Toyota MR2 1986 - affordable mid engine car

There haven't been many affordable mid engine cars after 1980, one was the MG F/TF, another one was the Toyota MR2. It was a good looking car and reasonably fast. And I remember that especially in Italian the name sounded good, i.e. "emme erre due". It was of course a pure two seater and later version had a removable targa top. Some people say the design and engineering came from Lotus, but it's not quite clear. Anyway, the car was quite successful and the first generation was produced from 1984 to 1989 with engines ranging from roughly 83 to 145 hp batteling with roughly 1'000 kg of weight. Handling was good, but there were some real drastic accidents when driver lost their tail.
The following generations both were less good looking and also less pure in my eyes.
I nearly bought one of the first generation cars as I specifically liked the interior and the nimbleness of the car, but it didn't happen.