an NA Miata, a Prelude SI, Sentra SE-R, Giugiaro Impulse and 2G Eclipse GSX.
Of this bunch, I got to co-drive a V-6 MX-3 at autocross and wow – what a fantastic engine!
I even lusted after a del Sol in Samba Green Pearl but I never found the right one to buy. Maybe one day yet…
I had some experience with most, if not all of these in my years in the collision repair business. I don’t recall any of the Nissan’s, but I did work with a Nissan dealer so there was likely one or two. They weren’t very popular in this part of the world, but I do live in a college town and that is where many of them came from.
They do represent a time that has passed, where nearly every manufacturer had a small, sporty, affordable offering. But as long as we have cheap gas small cars will not be very common.
I haven’t seen any of them in ages, until about a month ago I found this clean MX-3 in a Walmart parking lot. It has a recent issue license plate, so it may have a new home. One of these days I will update my Cohort photos…