jag e type?? its a great car but it cant handle like a miata, the triumph and super 7, probably handle similar toa miata, but not better, and the triumph is extremely slow, their 0-60 time is around like 16 seconds, its just too slow to be considered one of the best. you dont need it to acclerate like crazy, but having decent power when you need it is important.
the elise/exige is amazing, and i probably should have listed it in my top 5, but compared to a miata its way more expensive, the miata is pretty much the only car you can buy for 10 grand and go to a track and beat 100,000 dollar sports cars. the miata gets to be in the top 5 because its so damn cheap and you get soooo much for its cost. again you have to drive a miata, or atleast see one on a track to know what i mean.
i dont know if any M is more of a classic than the e30 m3, not e36, e30, it is pretty much what started the whole M series, its the original M. they had a couple m's before that, but they didnt perform well enough to really be that significant. the e30 m3 won more races than any other car in history. and its considered the best handling bmw ever built, and one of the best handling cars ever. really you cant have a list of the best sports cars and not have the e30 m3 in it.
and yes i agree that the original audi ur and sport quattro could easily take the place of the evo, it did start awd sports cars, and made rallying what it is today. its tough but i chose the evo because really, it handles better, acclerates faster, and brakes better stock. its hard for americans to realize how great evo's are, because most of them are owned by 25 year old kids who only buy them to go fast in a straight line. but if you go to europe the evo gets the credit it actually deserves.
and the skyline is a great performing car, but there are too many electronics and driver aids doing half the driving for you. for a true sports car you have to leave all the driving or atleast most to the driver. its a great car, but not much of a true sports car.