Readers, I was idly browsing Volvo C70 convertibles on Facebook Marketplace the other night, and I had a bit of an epiphany. These cars share their underpinnings with greats like the Mazdaspeed 3 and the second-gen Ford Focus RS — even down to the five-cylinder turbo. The big difference with the C70, though, is that it’s a convertible. Why is a drop-top Focus RS not getting more attention from the tuner world? What other cars are suffering in the same way?
Today, that’s the question laid before you: What non-tuner car deserves a tuner following? With modern platform and engine sharing, the bits and pieces that make up our favorite performance cars end up reused in all sorts of other vehicles. The Cadillac ATS sat on the Camaro’s platform, the Honda K-series came in everything from the TSX to the Odyssey — there are tuner cars everywhere for those with eyes to see.
What car deserves the tuner treatment?
This platform sharing means that engines aren’t the only bits that can be swapped like Legos. That Volvo C70 up top can fit MadzaSpeed suspension, at least up front. Sure, the back may be revised to bear the weight of the retracting hardtop, but someone must make some suspension that fits. Someone would, certainly, if the C70 had the tuner enthusiasm it so richly deserves.
What car do you think deserves tuner love and aftermarket support? Do you think Ford Rangers should get the Datsun Sunny treatment, or K-powered Honda Odysseys should all be boosted within an inch of their lives? Leave your picks down in the comments, and we’ll collect our favorites later in the week. Bonus points for something that shares bits with a beloved tuner car, but that’s not a necessity — if you know of a car that fits the bill even without shared parts, that’s fair game.