Underrated Japanese Sports Cars That Deserve More Attention
When people think of Japanese sports cars, the usual suspects come to mind: the Supra, GT-R, NSX. But Japan’s automotive history runs much deeper than the hall of fame models. Tucked between the legends are dozens of brilliant sports cars that never quite captured the spotlight, whether due to bad timing, quirky styling, or simply being overshadowed by their more famous siblings.
Let’s shine a light on some genuinely great Japanese sports cars that deserve a second look.
Mazda Cosmo Sport (1967-1972)
Image Credit: Grzegorz Czapski/Shutterstock.
Before the RX-7 made rotary engines famous, the Cosmo Sport was Mazda’s audacious debut of Wankel power. This gorgeous coupe featured a 110-horsepower twin-rotor engine that could push it to 115 mph, which was genuinely impressive for a small Japanese sports car in the late 1960s.
Only about 1,500 were ever made, and its futuristic styling still turns heads today.
Toyota 2000GT (1967-1970)
Image Credit: Toyota.
Wait, hear me out — yes, the 2000GT is legendary among collectors, but the average car enthusiast still doesn’t appreciate just how groundbreaking it was. Toyota built only 351 examples of this Yamaha-engineered masterpiece that could genuinely compete with Porsche and Jaguar at the time.
It proved Japanese automakers could build world-class GT cars, yet it’s still overshadowed in popular culture by the Supra and 86.
Nissan Silvia S12 (1984-1988)
Image Credit: Dmytro Stoliarenko / Shutterstock.com.
The S13 and S14 Silvias get all the drift tax love, but the pop-up headlight S12 is where Nissan really nailed the wedge-shaped 1980s aesthetic. Available with a turbocharged CA18ET engine making 135 horsepower, it offered rear-wheel-drive fun in a distinctive package that’s aged surprisingly well.
The styling is pure ’80s Miami Vice, and you can still find them for reasonable money.
Mazda RX-3 (1971-1978)
Image Credit:Mazda.
Everyone knows the RX-7, but the RX-3 was Mazda’s rotary-powered giant killer that dominated touring car racing in the early 1970s. With just 105-135 horsepower depending on the variant, it shouldn’t have been competitive, but its light weight and perfectly balanced chassis made it a terror on tight tracks.
The boxy sedan and coupe styling might not scream “sports car,” but racers knew better.
Honda Prelude (1978-2001)
Image Credit: Vitali Adutskevich / Shutterstock.com.
The Prelude spent five generations being Honda’s understated sports coupe, complete with four-wheel steering in later models and one of the sweetest-shifting manual transmissions ever made. It never had bonkers horsepower — topping out around 195 horsepower in the final generation — but the handling balance and build quality were quintessentially Honda.
It’s the sports car for people who actually appreciate driving dynamics over straight-line speed.
Mitsubishi Starion/Conquest (1982-1989)
Image Credit: MrWalkr – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0/Wiki Commons.
This turbocharged coupe was Mitsubishi’s answer to the Supra and RX-7, packing a 2.6-liter four-cylinder turbo making up to 188 horsepower in its final form. The wide-body versions looked properly aggressive with their boxy fender flares, and the intercooled turbo setup was relatively sophisticated for the era.
It competed successfully in racing but never achieved the cult status of its rivals, possibly because that name always sounded like a mistranslation.
Toyota MR2 Supercharged (1988-1989)
Image Credit: 4AGZE – Own work, CC BY-SA 4.0/ Wiki Commons.
Everyone talks about the Turbo MR2s, but the first-generation supercharged model is the one that truly nailed the momentum car formula. With 145 horsepower routed through a mid-engine layout and weighing just 2,500 pounds, it was all about carrying speed through corners.
The supercharger delivered linear power with no turbo lag, making it more predictable and arguably more fun on twisty roads than its more powerful successor.
Nissan 200SX SE-R (1995-1998)
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The front-wheel-drive Sentra SE-R gets respect, but its coupe counterpart with the same screaming SR20DE engine somehow flies under the radar. It packed 140 horsepower in a lightweight two-door body with independent rear suspension, making it a genuine handler despite the wrong-wheel-drive layout.
The styling was admittedly forgettable late-’90s blob, but the driving experience punched way above its economy car roots.
Mazda MX-6 (1988-1997)
Image Credit: RMT51 / Shutterstock.com.
Sharing a platform with the Ford Probe sounds like a recipe for mediocrity, but the second-generation MX-6 with the 2.5-liter V6 was a genuinely competent front-drive sports coupe. The 164-horsepower engine provided smooth power, and Mazda’s suspension tuning gave it handling that felt more expensive than it was.
It existed in the shadow of the Miata and RX-7, but it offered practical sports car fun for people who needed back seats.
Subaru SVX (1992-1997)
Image Credits: Andriy Baidak / Shutterstock.com
Giugiaro designed this all-wheel-drive grand tourer with bizarre window-within-a-window glass, and the world collectively shrugged. The 3.3-liter flat-six made 230 horsepower and could hit 60 mph in under seven seconds while providing all-weather capability.
It was too expensive, too heavy, and too weird to succeed commercially, but it represented Subaru’s most ambitious attempt at a legitimate GT car. Car and Driver seemed to like it back in a 1991 review!
Toyota Celica GT-Four (1988-1999)
Image Credit:Toyota.
While the US got less cool Celicas, other markets received the all-wheel-drive, turbocharged GT-Four that dominated rally racing. Why can’t we have nice things!? The final ST205 generation pumped out 255 horsepower and featured active aerodynamics and a sophisticated AWD system.
It’s criminally underrated because Americans couldn’t buy it new, but these homologation specials were the real deal, not just badge-engineered economy cars.
Mazda MX-3 with V6 (1991-1998)
Image Credit: Cluke-,CC BY-SA 3.0/WikiCommons.
This subcompact coupe offered something no one expected: the world’s smallest production V6 engine. The 1.8-liter V6 made just 130 horsepower, but it revved to 7,000 rpm and sounded fantastic while doing it.
The MX-3 was tiny, weird, and impractical, yet it delivered a unique driving experience that felt special in a way the numbers didn’t reflect.
Conclusion
Image Credit: Toyota.
The beauty of Japanese automotive history is that the depth goes far beyond the poster cars everyone knows. These twelve models represent different approaches to the sports car formula: some prioritized handling, others focused on technology, and a few just dared to be different. They might not command Supra money at auctions or generate the same Instagram likes, but each one offered something special to drivers who actually got behind the wheel.
Sometimes we just gotta dig a little bit (past the Supras) to see what we’ve been missing. Warning: you may find a new obsession in the process.
