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10 Worst Sports Cars Of The ’90s

The 1990s was a fantastic era for sports car production, with some of the modern classic sports and supercar greats coming from this decade – such as the iconic Porsche 993 Turbo, or the 8.0-liter powerhouse Dodge Viper. Despite these and many more excellent sports cars gracing our roads for the first time in the ’90s, not everything produced in the decade was a total hit.


No, unfortunately, a few sports cars from the ’90s were a total flop, and make for a disappointing used car purchase today, so definitely avoid the below examples. Some are here for poor engineering and expensive maintenance, whereas others had disappointing performance and delivered a lackluster driving experience.

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10 The C4 Is The Black Sheep Within The Corvette Family

10 Worst Sports Cars Of The ’90s
Via Bring aTrailer

Let’s start with the Chevrolet Corvette, Americas’ sports car known the world over for its illustrious history – and what an incredible back-catalog that marque has, too.

The C4 Corvette however, always fell short of the usual Corvette standard, possibly due to the cheap-looking molded plastic bumpers used in order to save weight, and also due to common issues such as failing oil coolers, or the fact that the dipstick would come into contact with the crankshaft when running, causing a distracting noise when driving.

The main reason the C4 Corvette disappointed when new though, was simply the price; at $58,995 when new it was the most expensive Corvette ever released. Adjusted for inflation, that’s knocking on the door of $180,000 in today’s money!

9 Porsche’s 996 Carrera Is Too Troublesome To Maintain

Front 3/4 view of the 996 Carrera C4S in red
favcars.com

The 911 is another model with an impeccable history, perhaps even able to take the title as the most popular, and famous sports car in the world – so why does the 996 specifically feature in our list?

It is a great driver’s car for sure, especially the more powerful Turbo and Turbo S models, which were quick enough to take on all but the fastest supercars of the decade, and would give the most modern sports cars a run for their money also. As time passed though, it became clear that the 996 had some serious reliability issues though – namely the IMS failure, which gives little-to-no pre-warning and can easily lead to engine failure, costing well over $10,000 to then rectify.

Not only that, but die-hard Porsche enthusiasts disliked the controversial ‘fried-egg’ shaped headlights, and of course, the change to water-cooled engines was unpopular with fans of the model.

Related: Why The MK1 Porsche 996 GT3 Is So Special

8 The Aston Martin DB7 May Be Gorgeous, But It’s A Lousy Sports Car

Yellow Aston Martin DB7 parked
Bring A Trailer

We jump straight back into another brand with impeccable history, this time the British car-maker Aston Martin, famous for producing some of the best looking handmade sports cars of all time – and some of the coolest too, with many thanks going to the James Bond franchise for that accolade.

The DB7 came at a difficult time in Aston Martins’ history, with money running low and debt creeping up the usual highly limited handmade brutes weren’t bringing in enough profit for the company, so Aston had to build something they could churn out in higher numbers, with a wider appeal too.

The DB7 did tick that box, effectively saving the company with the 3.2-liter supercharged 340 hp inline-6 sports car, although it wasn’t without some shortfalls. In order to save money, Aston delved deep into the parts bin of the owner company Ford for all the switchgear, resulting in a cheap and low-quality feel to the interior. They didn’t stop there either, using Mazda parts for the rear lights and inner door handles, and even pinching chunky side mirrors from Citroën.

In addition, the DB7 was built upon the already aging platform of the Jaguar XJS, resulting in wayward handling which wasn’t very encouraging at speed – ultimately meaning the DB7 was never much of a driver’s car even when new.

7 The Porsche Boxster – All The Cons Of The 996 With None Of The Benefits

Green Porsche Boxster Base sports car
Porsche

Porsches’ 986 Boxster shared all the pitfalls with the 996 Carrera featured above, but unfortunately does not benefit from the redeeming features either, leaving us with quite a disappointing sports car indeed.

Launching in the latter half of the 1990s, the Boxster caused quite an excited stir when new; however, time has not been kind to the styling, in particular those vulgar ‘fried-egg’ headlights and the distinctly ’90s interior, again shared with the 996.

While the entry-level 911 Carrera has a 320 hp Boxer-6 engine to propel it along, the Boxster makes do with just 220 hp, resulting in a much less exciting drive. No wonder then, that the Boxster has been so cheap for so long, living in the shadow of the 911 (and now the Cayman, too).

6 Subaru’s SVX – Nobody Wanted It Then, And Nobody Wants One Now

1993 Subaru SVX - Front Left Angle
Via BringATrailer

Quirky doesn’t begin to describe the Subaru SVX, with its unusual design and striking road presence. Utilizing a 3.3-liter flat-6 engine, which produces a healthy 230 hp and 224 Ib-ft of torque, the SVX certainly has enough performance for a ’90s Japanese coupe, and although the suspension is fairly soft, we’re sure the obscure is quite a fun drive in the correct circumstances (even though it only ever came to the US with a 4-speed auto box).

The simple fact, however, is during the SVX’s short production run it never really took off, selling only 1,000 units in 1996, the final year of production.

