I Knew The VR-4 Was Fast, But Not That It Was EXPENSIVE

"Nick Has an Exocet" (nickallain) 01/24/2016 at 13:56 • Filed to: None

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The as-tested price in 1994 dollars is astonishing. That’s Stingray Z51 Pack money.

As Tavarish would say: Why buy this new Corvette Z51 when you could back to 1994 and get a finicky Mitsubishi instead?

Pokesmot > Nick Has an Exocet 01/24/2016 at 14:02

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Wasn’t it also a performance bargain, like the corvette is/was

Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis > Nick Has an Exocet 01/24/2016 at 14:06

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As a whole those 90's Japanese sports cars were way more expensive that people give them credit for.

In todays money a 1998 Supra’s went for at least $58,000, a 1993 RX-7 went for upwards of $65,000

Sportwägen, Driver Of The Red Sportwagen > Dwhite - Powered by Caffeine, Daft Punk, and Corgis 01/24/2016 at 14:12

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Meanwhile, Fox body Mustangs went for around the same price (after inflation adjustment...) as they do new today!

While used Supras (and occasionally RX-7s...) used are around the same price they were new (with inflation)

jjhats > Nick Has an Exocet 01/24/2016 at 14:14

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While that price sounds high and makes the new focus RS seem to be the bargain of the century, you need to realize these things could dust a ferrari 348 of the same year at a third of the price. So when you think of it as a evo or sti like car it's really more along the lines of a modern GTR and therein lies the confusion because the r32/r33 GTR is what everyone thinks of as nissans halo car.

Daily Drives a Dragon - One Last Lap > Nick Has an Exocet 01/24/2016 at 14:15

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I still really want one. I want all of the 90's Japanese sports cars.

jariten1781 > Nick Has an Exocet 01/24/2016 at 14:35

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The hardtop convertible VR4 spyder was like 60k. That’s nearly 6 figures in 2015 bucks.

tickitytickityTANK > jjhats 01/24/2016 at 14:50

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Actually price to performance was why they were ultimately uncompetive, a LS1 powered F-body could say the same thing about them. I remember going to SCCA events in the 90s were the Japanese GT cars were often neck and neck (time wise) with considerably cheaper pony cars. The fit and finish were certainly better but its hard to justify their price point compared to a corvette of the same era.

Shour, Aloof and Obnoxious > Nick Has an Exocet 01/24/2016 at 15:09

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If you weren’t around at the time (or even if you were), you may not know WHY the RX-7, Supra, 300ZX, and 3000GT were so ludicrously expensive to the point that the manufacturers couldn’t sustain them here.

The Japanese stock market crashed in 1991, right when they were sending us all these amazing cars. It was almost exactly the same economic crisis we had in the US several years ago, with housing values skyrocketing and sketchy lending that led to a meltdown of pretty epic proportions.

By 1993, the exchange rate between the yen and dollar went bonkers, and low volume cars that were imported were suddenly priced well out of the layman’s budget. Unable to sell them in sustainable numbers, low volume cars ceased to be imported, and the brands had to double down on the stuff that they were manufacturing on US soil: compacts and midsizers.

Thus ended the golden age of the affordable Japanese sports car.

Short-throw Granny Shifter is 2 #blessed 2b stressed > jariten1781 01/24/2016 at 15:19

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And nowadays they’re being plastidipped and slammed by your local HS dropout part-time weed dealer. How the mighty have fallen.

Nick Has an Exocet > Shour, Aloof and Obnoxious 01/24/2016 at 16:02

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Great explanation. That makes sense. I was only 7 in 1994.