I’ve been guilty of this: I see an obscure brand making a cool wannabe supercar, and I immediately go, “Now we’re talkin’!” I think it’s just an automatic response some of us can’t control after being stuck in a sea of ugly, depressing SUVs and EVs all day. Seeing a driver-focused performance car just feels automatically exciting, like the automaker isn’t giving in.
However, I saw a comment recently that made a very, very good point. While looking at the Gunther Werks “Project Endgame” — a modified 993 Porsche 911 that makes 840 horsepower — I saw a comment on X that said: “Everyone’s competing for making very expensive cars. I wish someone had thought about making cheap, fun-to-drive cars. This is a dying breed. Thankfully, we still have the MX-5, and Mazda seems to be committed to keeping it light and fun.”
I immediately felt woken from a trance. What was I thinking!? Drooling over this limited-run overpowered over-the-top sports car that I’d never even want to buy. For what? While it’s fun to fantasize about these powerful, athletic cars and marvel at the automaker’s innovation, it’s not like it truly means anything. All we’ll do is maybe watch half a YouTube video of it driving around a track, then never think of it again.
What about the attainable sports cars we can actually experience?
Supercar? How about super fun for under $30,000?
So many carmakers are focused on making these high-horsepower cars full of carbon fiber, aerodynamic frames, and aggressive faces. It seems to be some kind of contest to be the next Apollo Project EVO. How many spikes and dramatic lines can I fit on this car? How much horsepower can I squeeze out? And there’s no denying these wild supercars are cool, but why aren’t more carmakers rushing to fill the void that the Miata left?
The American car market currently has no fun sports cars under $30,000. The Miata has officially gone over that threshold, and other affordable sporty cars are also reaching $40,000. If someone could perfect this formula, that’d be a lot more exciting than another unattainable spiky supercar.
Right now, Americans are having a tough time affording new cars. Most sporty cars are out of reach for the average family, leaving them with depressing CR-Vs and copy-paste Corollas (if they can even afford that). But life is already so depressing. We have taxes, long hours at work, insane gas prices, wars, taking out the trash… You only live once, and that life should be fun. Why can’t Americans just have a cheap little sports car to drive to work, then take a coastal drive or a winding back road on the weekend? I feel like some kind of marketing genius, but this seems like a no-brainer. A cheap sports car everyone can have that lets Americans have some fun in an otherwise mundane existence.
WHY IS THIS NOT HAPPENING?
Automakers are having a lot of trouble navigating the American car market. Since Americans aren’t buying the $40,000 sedans, automakers have assumed that luxury SUVs are in, in, in! But then these don’t sell either. Well, that’s because Americans can’t afford either of them. They aren’t buying because they can’t. Some automakers have realized this and started going lower. Ford is working on some affordable EVs under $40,000, including a $30,000 pickup. Sweet, but what automaker will step in and make a cheap sports car?
One big issue? It’s a smaller market. The Miata is popular, yes, but it’s not hitting numbers like a RAV4 or something. In 2025, Mazda sold 8,727 Miata in the United States. Not too shabby, but compare that to a RAV4, and it’s basically irrelevant to most automakers right now. The RAV4 sold 479,288 units in the United States last year. With tariffs and Chinese competition pressuring most carmakers, making a cheap sports car that will sell a few thousand units doesn’t seem high on the list.
However, the Miata saw a 7.7% increase from 2024. It’s not going to sell like that as a drab family SUV, but there are definitely Americans who do want it. If there was a way to manufacture smaller batches of cars more efficiently and cost-effectively, it could be a cool niche to jump into. There is really no competition and you could start a revolution. It’s not like average Americans can decide at random to buy a Porsche. At this point, even a Corvette is out of reach. But they could decide to put a down payment on a $25,000 sports car so they can have a bit of fun. The marketing can really touch on this. Imagine smiling on the way to work. Imagine feeling free at the drop of a hat just by going on a drive.
I think this is something America needs. But I’m not sure any automaker can make it happen. Not even Mazda can right now.
