Little sports cars are great fun. They’re small enough to really take by the scruff and toss around, light enough that their little engines make the most of what limited power they make, and they’re usually very affordable to buy and run. These two go even further and add quirkiness and rarity to that shortlist of positive attributes.
Our first contender hails from Germany—a ’72 Opel GT. Looking all the world like a 3/5th scale C3 Corvette, it’s an attractive little thing bursting with character. Manually-operated fliplights and HVAC vents seemingly thrown about at random are just a few of the interior’s idiosyncrasies. RWD with a small four cylinder and manual trans, there’s tons of fun on offer here in a sub-ton package.
From Sweden comes the Saab Sonett III, a ’74 model, which was last of the breed. Translating to “So neat”, Sonetts are fiberglass bodied and of a similar size, shape, and weight to the Opel, but with FWD. This particular car uses a Ford-sourced V4, though earlier versions had Saab’s traditional two-stroke three. Though many came with a column shift, this one’s equipped with a floor-mounted stick. Again, there’s big bags of good times to be had in a tiny package.
1972 Opel GT
Click here for the Opel details.
1974 Saab Sonett III
