And one with which I am familiar... About 2.5 years ago I needed a replacement for my 1987 16valve GTI. Looked for an MR2, tough to find for a resonable price. Drove some civics- cool but front wheel drive. Supra was too spendy and so were the 3rd gen RX7's. Ended up buying an all-wheel-drive Talon. A 94, last of the first generation body style.
That car was fast- after about $800 worth of stuff it had 300hp. Unfortunately, it was also heavy (3400#!) and not built too well. At stock power levels they're pretty trustworth, but ask anyone who's got one that's been modded how many transmissions they've been through. And heavy... felt it every time I turned the wheel. After a year I was sick of it and it's 20mpg thirst for premium and bought a 94 miata.
Now a miata is about the polar opposite of an all wheel drive turbo Talon. Light, rear wheel drive, 110hp, droptop. Added a turbocharger, aftermarket ecu, big clutch, rollbar, and exhaust: 260hp at the wheels, 0-60 in the low 5's, and best of all, <em class='bbc'> nobody expects it![/i] I love it, an absolute rocketship with killer reliablity and it's easy to work on yourself. Perfect!
Robert