Cool JDM cars the first thing that comes to our mind when we think of imports. But on the closer side of things, the forbidden fruits from Europe are equally enticing. Many of the fun-to-drive European cars never made it to the USA, and some are even out of our reach now. It is in these situations that the 25-year old import rule comes in as a partial boon. 25 years is surely a long time to wait up to import a car, but when it includes weird, quirky, and outright fun cars, it is well worth the patience.
The batch of 1996 actually has a lot more interesting offerings from Europe that really excite us. The Brits were all over the place and had their hands in lightweight sportscars and big brawny Viper-rivalling cuties. The French loved weird stuff back then too, and had a car with optional windshields! But it wasn't always about fast cool looking cars, but also humble hatchbacks that were the definition of FUN. Some are rarities while the others are plentiful out there.
The latest bunch of European cars exempted from the 25-year import rule includes humble fun-to-drive hatchbacks to cool futuristic roadsters which didn't have a windshield.
TVR Cerbera - A Curvy Car With An Off-Beat Engine
This mixed-bag of a sportscar looked a lot like a cute Dodge Viper. But the TVR Cerbera was a Brit and was powered by a 4.2L flat-plane V8 that gave it quite the hellish exhaust note. The screaming exhaust was due to the combined package of its 75-degree bank flat crank coupled to a cleverly laid out equal-length exhaust system.
Performance figures were at 360- hp and 320 lb-ft and it could hit 180 mph with ease. The power went up later on to 420 hp. Despite being plagued by reliability and build quality issues, this 2+2 is hailed as one of the best cars produced by TVR. It had the brawn to face the likes of McLaren F1 and Jaguar XJ220 which were considered the pinnacle of automobile engineering back in the day.
Lotus Elise S1- The Small British Revolution
This was the version of the iconic featherweight roadster that we didn't get. Lotus did bring the Series 2 Elise in 2005 but the Series 1 with distinctive styling was never offered. This thing weighed just 1,598 pounds and was because of its chassis that was made using bonded extruded aluminum. This allowed the chassis to be extremely rigid and eliminated the added weight and structural strength loss from welding.
It was powered by a 181 hp rear-mid-mounted engine and a sweet 5-Speed manual. The weight distribution was gold and this roadster with a puny engine worked wonders around the track. Its Bug-eye headlamps and curvy cues were what made it stand apart from the rest of its generation.
Renault Sport Spider - A Futuristic Rival Of Lotus Elise
A conceptual production car with an optional windshield. The Renault Sport Spider was the French's answer for the Lotus Elise and was quite an oddity. It was built out of an aluminum chassis and plastic composite body. This roadster was powered by a 2.0L 4-cylinder motor from a Clio Williams and pumped out 150 hp.
It did 0-60 mph in under 6 seconds and was made for the curves. But it was heavier than the Elise at 2,050 pounds but was quite the head-turner. Safety was also paramount and it came with an integrated rollbar. Only 1,800 units were made and even the radio was optional.
Josse Car Indigo 3000 - Inspired By TVR And Powered By Volvo
There were a lot of inspired cars coming out during the 1990s. This one is from Sweden and was built as a spiritual successor to the iconic Volvo Sport of the 1950s. This car was inspired by what TVR did with the Cabrera. A Volvo-sourced 204 hp 3.0L Inline-6 coupled to a 5-Speed manual was at its heart. It was a tiny car with a 99.2-inch wheelbase and a curb weight of 2,200 pounds.
That was just 150 pounds heavier than the tiny Renault Sport Spider. This helps the Josse Car Indigo 3000 do 0-60 in about 6.5 seconds which was decent, and topped out at 155 mph. It also took a few American muscle cues like the clamshell hood that opened from near the windshield and seat-hooped roll bars like the Shelby Cobra. Just 44 were ever built before Josse Car went bankrupt.
Peugeot 106 GTI
Hot hatches were always a craze back in the day, and back in Europe, the French were leading the FUN-race with the Peugeot line-up. The 106 GTI succeeded the bonkers 205 GTI and came packed with an o pumped-up 1.6L Inline-4 motor that produced 120 hp to the front wheels only. This tiny French was a loud one as it had a redline of 7,200 rpm.
This car is a clever choice to be had as the 205 GTI still overshadows this, and so the prices can be quite nominal. Well, until someone read this article, that is! Getting one in the notable funky yellow color would be a bold move, we say.
Sources: Thedrive.com, Hagerty.com, Motor1.com, Caranddriver.com, Roadandtrack.com, Carbuzz.com
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April 05, 2021 at 02:45AM
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These Are The Most Exciting 25 Year Old European Cars Becoming Legal In 2021 - HotCars
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