Red has rather special connotations on Valentine’s Day, for it signifies love and passion. A color worth a thousand meanings, red was associated by the ancient Romans and ancient Greeks with excellence. Attractive when we wear it, red is also used by stop lights, stop signs, and fire engines because of how noticeable it is.
Previously reversed for the rich and powerful due to the red pigment being made from rocks containing iron oxides and certain scaled insects containing carminic acid, this color went mainstream in the 19th century thanks to the advent of… wait for it… synthetic dyes.
Used by almost 80 percent of national flags, red is a popular choice in the automotive industry as well. Associated with Ferrari and Scuderia Ferrari, this color looks good on almost every car out there, be it a lowly hatchback or a 986-horsepower Ferrari SF90 Stradale.
This story isn’t about good-looking econoboxes and Italian exotica, though. For this Valentine’s Day special, autoevolution has compiled a list of relatively affordable sports cars that look amazing in red. Ranked by affordability, the red-painted sportsters are as follows:
Chevrolet Camaro
Photo: Chevrolet
Always a thorn in the Mustang’s side, the Camaro was a pretty obvious choice for us. Priced at $26,100 sans destination charge for the coupe, the Chevrolet-branded pony car is available in two shades of red. Red Hot doesn’t cost a thing, while Radiant Red Tintcoat is a little more elegant. The latter finish currently retails at $495.
Based on the Alpha platform introduced by the 2013 model year Cadillac ATS, the Camaro is available with a choice of six-speed manual or ten-speed automatic transmissions. The latter was developed by the Ford Motor Company, yet General Motors uses its own software calibrations depending on vehicle application.
Although it has plenty of strong points going for it, the Camaro fails to impress in terms of sales figures. The Ford Mustang and Dodge Challenger sell better, and word has it that GM will discontinue the Camaro after the model year 2024 to focus on the electrified onslaught.
Mazda MX-5 Miata
Photo: Mazda
Heavily inspired by great-handling classic sports cars like the Lotus Elan and MGB, the MX-5 Miata launched at a time when small roadsters had almost disappeared from dealer showrooms. Originally proposed by MotorTrend journalist Bob Hall to Mazda R&D boss Kenichi Yamamoto in 1976, the MX-5 Miata is the best-selling two-seat convertible sports car ever produced.
Chassis number one million rolled off the assembly line in April 2016, with the celebratory vehicle finished in Soul Red Crystal. One of the nicest reds in the automotive industry today, Soul Red Crystal carries a sticker price of $595 over the MX-5’s $28,050 MSRP.
Available in two body styles, the Miata is exclusively powered by a naturally-aspirated 2.0 in the United States. Other markets get a 1.5-liter engine with a bit less power and torque, but going smaller also means lower weight. The MX-5 is the lightest car to make our list, weighing 990 kilos (2,183 pounds) in its home market of Japan.
Toyota GR86
Photo: Toyota
Technically and visually similar to the Subaru BRZ, the Toyota GR86 is the only car here to flaunt a boxer-style engine. Benefitting from both port and direct fuel injection, the “Hachi-Roku” produces 228 horsepower and 184 pound-feet (nearly 250 Nm) at 3,700 spinnies.
Also light yet not as light as the Mazda we talked about a moment ago, the GR86 is one of merely two bonafide sports cars to wear the Toyota badge for the 2023 model year, the other being the fifth-gen Supra. Although the Supra is more powerful and torquier thanks to BMW-sourced engines, the GR86 is far more approachable thanks to its lower price and for it being more practicable when you push it beyond 100 percent.
Slightly more affordable than the BRZ, the GR86 kicks off at $28,400 sans destination charge for the base specification. Eight exterior paint colors are available at press time, with Track bRed being the sole red finish.
BMW 2 Series Coupe
Photo: BMW
We’ve already featured a Toyota, which is why the Supra had to make room for a more compact sports car from BMW. Although the Supra is technically similar to the Z4, the second-generation 2 Series Coupe is more focused on the “sports” part compared to the G29 Z4.
The 2 Series Coupe, as well as the M2, is manufactured exclusively at BMW Group Planta San Luis Potosi in Mexico. Built around the CLAR cluster architecture that underpins pretty much all rear-drive BMWs currently in production, the G42 shouldn’t be confused with the 2 Series Gran Coupe which boasts a front-drive platform.
$38,200 is the starting price of the smallest rear-wheel-drive BMW on sale right now, the 230i Coupe that promises to reach 60 miles per hour (97 kilometers per hour) in 5.5 seconds. Priced at $650 in the U.S., Melbourne Red Metallic suits the 2er Coupe perfectly.
Nissan Z
Photo: Nissan
Arguably the best-equipped car as standard from this lot, the Z is best described as a reworked 370Z. Still based on the FM vehicle architecture of the 350Z, the 2023 model year Nissan Z starts at $39,900 in the United States with either a stick shift or a nine-speed gearbox.
Chief engineer Hiroshi Tamura let it slip that the closest rival of the Supra could’ve been better. Tamura-san refers to the limitations imposed by the carryover parts from the Z34, which is why the Z is codenamed RZ34 rather than Z35. In terms of mechanical bits and pieces, the single biggest upgrade is the twin-turbocharged V6.
Shared with the Infiniti Q50, Q60, and Nissan Skyline for the Japanese market, the 3.0-liter engine produces a healthy 400 horsepower and 350 pound-feet (475 Nm) at 1,600 revolutions per minute all the way to 5,600 revolutions per minute. The only red available for the Z is Passion Red TriCoat in combination with Super Black for the roof, a two-tone combo that’s priced at $1,695.
After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well. Full profile
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