1999
The Sinistra Serenade was introduced in 1995, with an inline 3 of nearly-two-liter displacement, designed as a dirt-cheap economy car that anyone could afford.
This particular trim, the LC 2.0, is a rare car now, because it was only ever produced for one year, due to the inline 3 being quite badly received by anyone looking for a cheap, economical car. It was replaced with the ST 2.0, which brought the new Sinistra S-Series four cylinder engine to the party. Twin cam, EFI, with VVT and VVL, courtesy of Sinistra’s new “SinCam” technology.
In 1999, however, the Serenade was facelifted, trading a bland and boring front end for something a little nicer to look at. Still powered by the boxer-4 2-liter engine, the Serenade proved to be a good little car for someone on a budget.
With 107 horsepower on tap, and an aggressive exhaust note, the Serenade proved itself to be a fun car for the average family sedan market. With Sinistra’s newest GearMaster EcoMax automatic transmission, 33 MPG was coaxed out of the rumbly, growly four-cylinder engine while remaining stupidly easy to drive.
For a fun car on a budget, it did well enough. But the Serenade had an evil twin brother.
Those vents above the grillle cram air straight into the throats of the pair of snails this Boxer engine is wearing. Still a two-liter boxer-4, the GT 2.0 packs twin turbochargers for great hilarity, feeding into a 6-speed manual gearbox.
While not quite as budget worthy, the GT 2.0 was still quite potent for a front-wheel-drive family car.