After reading the other thread about biggest discounts on performance models, and sales of two seat converts falling in the tank, and oil at near $100 a barrell, just wondering if we might be headed for a period like the mid nineties.

You know, the beginning of the end for the RX-7, the MR2, the Supra, the 300zx, etc.

Just thinking if we are close to the tipping point when sales of performance models drop drastically enough from gas and insurance worries that manufacturers stop profitting from them and stop making them.


Any thoughts?

 

in that one thread most of us talked about the Z4 M models, 50k isn't exactly cheap for a performance car that you can now find for half that for a perfect shape 2nd hand used performance car 350z, s2000, evo, sti, etc...

I think right now our economy is out of wack, housing market is really hitting hard and its taking every down with it. Hopefully things pick up, but no I don't think car companies will stop making performance cars

 

WRX? STI? S2000? 350Z? Elise/Exige? GTR? Porsches? RX8? Solstice/Sky? Vette? Viper? There are still plenty of sports car options available and multiple price points. Yeah, I see that slacking off some in the near future, but no mass-extinction. (Autocross attendance seems to be down for all clubs in this area, but it's not dead yet.)

 

extinction? more like the other way around. other than the other cars listed above, there are alot more cars in the works that are coming:
lexus supercar / supra, next nsx, crz, gtr...etc

 

The huge influx of performance models can be the harbinger of the death of the sports cars at least for a while. You can see it as a desperation move for some car companies to capitalize on a trend that is past it's prime. The whole everything must be sporty may be going the way of the dinosaur. The dinosaurs were the biggest and baddest right before they all went extinct. It's tough to tell, but it wouldn't surprise me if we were on the cusp of temporary extinction of masses of affordable sporty cars.

 

Hyundai is making a RWD 300hp car starting in 2009.
Nissan has a smaller than 350z silvia replacement coming
Toyota is working on an AE replacement.
The 135i has priced itself out of what I feel comfortable paying for it, but seems to be a potent car still.


I really don't see a dip in the current model choices, and from the looks of it 2 years from now will be filled with amazing choices.

 

I really think the automakers would be ahead of the game designing cars to be smaller, lighter, simpler rather than bigger/heavier/way more powerful.

More Miata-esque sports/sporty cars, fewer fat bloated overwrought behemoths, please...

 

I can tell you that gasoline isn't going to go back down to $2.00 a gallon and yes it will have an effect on everything, not just new sportscar sales. It's very much the case of the frog in the lukewarm water right now, he'll sit there as temps rise and die in the mf'er. I think people are a little smarter and when we see $4 or $5 a gallon people will be forced to make choices. There will be a number of people that it won't bother but all the credit babies (people living off of credit) will have to change or go broke. As fuel goes up fuel efficient automobiles will be more in demand and lots of people won't be able to afford a performance machine. I'm facing this right now as I want to buy a new performance orientated machine next year (Sti or Evo) but the economy is getting bad enough that I might just have to forget about my passions for a while until this blows over or we have alternative fuel choices, which could be for sometime to come. The main thing for me is that these are all depreciating assets. If I buy something for $40k + and gas goes up to $5 a gallon, well if I need to sell my performance machine, I'll have to lower the price very, very low and take a huge hit just to get rid of it. Gas at $5 a gallon means 30 MPG highway won't be enough, I'll have to look at 40-50MPG HWY and that means hybrids or diesel technology. I can afford to do what I want and buy what I want within reason but rapid increases of fuel in such a short time, well I have to rethink how I view financial decisions. Gas at $4-5 means my groceries go up, utilities, you name it. Everything is trucked in that we use as consumers. Unless you just have money to burn, you have to think about it. It's the world we live in right now. My personal take is that some of the mfr's are going to get burned in this fuel crisis. All it takes is a world event (war, natural disaster) and fuel prices could skyrocket. This maybe why some mfr's (*cough* honda) are playing it very carefully right now. I'm glad to see them go gang busters on hydrogen tech.

 

As someone who lived and drove through the 70s and early 80s, I can tell you that a repeat of the mid 90s is the least of our worries.

 

And it isn't likely either.