What makes a car special? For some car enthusiasts, the answer may be gorgeous styling, or maybe it's determined by speed and handling, either way, there are plenty of factors that go into making a car interesting and desirable. One such factor is rarity. Few things can make you as a driver feel like you're driving a special machine like knowing you're the only one on the road who's behind the wheel of such a car.
But, rarity and high prices tend to go hand in hand; such is the law of supply and demand. But, rare and expensive cars tend to have another factor, like brand name recognition, stunningly gorgeous styling, or supreme speed that mere mortals couldn't handle driving the demand up and up for their low supply.
But, not every super rare car is expensive. Sometimes, no matter how rare or important a car model is, it can end up being mostly forgotten by the car world, seeing very few people rush to by the limited examples produced. These 10 cars fit that bill, being some of the rarest out there, yet still costing less than $15,000 USD.
10 Mazda MX-5 Le Mans Edition - 24 Made
A normal Mazda MX-5 Miata is the farthest thing possible from a rare car. As one of the most iconic affordable sports cars, MX-5s are a common sight, yet the Le Mans Edition bucks that trend, and is an incredible rarity.
For fans of Mazda, or Le Mans racing, the paint job applied to the MX-5 Le Mans Edition should be instantly recognizable, as it's a direct tribute to the Renown livery Mazda 787B racecar that gave Japan their first win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
To celebrate this achievement, Mazda bestowed the Renown livery and a turbo kit to their humble sports car and made just 24 examples - one for each hour of the race it celebrated. They rarely, if ever, come up for sale publicly, but one public listing of a Le Mans Edition MX-5 on the internet had an auction estimate of around $5,000 USD.
9 Manic GT - 160 Made
One of the few cars designed and made in Canada, the Manic GT was a Quebecois sports car based on parts from Renault's cars and suffered a similar fate to other Canadian cars like the Bricklin SV-1.
First things first, the name is a reference to the Manicouagan River in Quebec, and not what you may think at first glance. The Manic GT originated with Renault employee Jacques About, who had been tasked with surveying interest in Canada for the Renault Alpine sports car.
Despite positive interest, Renault decided against importing the sports car, so Jacques left Renault and got to work building his own car for the niche the Alpine would have filled. Founding Automobile Manic Inc in 1968, the Manic GT was put into production in 1970. Lightweight and peppy, issues with Renault's supply of parts doomed the Manic GT, and production ended just a year later with only 160 of the cars being made. Despite the ultra-rare status that can make a Lamborghini look common, a Manic GT that came up for sale in 2019 was listed for just $15,000.
8 Subaru Impreza UK300 - 300 Made
Subaru's performance spec Impreza is a legendary Japanese sedan, with iconic status thanks to rally racing dominance, and AWD handling that lets it carve up paved roads as well as the dirt.
While the "normal" performance Impreza, namely the WRX, is rather common and affordable, plenty of ultra-rare special editions have been made over the year. Calling on their rally car building partner Prodrive, the Impreza UK300 was one such special edition, with only 300 made, sold in only the UK.
Based on the 2001 "Bugeye" WRX, the UK300 edition was mostly just styling changes, like the Prodrive spoiler and headlights, as well as OZ Racing wheels. While a Prodrive performance package was available, it wasn't standard on the UK300, making it less desirable than the more performance-oriented special editions, despite the rarity. As such, if you can find a UK300 Impreza for sale, it should cost around $10,000 USD, like this example currently listed.
7 Isuzu Impulse RS - 802 Made
Mainly remembered as a maker of industrial trucks and SUVs, the Isuzu Impulse RS was a surprisingly good sports car from the company, but one that had very few examples made.
A product of when GM owned Isuzu, many of their cars ended up being rebadged, tweaked, and marketed under the Geo brand, yet the Impulse RS was something more special.
Also sold as the Geo Storm, the second generation Isuzu Impulse of the '90s was one of Isuzu's last attempts at marketing a sports car. The Impulse RS though added a turbocharger and AWD that made the car much more fun to drive, especially with the lightweight of 2,700lbs. Only 802 examples of the Impulse RS were built, yet prices remain low, and Impulse RS examples can be found for under $10,000.
6 Saab 9-4X - 814 Made
When it comes to rare cars with under a thousand examples produced, the typical expectation is of something more experimental, exotic, sporty, or unique. The Saab 9-4x, on the other hand, is perhaps one of the last vehicles you'd expect to have this level of rarity.
And yet it is, not because it was a limited edition car with some special features, but because it was, unfortunately, one of the last dying breaths Saab took as a brand. Starting production in 2011 based on the same GM platform used for SUVs like the Cadillac SRX, Saab was shut down due to bankruptcy just a few months later, and after just 814 (according to the Saab Museum) 9-4x SUVs were produced.
