Forbidden Fruit

The pitiful truth is that many of the world's finest sports cars never turn a wheel in the U.S. Some fail to batter their way through U.S. regulations that encourages the Hummer H2 but rule out the Lotus Elise, while others are dismissed as "not commercially viable." Legendary marques such as Alfa Romeo and MG aren't represented on these shores because the Europeans think the "septic tanks" don't want them.

And our friends across the Pacific are no more accommodating. If you've ever spent a weekend in Tokyo, you know Japan is awash with hot, modified motors. It's rare for a Honda to pass without some sort of Mugen kit, while Subaru Technica International (STi) has an expansive showroom that's nirvana for the motoring enthusiast.

Even some of the cars that do roll of a boat, such as the Mitsubishi EVO VIII, lack the technical trickery that makes them so appealing to the Europeans. One of Prodrive's engineers famously set fire to a U.S.-spec WRX because he hadn't realized the brakes are several grades lower than they are on UK cars.

Here, we'll bring you a blow-by-blow account of the 10 best cars you can't have. Most come from Europe - one of them even hails from France - but others were born under the Japanese flag. All are eminently affordable, undeniably desirable and scream "drive me" from every angle.

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