Kids in the 1980s and ’90s had it a lot better than the kids of today when it came to cars. There were expensive sports cars, such as the Lamborghini Countach, that were the stuff of legends. With shows like ‘Miami Vice’ in prime time slots, these kids saw cars that were unlike anything else on the road. The 1990s followed that tradition with cars like the Toyota Supra, 300ZX, and the Mitsubishi Eclipse.
Towards the end of the decade, we saw cars like the Honda Civic SI, which became a cultural phenomenon and one of the most stolen cars in the country. So we looked back at the cars high school kids dreamed about during these decades. These were the cars that you’d routinely see on posters and in video games. Many of these cars have become common on the road today, but there was a time when many of them were the stuff of dreams.
Toyota MR2
The MR2 was often referred to as the poor man’s Ferrari and rightly so because their designs were similar. The mid-engined design of the car gave it excellent handling and performance compared to the competition. Other cars on the market were faster than the MR2 but the lightweight design and bulletproof reliability made it preferable (via MR2OC).
The MR2 lasted for three generations, with the final generation being the least impressive. First-generation MR2s are hard to come by and expensive. There was a time when high schoolers wanted this car badly because of the interesting styling and the fast performance for its cheap price.