One of the rarest "normal" SUVs, if you can find a Saab 9-4x for sale, it should cost around $15,000. Not bad for a practical and comfortable SUV, but also for the fact that you'll be driving something rarer than almost any other car on the road.
5 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 - 1,225 Made
There's nothing too memorable about the 1980s Pontiac Grand Prix. As one of the cookie-cutter GM products of the malaise era, the car just wasn't anything special, that is, unless it's the strange-looking 2+2 homologation special.
Spawned from a combined effort of Pontiac and Chevrolet, GM transformed the G-body Montecarlo and Grand Prix to fix aerodynamic issues holding the cars back in NASCAR racing.
Given a new front end, streamlined rear, and other aerodynamic touches, the Monte Carlo Aerocoupe and Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2 were ready for NASCAR once homologated. While the Monte Carlo had over 6,000 examples produced, the Grand Prix is far rarer, with only 1,225 said to have been made in its 1986 production. Despite the rarity, and focus on motorsports, Grand Prix 2+2s aren't well appreciated by collectors, and can be had for under $10,000 USD.
4 AMC Gremlin GT - Less Than 2,000 Made
Even if it's rare, and even if it has a sort of ironic cool factor to it today, the AMC Gremlin is not a well-respected classic, with its strange looks and overall cheapness being the main culprit.
Yet, it's hard not to find the Gremlin interesting for those same reasons, and even more so thanks to the plentiful special editions AMC made of the doorstop on wheels. Among such special editions was the 1978 Gremlin GT.
"GT" in name and looks only, the Gremlin GT was a typical "sticker package" of the '70s, akin to bold looking, weak driving cars like the Mustang II King Cobra. Adding some aggressive fender flares, blacked-out accents, "sporty" wheels, and some vibrant paint and decals, the Gremlin GT was given a weak AMC inline-6 engine that made all the sporty looks a moot point. The Gremlin GT is rare though, with less than 2,000 having been built, but it remains undesirable in spite of that, and examples sell for around $5,000 when they come up.
3 Mazda 323 GT-R - 2,500 Made
Many icons of the performance world were born as WRC rally racing homologation specials. Cars like the Lancia Stratos, Audi Quattro, and Subaru WRX STI are all legends for their rally involvement. Mazda had one of their own, yet it faded into obscurity.
Homologated to meet WRC Group A's requirements, Mazda started off with the 323 GTX in 1988. Rather plain looking, the GTX was rally-bred, with AWD, a turbo, and stiffened chassis.
Starting in 1992 though, the GTX evolved into the GT-R, still as a WRC homologation special, but now with upgrades like big brakes, and more exciting styling compared to the unremarkable-looking GTX. Only around 2,500 were made, and only sold in Japan and Europe, yet they're old enough to be imported into America and can be found for around $12,000.
2 Hurst/Olds 15th Anniversary - 3,001 Made
For fans of old school muscle, the names "Hurst" and "Olds" together on a car signify something truly special, marking some of Oldsmobile's greatest muscle, imbued with Hurst's coolest shifters.
First collaborating in 1968, the first Hurst/Olds was released that year, based on the Cutlass and equipped with the awesome Olds 455 V8 that could throw down up to 390 hp. Quickly becoming a legend of '60s muscle, by the time the mid-'80s rolled around, most muscle cars had been neutered.
Based on the G-body Cutlass Calais, the 1983 Hurst/Olds celebrated the 15th anniversary of the original. With a 180 hp 307 V8 sending power through a special performance transmission, and unique Hurst "Lightning Rod" shifters, the Hurst/Olds was one of the better V8 muscle cars of its time. 3,001 Hurst/Olds were made for the original's anniversary, with another few thousand being made in '84 as a continuation, yet the '83 15th Anniversary Hurst/Olds can occasionally be found for around $10,000.
1 Pontiac Grand Prix Turbo ASC-McLaren - Less Than 3,500 Made
Yes really, McLaren did lend their name to a late '80s Pontiac Grand Prix, but at the time they hadn't entered the production car scene.
Offered as a package on the 1989 to 1990 Pontiac Grand Prix, the ASC-McLaren Grand Prix added body modifications like fender flares, sportier suspension, interior upgrades, and a turbocharger bringing the Grand Prix's V6 to 205 hp.
Less than 3,500 examples of the strange automotive collaboration were made, and until late '80s/early '90s American cars become the next big thing to collect, prices remain affordable. A 5,500-mile pristine example sold earlier this year for $15,500 USD, and while that's a whole lot of money for a 1989 Pontiac Grand Prix, it's downright affordable for something so rare, especially something with the McLaren name on it.