Let?s face it, with the exotic-car production explosion over the past decade or so, a Ferrari 360/430/458/488 just isn?t as special as a high-end, mid-engined European machine used to be. On the lower end, a 1970s Porsche 914 or a Fiat X1/9 paints you as a bit of a nerd?and perhaps actively poor. What?s the discerning man gotta do to stand out" With Lamborghini Jalpa and Silhouette prices on the rise, a pre-Gallardo baby Lambo might be out of the question, and your anti-Ford stance most definitely takes De Tomaso?s Dearborn-powered Pantera and Mangusta out of the equation. The answer, friends, is none other than the Zimmer Quicksilver.

While you might be familiar with Zimmer?s fabulous Golden Spirit, a neoclassic automobile that recalls the Mercedes-Benz SSK while making use of readily available Ford underpinnings, the Quicksilver utilized the Pontiac Fiero?s unique platform to create a classy-plus-classy machine that turns heads faster than the high-wind zip of a Ferrari V-8.
In the tradition of the 206/246GT Dino, the Quicksilver featured a V-6 engine, in this case GM?s port-injected, 2.8-liter, pushrod mill, doling out a tasty 140 horsepower. That may not sound like much, but a decade earlier, the General?s 5.7-liter V-8s had roughly the same number of ponies. Sure, a 308 of the era, with its four-valve heads, made 100 horsepower more, but owning one of those means that you?ll be constantly shelling out lire to Angelo. And Angelo’s gotta pull the engine ju...