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The following cars may look very sporty, but in reality, they failed to live up to expectations.

Some sports cars are smaller, have less power, and are focused more on handling and weight savings to aid the driver in finding more speed through the corners.

Widely considered the best formula for an actual bare-bones sports car, it can make for a really thrilling experience and will reward driving talent. If the manufacturer gets it just a little wrong in any aspect, either making the “small” car a bit too big or ugly, forgetting entirely about horsepower, or getting the suspension setup wrong can all result in a rather awful car. Here are 10 examples of such sports cars that were not really sporty at all.

Although it was a mid-engine sports car, its eccentric design resembles a sleek van or maybe a small boat rather than a sports car, the Europa is one strange-looking little car and only true fans of it will even try to defend it.

Its polarizing looks are only part of the problem, the awkward driving position for anyone taller than around 5 foot makes it nearly impossible to drive. If you are willing to go through all that trouble, the car actually does go and handle rather well for its age.

We do love Italian cars, and this Pininfarina masterpiece will beg you to try the forbidden fruit.

If you do dare taste this, just remember that you can under no circumstances turn the steering to full lock. This small crime is punishable by a sudden snap, then catastrophic failure thanks to the power steering pump being driven off a timing belt rather than the crank pulley. Thanks, Lancia.

Technically, it is a bit of a reach calling this Datsun a sports car, but that is what they wanted everyone to believe, so here we are.

By the time the '80s rolled around, this particular Z car boasted only 140 horsepower and was a bit limp considering its weight. Still, it does offer JDM tuners a cheap blank canvas.

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The little four-cylinder Porsche sold rather well, but it fell well short of anyone’s expectations of what a Porsche should be because everything people loved about the brand was not included in this. It was front-engined, slow, and the handling was predictable.

So as a direct result of that it didn't go like a Porsche, feel like a Porsche, or look like a Porsche! Quality was also questionable for a premium brand, and the interior did not age well at all.

Even though you could find these cars in great condition for next to nothing, you would still not want them.

This rather less than spectacular inline-4 could only muster 92 hard-earned horsepower and school buses, even back in the ’80s, could show these so-called sports cars a clean pair of heels.

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When you look at statistics, the Mustang II is the perfect example of why numbers don’t tell the full story. This car wasn’t just a disappointment; it was a complete failure in every respect other than sales. Sales were fantastic.

Politics and circumstances will always have an influence on the automotive industry, but this car is still a stain on what has become a true icon. As we see the first Mustang Mach-E going into full production, no matter what people say about it being an SUV it can still never be worse than the truly abject Mustang II.

Porsche was rather determined to produce an affordable sports car they could sell in large numbers, but when the 914 bombed rather spectacularly, they panicked and tried to revive the already long dead 912.

It rather obviously also bombed, it was slower, had even less power, and even fewer sales. After this series of disasters, they took a new approach, front-engine rear-drive cars became their new "budget" segment for the 80s and in truth, it was a sales (if not product quality) success.

Related: 10 Absolute Worst Cars Porsche Ever Made

Although the company was obviously American owned, the cars were built in Belfast and therefore inherently Irish. This confusing start to its life goes a long way to explain some of the bizarre engineering choices which ruined what could have been an incredible car.

In the real world, it turned into a disaster. They simply had to cut costs all over the place, sourcing a woeful rear-mounted PVR V6 engine was not the plan, but it fit the budget. It ended up destroying performance and handling in one fell swoop.

If you believed in its potential after playing some popular video games, in its base trim, you would get the shock of your life.

It is a rather tragic, unreliable front-wheel-drive car. The other sad reality is not many were sold with manual transmissions and are pretty hard to find, then thanks to its undeserved popularity it won’t come cheap either. Proof that although everything can get tuned, not everything should be.

When it made it into the North American market and finally managed to pass all the safety regulations, the final version had to make some compromises.

The looks were more or less ruined by the ridiculous bumper they had to sort of patch onto the front end, it also lost the little power it had and the weight that needed to be added ended up ruining the handling too. It is now widely regarded as one of the worst sports cars ever made.

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Luke Zietsman is an all out automotive enthusiast based in The Philippines. If it has two or four wheels he has either owned it, researched about it or dreamed about it.