The Beauty of All Wheel Drive

Think back to the turn of this millennium and remember how good things were.  Y2K failed to do anything to the infrastructure, the economy was booming, and the Fast and the Furious franchise wasn't a franchise.  People were living their lives a quarter mile at a time, had jobs, were buying all sorts of extravagance, and 401Ks seemed secure.  Everyone was happy.  That is, everyone except the car enthusiast.

eBay Finds: MR Opportunity

Looking back for a second, the nineties was a decade filled with almost too many choices for the sporting enthusiast.  Aside from the usual suspects from the US and Europe, almost every Japanese car maker had their hat in the ring as well.  Supra, RX-7, 300ZX, and 3000GT were all big hitters but the grand daddy of all Japanese sports cars had to be the NSX.  It's mid-engine rear-wheel drive layout meant that it could compete not only with the aforementioned Japanese muscle but also with the likes of Ferrari.  All of this ability came at a price too high for mere mortals and the only affordable mid-engine car came from rival Toyota...or did it...

Designed by Pininfarini, the Honda Beat was a tiny car with a tiny engine that produced big smiles.  While never sold in the United States, one can be had with a couple of mouse clicks on eBay.  Here's one with a pretty high reserve but exclusivity never comes cheap.

Japan Week: Mazda