Toyota's Best Performance Cars: 1985-89

Start a conversation about low-budget Toyota performance cars and the discussion will probably center mostly on various flavors of Celica, at least at first. Indeed, Toyota's long-running line of 2+2 sporty coupes make for attractive performance-car values nowadays.

But whether or not anyone in such bull sessions gets around to talking about it, sneaking under a lot of people's noses are great values on a fine little sports car with appealing exotic-car overtones -- the first-generation Toyota MR2.

Toyota introduced the U.S. version of the MR2 for 1985, into a market almost entirely devoid of relatively inexpensive sports cars. Reportedly designed with help from famed sports-car builder Lotus, the MR2 combined a mid-engine layout, light weight, and decent power to make for exceptional performance. With that and the MR2's crisp, well-proportioned styling, the car was met with rave reviews.

The standard powerplant for these MR2s was a 112-hp 1.6-liter dohc four. For 1988, an optional 145-hp supercharged version was introduced in the new higher-performance SC model, which also included firmer suspension and extra body stiffening.

During the run of the first-generation MR2, the design received significant changes. For 1986, the MR2 got exterior revisions that included side skirts, color-keyed bumpers, and a translucent spoiler for the back of the roof. Along with these changes, a removable targa roof panel was available as an option. Also newly optional were leather interior and automatic transmission. For 1987, the MR2 got larger brakes and additional suspension revisions.

As for picking up a first-gen MR2 for yourself, there's good news and bad news. The good news is that most of these sharp-edged hotshots are now selling for under $5000. What's more, these cars were generally cherished and treated pretty well over the years, so even at such attractive prices they tend to be in good condition.