There can’t be many fans of the SVX today either, as perfectly nice examples barely command over $5,000 on the used car market, showing the demand still does not exist much for Subarus’ challenging effort into the Japanese luxury sports coupe market.

Related: 10 Cool Facts About The Subaru SVX

5 The Mazda MX-6 Is A Disappointing Lackluster Sports Car

Mazda MX-6-1991 via conceptcarz
via conceptcarz

While we are on the topic of Japanese sports coupes, let’s take a look at the effort Mazda provided – the scarcely spotted Mazda MX-6. Under the hood, a 2.5-liter V6 engine powers the car along, producing a rather disappointing 167 hp, meaning this MX-6 takes a leisurely 8.5 seconds to accelerate from 0 to 60 mph.

Unfortunately, there is no redeeming feature with the MX-6; a bland, gray plastic interior greets the driver, who may as well be sitting within an MPV it’s that uninspiring. It’s just as bad outside as well, with bland bodywork and small alloy wheels in dull designs, the MX-6 just does not shout ‘sports’ in any way.

Naturally then, prices are low, and we expect them to stay that way indefinitely – the MX-6 lives in the shadow of the ever-popular Miata, and can never be considered a ’90s success story from Mazdas’ sport department.

4 The Mercury Capri Is A Poor Alternative To The Miata

Mercury Capri Convertible - Front
Via Cars & Bids

The early 1990s saw a much-needed resurgence of the two-seater roadster in US markets, sparked by the incredible success of the MX-5 Miata, which to this day is still the most popular two-seat sports car the world over.

Ford decided to join in on the fun with the Capri, which was actually a 2+2 and branded it under the Mercury name in an attempt to appeal to younger buyers.

Unfortunately, the Capri had outdated styling, reminiscent of cars from the ’80s, rather than looking into the future with a softer design approach. Not only that but with a front-wheel drive setup, the Mercury Capri was never going to drive great, especially in comparison to the rear-wheel drive competition from Mazda.

Unpopular and unloved, the Mercury Capri was a sales flop and has few fans today, with decently low mileage examples changing hands for below $5,000.

3 A Ford Probe Will Make A Terrible Sports Car Purchase

1994 Ford Probe 24V sports car
Via myclassics.co.uk

Based heavily on the previously mentioned Mazda MX-6 platform, the Probe was initially supposed to carry the Mustang name and replace the Fox body generation. It wasn’t until a hoard of angry Ford enthusiasts protested and sent letters in, that Ford decided to switch this name-change around, introduce the classically rear-wheel drive and V8-powered SN95 Mustang, and dub this front-wheel drive effort the Probe.

Despite the Probe now appreciating and becoming semi-desirable to ’90s car enthusiasts, it did not sell well at the time, mainly we imagine as most people would just choose to buy a Mustang if they were considering a sports-coupe from Ford. Lackluster performance and a fairly tame driving experience were not enough to get the Probe selling in any reasonable numbers, so for decades now it has been fading into obscurity as another failure of Ford in the 1990s.

2 Spectre R42 – Great Ambition But Poor Execution

Blue Spectre R42 supercar driving
via SuperCars.net

The Spectre R42 is a true unicorn car, developed in tiny numbers by a small company in England and then disappearing totally from the car-making stage.

This super-low sports car has a mid-mounted 4.6-liter V8, which produces a significant 350 hp, all of which are of course directed to those chunky, deep-dished rear wheels – so, what makes the Spectre one of the worst sports cars from the ’90s?

Unfortunately for the owners of this tiny British brand, roughly 2,000 man-hours went into every single R42, which of course they cost a huge amount to the company by the time they went on sale. Even more unfortunate was that, when they were finally offered to the public, only 23 units were ever sold. Couple that with the huge recession of the 1990s, and it was too much for Spectre to take, and as such, they were declared bankrupt shortly after.

The R42 could’ve been so great and even had great visions for taking on the infamously grueling 24-hour Le Mans endurance race; however, the dreams were bigger than the purse string at Spectre, and the R42 fell into history as another obscure sports car – a story of what could have been.

1 Aston Martin’s Virage Falls Short Of The Mark In Every Way Possible

Aston Martin Virage
Via Automotive News

This 1990s Virage is a far different car from the example they later offered, and unfortunately for Aston Martin, it really didn’t hit the mark for them right from the word go.

Back in this era, all Aston Martins (up until the aforementioned DB7) were hand-assembled, and sadly this would appear to be a byword for poor build quality in Astons’ book. The Virage had a questionable appointed interior, while the materials were typically sublime, the fitment was poor, and they were still stealing from the Ford parts bin for switchgear and lights, too, plus the electrical system was dubious at best.

Related: A Look Back At The 1992 Aston Martin Virage 6.3

The car was never slow, with a 5.3-liter V8 producing 330 hp, but it really always lived in the shadow of the far more powerful and brutish V8 Vantage – and with the Virage kicking off at a staggering $241,500, its little wonder why most customers stepped up and paid the pocket change in difference to buy the far-better Vantage model instead.

So with overshadowed performance, poor build quality, and outrageous purchase, servicing, and repair costs – it’s clear to see that the Virage really was one of the worst sports cars to ever come out of the 1990s.

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