Sports cars are one of the most popular types of car on the market, and not just for their performance, as well. More often than not, sports cars are some of the best-looking cars on the road. Add in stellar performance and there is no question why so many people end up purchasing a sports car. There have been countless models built all over the world, from Aston Martins to Acuras, Pontiac to Porsches, just to name a few. And plenty have become classics.

Some sports cars are a bit of a conundrum, though. A lot of these sports cars are actually very solid when they're released but over time, they lose some of their luster and appeal, and do not remain as desirable as they used to be. This can be for many reasons. Some of these cars may never have actually been as good as they seemed in the first place, or perhaps their rivals just left them behind in terms of performance.

Of course, some were solid cars, but as time went on, they were themselves superseded simply by later iterations of the same model, rendering older generations obsolete. Below is a fairly comprehensive list of sports cars that have not aged very well over time and in the end, have become less and less desirable as the years have gone on.

18 Aston Martin V8 Vantage

via Wikipedia

Aston Martin has long been renowned for gorgeous styling, with some of the most beautiful looking cars to ever grace the roads of this planet. The V8 Vantage was no exception, and its 380-horsepower V8 paired to a glorious manual transmission provided an unrivaled driving experience when it first launched. But as time has gone on, it has been superseded by later models, both from Aston and other car companies. Despite all that, though, the V8 Vantage still remains an outrageously good looking car and is perhaps the definition of beautiful. Some of its successors from rival companies that may best it in the performance arena can’t come close when it comes to looks.

17 1979 MG Midget

via Catawiki

The MG Midget came at a time when some British car companies were losing their luster, and struggling when it came to their design concepts. The Midget bares a striking resemblance to the MG B Rubber Bumper, at least this later model does, and it was hyped up to be a very nifty sports car and one that would prove to be a true drivers car.

Sadly, the Midget didn’t really live up to those expectations.

Its performance was very quickly left behind as the years went on, not that it was ever particularly hard to beat a 0-60 time of around 15 seconds. By today’s standards, even a lot of family cars can get to 60 miles per hour quicker than the Midget.

16 DeLorean DMC-12

via supercars

The DeLorean, despite its flaws, is one of the most recognizable sports cars of the 20th century. It could even be up there in the top three most recognizable. Without a doubt, its role in the Back to the Future films immortalized it in the hearts of many, and no matter its defects, it will always be loved.

That being said, the DMC-12 did suffer from a number of flaws.

Its performance lagged badly behind other sports cars that were already out when it debuted, which meant it lost any edge it may have had incredibly quickly. Perhaps the DMC-12 was a bit too ambitious for its time but it will forever remain an icon, and a 1980s hero.

15 Nissan 350Z

via Midwest performance

The Nissan 350Z is an interesting vehicle, and interesting in the fact it has constantly received a mixed reception from those that have driven it. The 350Z was, on paper at least, a nifty little sports car, with sleek styling and some good features, but performance-wise, it did lack somewhat in the power and handling department, which was not good when it was compared to some of its rivals. Thus, the 350Z didn’t age well and has probably become one of the cars Nissan wished they’d spent more time perfecting before letting it loose on the roads. The basis for a good sports car was there, but the final details just didn't add up.

14 BMW Z3

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Small convertible sports cars are something of a rarity, for whatever reason, despite the form being incredibly popular and well liked. The BMW Z3 is one of those rare breeds of cars, and was surprisingly more refined than, for example, Mazda’s Miata.

But early editions of the Z3 only had a 1.9 liter, four-cylinder engine, which actually produced less power than that of the Miata.

It's not something that BMW were particularly proud of, though the German manufacturer did rectify this with later editions of the Z3, pumping out around 315bhp when done up in M spec. Those improvements helped it to resoundingly beat out the Miata eventually.

13 1953 Chevrolet Corvette

Via RM Sotheby's

The 1953 Chevrolet Corvette is certainly a beautiful car, though perhaps it is not one that has aged well. Not at all. Later editions of the Corvette are indeed much, much better. Now, some tolerances must be allowed when dissecting the differences because the various models were released in different decades.

But what can’t be forgiven is that the 1953 Corvette was not a particularly good car to begin with.

It was severely underpowered and its structure was poorly built. Not only that, but various issues plagued the Corvette throughout its lifetime. It's truly a shame that it got left behind so quickly, because the Corvette was a gorgeous car.

12 Tesla Roadster

via autoweek

Tesla is certainly in the headlines a lot these days. Whether that comes from controversy surrounding Elon Musk or discussions about their cars being good or bad, Tesla seems to generate headlines. Based on the Lotus Elise, their original Roadster was an attractive option to the regular sports car, and certainly an eye-catching car too. But Tesla has really come on since the early days, and even though the Roadster is a very attractive car and certainly quick, its successors are quicker in a straight line and equipped with much better powertrains. The original Roadster has simply been left behind by improved models.

11 Mazda RX-8

via reezocar

It may, or may not, surprise a few people to see the Mazda RX-8 on this list. The RX-8 is a very attractive and quite aggressive looking car, although it's certainly not as pretty as its RX-7 predecessor. And the RX-8 was the company's last attempt at perfecting a rotary-powered sports car.

It had a small, 1.3-liter rotary motor but it still managed to pump out nearly 250 horsepower.

Which, all things considered, wasn’t bad in itself. Despite all that, the RX-7 has been the one that has aged better. It is far more beautiful and desirable, and has a more powerful engine, although both models suffer from the inherent flaws of the rotary design.

