When it comes to rear-wheel drive affordable sports cars, the Japanese know the name of the game better than anyone else does. Sure, we now have the Toyota GT-86/Scion FR-S/Subaru BRZ trio, but in the 1980s and 1990s, customers had a lot more options to choose from.
The Toyota MR2 however, is a special case, as it belonged to a rare breed of mid-engined RWD affordable sports cars. This layout allowed great handling capabilities that rivalled those of much more expensive sports cars.
Launched in 1984, the first-generation MR2’s hard angular lines were followed in 1989 by a more rounded and sculpted second-generation model, often labeled as the “poor-man’s Ferrari”.
