(FORTUNE Magazine) – Flashback: Heads turn, necks snap, and traffic respectfully slows when two- seater sports cars zoom by. Small, fast, and sexy, they are the quintessential car-toy. Dealers can't stock them fast enough. The present: Snazzy two-seater rockets are stalled on showroom floors while four-wheel-drive trucks, minivans, and souped-up sedans fly out. America's lust for two-seater sports cars has waned considerably, and the economic recovery may not rekindle the love affair. Unit sales slid from 150,000 in 1986 to around 50,000 in 1993. George Peterson, president of AutoPacific, a consulting firm in Santa Ana, California, predicts that annual sales will remain between 50,000 and 60,000 through the 1990s. Stiff sticker price is a major reason for the flagging passion for two- seaters. Between 1985 and 1993, the base price of Mazda's flashy RX-7, for example, jumped from $16,000 to $36,000. Unit sales plunged concurrently, from 54,000 in 1985 to just 5,000 last year. Sky-high insurance premiums also scare away buyers. Since sports cars are stolen more often and banged up in accidents out of proportion to their numbers, premiums are often double that of sedans or utility vehicles. Besides, even though baby-boomers, the automakers' favorite customers, like style and zip, they also want four seats -- for their friends and for their young families to pick from.