Let me name one or two affordable American two seaters that are stylish and fun to drive. Saturn Sky and Pontiac Solstice. Let me name a few more that might have more than two seats, but offer a thrilling drive at a reasonable price: Mustang GT and (Australian made, American-branded) Pontiac GTO.

Then again, the Crossfire is really not an American car. It is built by a German-owned company, in Germany. I think North American content was less than two percent on my coupe. Without yet again arguing whether a PT Cruiser made in Mexico or a Crossfire made in Germany is more American than, say, an Accord made in Ohio, let's just assume that borders don't really matter in the auto industry (because there is a lot of ambiguity there). If we include cars from other countries on our shopping list (as we did when we bought our Crossfires), then there is a Mazda Miata, Nissan 350Z, Toyota MR2 Spyder, Mazda RX-8 (a four seater), etc.

Slightly used Corvettes, Audi TT, Porsche Boxters, and many others also creep into the same price bracket as the Crossfire. Basically, the point I am trying to make is that the Crossfire coupe is very far from being the "only game in town" for $29 - 34K (list). I too hope it is discontinued ASAP, probably when the contract expires in 2008. But I want it gone for very different reasons. I think it should be pulled off the market while it is still well regarded by the motor press and public. It's competitive now, but can you imagine selling this same car with its blocky interior styling, lack of telematics, 215 hp, and recirculating ball steering gear past 2008? After that, it will truly be an ancient car, as the basic architecture already owes more to the mid-90's than it does to 2005. I say, let it die with glory. Don't drag it out like Alfa did for several decades with its ancient Spider.

Finally, though it may someday be a classic, with 60K made to date and dealers cutting hefty deals to move the iron (which in turn sux the value out of your new car), this car has a long ways to go towards appreciating. If you bought it as an investment, I hope you are a patient person. It might take a good thirty years to break even on it. My advice? Drive it, enjoy it, and take care of it. If you want a solid investment, you wouldn't go wrong dumping the same kind of cash into mutual funds.