Nissan made only 20,000 of these little sweet-peas for the Japanese market back in the early 90′s—and had to sell them by lottery, the demand for them was so high! Each was a convertible and came equipped with a tiny 1.0 turbocharged engine. Many have found their way to places like the UK and Canada; this auction is out of Toronto, and the seller appears to have two!  But you’ll need to wait a few years before you can register one in the US: JDM cars have to be 25 years old before they’re legal here.

You can’t visit the Grassroots Motorsports message board without wading into a morass of Miata threads. And David Wallens uses the former GRM Miata project car as his daily driver. So it’s no surprise that the Miata is one of GRM’s "9 for the ’90s." Mazda sold over 50,000 Miatas in the first year of production, and the Miata went on to become the best selling sports car of all time. So that means they are plentiful. You know what else is cool? They are also tough as hell. Besides a few issues with the crank and paint in the first few years, there is nothing much to be on the lookout for. Displacement got bumped up from 1.6 to 1.8 liters in 1994, and with that the car also got bigger brakes and a stiffer chassis. But if you want one, just pick your price range and go shopping for the cleanest example you can find. Prices for ’90s Miatas range from $1,500 to $12,000. Eric’s car (below) has been heavily modded and looks great with those fender flares. You can read more about Miatas and get a ton of resources for these cars in the December issue of Grassroots Motorsports, on newsstands now.

Civics and Integras from the 90s have a huge enthusiast following and a ton of aftermarket support. David, who has owned several of these cars over the years, says they have one of the best suspension designs you’ll see on a FWD car. And thanks to a healthy supply of engine mounts, wiring harnesses and shift linkages, engine swaps are a snap. The Civic Si and Integra GS-R are highly sought after, and nice examples of the Type R will set you back as much as $15,000. John’s Type R (below) won the East Coast Honda Challenge H2 title and finished second at the National Championship in 2006. He then raced in the Performance Touring "B" class in 2007 with full support from Hankook and Carbotech. You can read more about Civics and Integras and get info on a ton of resources for these cars in the December issue of Grassroots Motorsports, on newsstands now.

A list of top enthusiast cars from the 90s would not be complete without the SN95 Mustang GT, which debuted in 1994. The SN95 had a lot in common with the Fox body cars it replaced, but was much was improved. David Wallens says a good one to look for is the Mustang GTS, which was only sold in 1995. The GTS was a basic LX-type package, but came with all the cool go-fast stuff. Matt bought his GTS off eBay and immediately started working to improve on the stock 215 hp. He claims the car now puts out 660 rwhp. You can read a bunch more about the SN95 Mustangs and get info on lots of Mustang resources in the December issue of Grassroots Motorsports, on newsstands now.

Next up in Grassroots Motorsports’ "9 From The ’90s" is the C4 Corvette, which lasted until 1996. C4 Vettes are a favorite for autocross events, especially cars with the Z51 and Z07 suspension packages. Prices on C4s range from as low as $5,000 to as high as $50,000 for rare ZR-1 and Grand Sport models. Eric’s car below is one of the last C4s (I blogged about Eric a few months back–be sure to check out his videos). You can read more about C4s and get links to a ton of C4 resources in the December issue of Grassroots Motorsports, on newsstands now.

Next up in Grassroots Motorsports‘ "9 From The ’90s" is the fourth generation F-body, which first appeared in 1993. David recommends looking for the LT1 cars with the six speed manual. The 1LE package in particular is a real score, with stiffer bushings, thicker anti-roll bars and even Koni double-adjustable shocks on some cars. Then again, Paul’s car (below) is hardly stock. You can read more about these F-bodies and get links to a ton of F-body resources in the December issue of Grassroots Motorsports, on newsstands now.

The December issue of Grassroots Motosports has a great article by David Wallens called "9 From The ’90s," which takes a look at GRM’s nine favorite cars from the Clinton era. As David points out, many of these cars are nearing the bottom of their depreciation curve, and can be a killer deals for enthusiasts. I’m going to look at one per day for the next nine days. First up: the E36 M3.

We talked about the E36 M3 a bit in a recent Whip of the Week. It was available from 1995 to 1999, and we happen to have a former Grassroots Motorsports project car on our site (Alan’s ’95 M3, pictured below). This factory hot rod can be anything from a classy daily driver to a dominant force on the track. David writes that values range from $6500 to $25,000, depending on the year and condition. You can read more about the E36 M3 and get links to a ton of M3 resources in the December issue of Grassroots Motorsports, on newsstands now.

Next up in Grassroots Motorsports‘ "9 From The ’90s" is the Dodge/Plymouth Neon. Don’t laugh. These cars can be fast, and cheap. Look for one with the ACR package, which became available in the 1995 model year. These cars had beefier hubs, more cooling, quicker steering, better gears, disc brakes on all four corners, a beefed up suspension and alloy wheels. Richard’s ACR below has been modified to USTCC specs. You can read a bunch more about these Neons and get info on lots of Neon resources in the December issue of Grassroots Motorsports, on newsstands now.