This Year's Cheapest Sports Cars You Can Buy

Sports cars embody a passion for driving and life that just can't be duplicated. They are soul-stirring and extraordinarily exciting to drive, but they aren't particularly economical. While the terms "cheap" and "sports car" are seldom used in the same sentence together, there are a number of inexpensive new sports cars on the market that deliver plenty of performance and handling while at the same time avoiding the typical drain on your wallet that you might expect of a car with a "sporty" character.

Mini Cooper Starting at $19,400

Built by BMW, the newest iteration of the Mini Cooper is a direct homage to the Mini Cooper of the 1960s that literally terrorized other vehicle manufacturers on SCCA and European racing circuits because of its good power-to-weight ratio, taught steering and suspension, and low center of gravity. Today's Mini Cooper might be slightly larger than its predecessor, but that doesn't mean that its any slower or less capable of tearing up racetracks.

Volkswagen Beetle Starting at $18,995

Redesigned for the 2012 model year, the new Volkswagen Beetle harkens back to the stylistic influences of the classic Volkswagen Beetle in order to make it more appealing to a wider audience than the last generation of "new Beetle." Since its initial launch, however, the Volkswagen Beetle has been known as a fun, sporty car that throws its weight into and around curvy mountain roads as easily as it navigates your morning commute. This is perhaps the greatest strength of the Volkswagen Beetle, its ability to be more than just a sports car, but also a great all-around car. The Volkswagen Beetle is available in either naturally aspirated or turbocharged versions, and with four different manual and automatic transmissions.

Scion tC Starting at $18,575

Although Scion is still a relative newcomer to the automotive industry, they have done well shaking up the status quo with a line of vehicles aimed primarily at young drivers. The sporty and agile Scion tC features just one engine, a 2.5 liter four-cylinder engine that produces 180 horsepower mated to either a six-speed manual or automatic transmission. Scion offers a wide variety of factory-built, dealer-installed parts for the tC as well, including aerodynamic body kits and spoilers.

While none of these cars will surpass the Corvette or Ferrari in any meaningful way but fuel economy, they do present an affordable, sporty option for drivers who can't necessarily buy a car for only the summer driving season. What these small sporty coupes may lack in brute horsepower, they more than make up for in character.

Sources:
Mini: Mini Cooper: www.miniusa.com
Volkswagen: 2012 Volkswagen Beetle: www.volkswagen.com
Scion: 2012 Scion tC: www.scion.com