The Alfa Romeo GTV coupe had been discontinued in 1987, with the iconic Spider finally being axed in 1993 after 27 years and a string of updates to keep it looking as fresh as possible. Neither car was immediately replaced, but in 1995 Alfa Romeo revived both of the iconic nameplates for completely new models - the Spider nametag was once again featuring on a two-seater sports car, which was mechanically identical to the 2+2 GTV coupe.
The Audi TT was a huge success in the sports car market after its 1998 launch, and was replaced by an all-new model in 2005. BMW's Z3, launched in 1995, was also a strong seller, with a coupe model joining the range in 1998. Its successor, the Z4, was produced for 14 years from 2002 until 2016, and also sold well.
Fiat had returned to the sports car market during the mid 1990s with the quick 2+2 Fiat Coupe, and also with the Barchetta two-seater roadster.
Honda discontinued the Prelude in 2000 after more than 20 years and five generations, without a direct successor, although European buyers received the first officially imported examples of the Integra Type R around this time. The NSX remained in production for 15 years until its demise in 2005.
Lotus launched a new version of the Elise in 2001, and kept it in production for a whole decade before an all-new model was launched in 2011. The Esprit was widely expected to make way for a new two-seater mid-engined coupe - codenamed 300M - around 2001, but the planned new car never reached production and the Esprit continued until 2005. It was effectively replaced the following year by the Europa S - but the new car lasted just four years before being discontinued.
Having acquired Qvale of Italy in 2001, MG Rover set about developing its own supercar on the Qvale Mangusta floorpan. The result was the MG XPower SV, a high performance two-door coupe. However, just 82 examples of the car were reportedly produced, and its demise was brought about after two years when MG Rover went into liquidation.
General Motors moved into the sports car market in 2000 with the Vauxhall VX220/Opel Speedster, a two-seater roadster based on the Lotus Elise chassis. It was well received by the motoring press but was discontinued five years later without a direct successor.
As well as the brief demise of the MG brand, the world of sports car lost another major player in 2006 with the demise of TVR, whose Blackpool factory closed down two years after coming under Russian ownership. Anticipated production of Russian-built sports cars wearing the TVR badge never happened, but in 2013 hopes of the marque making a comeback were raised when a syndicate of British businessmen bought the rights to the TVR name with a view to developing new sports cars.