10 Maserati Quattroporte

via Maserati Daytona

The Quattroporte has been around for a long time, and is one of the most recognizable sports cars from an Italian car company. And it has always been a very strong and well-liked car, with a wonderful Ferrari V8 engine giving it plenty of power and a wonderful exhaust note. But its automated manual transmission was clunky and poorly refined, which was a huge downside for the Quattroporte. Much later editions of the car are more refined, and the later automatic models were a god-send for many owners. The Quattroporte’s styling, though, has remained as refined and sleek as it always has been, and can’t look bad from any angles.

9 Mazda Miata

via Top Speed

The Mazda Miata had a ton of potential. It was everything that Mazda wanted to be from a small little sports car, and indeed it could even take on competitors like the early BMW Z3. But despite Miata’s promise, the car had a horrific engine and was unbelievably slow. It paled in comparison to the later Z3 and even against the more basic basic competition, as well. A 0-60 time of over 9 seconds did not do the Miata any particular favors, and it was incredibly quickly overtaken by later models. So much promise was there, but ultimately the early Mazda failed to deliver on that promise.

8 2005 Ford GT

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The Ford GT40, the original retro-themed early-2000s release, was an exquisite car. The newest Ford GT is also an incredibly wonderful car, has received high praise wherever it goes, and has also featured well in the IMSA and WEC racing series.

But the original Ford GT40 did have some issues, and it never quite caught on in its rather limited production run.

That alone was one of the issues, simply because so few people ever got to see or enjoy one. Its fuel tank was also ridiculously small, and an episode of Top Gear in which Jeremy Clarkson drove his across France with the other presenters highlighted that issue.

7 Pontiac GTO

via mecum

The Pontiac GTO is at the top of list when it comes to poor cars from Detroit in the 1990s and early 2000s. The resurrected GTO was a result of pressure felt by Pontiac from Ford and their Mustang, and indeed reintroducing the GTO following the original classic version of the car was a bold step from Pontiac. Its performance didn’t add up, though and it was a fairly boring car compared to the Mustang, which is selling strongly to this day. The Mustang very quickly left the GTO behind, and the GTO then very quickly vanished in the mid-2000s.

6 Chevrolet Cobalt SS

Via WheelsAge

A sports car is usually a high performance automobile, in some cases a dedicated model and in other cases a performance spin-off of a standard edition. But the Chevrolet Cobalt SS wasn’t quite either.

Indeed, the Cobalt SS was a performance spin-off of the standard Cobalt—but it could barely perform.

It lacked any huge gains versus base models, and the huge spoiler did nothing at all to improve it. Normally aspirated, supercharged, and turbocharged versions were introduced, but it even forced induction couldn't really do anything for the Cobalt. Its rivals, particularly from Japan, very quickly left it behind.

5 1975 Ford Mustang II

via CarDomain

The 1975 Ford Mustang II was a much less refined and much more awful version of the original Mustang, and perhaps Ford would have done better just to give it a separate name all to its own. But there was no escaping that the Mustang II was not born of a successful concept, and really did not live up to its expectations.

It wasn’t good-looking, and it had a small V6 that was too underpowered to give the car any decent performance.

The handling was also abysmal. Thus, the Mustang II did not live up to expectations and later editions of the legendary car just left it behind, with the second generation being a small blot on an incredible record for the Mustang.

4 Porsche 924

via autoclassics

The 924 is certainly a good-looking car, and it was born into this world by Porsche with a huge array of high hopes. Porsche, of course, were well-regarded at the time and still are, so expectations were high when the 924 was launched. But it soon became clear that there were some serious problems with the 924. Its reliability record was poor, and structurally the 924 was fairly weak. The life cycle was not particularly long if it was an every-day, every-trip kind of car. It sadly was not as good as other sports cars from the company, especially the legendary 911. Porsche very quickly learnt from their mistakes, and the 924 was erased from memory.

3 1992 Chevrolet Camaro

via Haggerty

The Camaro is another iconic sports car series, much like the Ford Mustang, that has become synonymous with Detroit muscle and indeed it has done a lot for the automotive world. But not all of the Camaros produced became a classic, and the 1992 edition of the car was one that not many consumers were totally fond of. Its speed, if anything, almost meant it shouldn’t have been classed as a sports car at all, and later models very quickly rectified the problems that Chevrolet had. The 1992 edition is certainly not one that will have people falling over their feet to add to their collection.

2 Saturn Sky

Via The Drive

Saturn were going through a tough time in the 2000s, and the Sky was an attempt by the company to rectify their poor market position. But the Sky was not a car that many drivers liked, and it didn’t do anything for the companies reputation.

The Sky was very basic in looks, and it certainly wouldn’t catch my eyes if I saw it out and about on the road.

The performance, as well, was nothing special either, which is always a fundamental issue with a sports car. Rival cars very quickly left it behind and the Saturn Sky has almost faded from memory, and only those unfortunate enough to experience driving one can remember it.

1 Nissan 370Z

via Wikipedia

There was actually a lot to like about the 370Z upon its launch. Its unique, lightweight design, and high-revving V6 cranking out 332 horsepower gave the car a lot to shout about. Quite literally. It even became a rival to the bulky muscle cars that were around at the time, and was certainly a bit of a thorn in the side of Ford and Chevrolet. But as is often the case, time is never quite on the side of some cars, and the 370Z’s rivals did eventually catch up. They are more nimble and practical than the 370Z, and though it is still built to this day, Nissan would be better served producing a newer version.

Sources:  TopSpeed.com, BarrettJackson.com, and Supercars.com.