Future Sports Cars Sneak Preview: 2009 to 2012
High gas prices will do little to damp the enthusiasm of sports car aficionados, as manufacturers the world over are preparing a cavalcade of hot-looking fun machines that will make their way to showrooms over the next four years.
Still, the reality of soaring oil prices is not going unnoticed. The cars will be lighter, smaller, more efficient, but no less exciting. For Ferrari, that means a new front-engine V-8 model to complement its front-engine V-12 models. This new 2-seater, codenamed F149, sports a retractable hardtop, a smaller footprint, and sterling road manners. Alfa is preparing a small, sporty hatch called Mi.To, (pronounced “me too”) that promises many smiles from both inside and outside the car.
Lotus has an ambitious program in the 2010 Eagle, which is a larger 2+2 exotic that is counting on lightweight aluminum and composite materials that enable it to combine efficiency with driving excitement. Fellow U.K.-based Jaguar, fresh off its acquisition by India’s Tata Group, has dusted off plans for its own lightweight t2-seater, the 2012 F-Type.
Mazda plans a successor to the RX-7 that will utilize its unique rotary engine, while Nissan is busy at work on an all-new 370Z and a more powerful version of the recently introduced GT-R called the Spec V. Korea’s Hyundai is preparing to go after traditional pony car buyers with its Genesis coupe, a rear-drive sporty entry offering a choice of V-6 or turbo four power.
And don’t forget the Americans—Saleen has taken the wraps off the S5S Raptor, a smaller, yet no less potent replacement for its S7 supercar, while Pontiac looks to a coupe version of its 260-bhp Solstice GXP to pump additional life into the sales of that 2-seater.
Sneak Preview:
1. Ferrari F149
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Slideshow: Future Sports Cars Sneak Preview
