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I think I would add impractical, illogical, and emotional to a definition of a sports car. If it makes sense it has moved to GT, like a SL or Maser GTS. Is new NSX a GT or sports car?
emotional?!?
Come on man... the guys at Stuttgart make fantastic sports cars.
In 1965 I was a graduate student with no money, but looking to buy a "sports car." They were 2-seaters, with good power, manual trannys, with tight steering, roadsters, and fun to drive. I didn't know any other definition.
At the bottom end running about $2000-$2200 were: MG Midget, Austin Healy Sprite, and Triumph Spitfire. In the middle range running about $2700-$3000 were: MGB and Triumph TR-4, and at the top end running $3500-$3700 were Austin Healy 3000, Alfa Romeo Spider, and Porsche 356B. Somewhere in the clouds maybe $4500 (?) was the Jaguar XKE. I never considered the Sunbeam, either model, Alpine or Tiger. I bought a new 1965 Triumph TR-4 off the lot; it was more than I could afford. I still have it and drive it.
The Triumph guys hijack the thread! My TR6 was the best sports car I could afford when I bought it in 1983. 32 years with it, then the F-type came along and stole my heart. "I've always had a sports-car" and when the TR6 couldn't keep up with the kids Saturn ion, I was ready for the Jag. But I digress, this is the definition I lived with as a TR6 driver:
"A car with everything unnecessary removed with competition capability, a convertible top and seats for only two. The negative aspects of such a car are: They are small, light-weight and rough riding, not to mention noisy, dangerous, uncomfortable, cold in winter, hot in summer and prone to disabling electrical problems at the first smell of rain."
The Triumph guys hijack the thread! My TR6 was the best sports car I could afford when I bought it in 1983. 32 years with it, then the F-type came along and stole my heart. "I've always had a sports-car" and when the TR6 couldn't keep up with the kids Saturn ion, I was ready for the Jag. But I digress, this is the definition I lived with as a TR6 driver:
"A car with everything unnecessary removed with competition capability, a convertible top and seats for only two. The negative aspects of such a car are: They are small, light-weight and rough riding, not to mention noisy, dangerous, uncomfortable, cold in winter, hot in summer and prone to disabling electrical problems at the first smell of rain."
Where is that from? It is GREAT. LOL
My definition of a sports car is that it comes with weather gear and goggles because if you don't need that, you aren't in a sports car.
Also... Triumph may lose to the obvious sports car prowess of this Austin Healy I see around Town....
I have no idea where it's from anymore. Too many late nights in the garage lying under the sports car with a spanner in my hand and I've forgotten... But we live in a different world, I have visited the Castle Bromwich Factory and watched our Sports Cars being built, very 21st Century, our F-Types, vs. the 20th century view:
"British Sports Car owners need to drive their cars regularly and spend at least one day a month under them with a spanner in your hand. If you don’t know what a spanner is, don’t own the car. British Sports Car owners love to drive their cars when the weather is right and you’re out on some winding road with the top down and plenty of bridges and underpasses to reflect the wonderful sounds the car makes back at you as you drive. Then they break, and you get to take them home and have an even better time fixing them. Back in the garage they stink the place up with the wonderful smell of petrol, hot rubber and oil, warm grease and old leather. Why don’t modern cars smell this great? (Probably because they don’t leak)."
And my old TR6 with a Tri-Carb set-up could take any Austin Healey 3000...just as my F-Type can take any Porsche it comes across...
Final thoughts: that is a mean looking Austin Healey; I love the fire bottle on the trans cover: i bet the owner has used it before on the car (I carried one on my TR6).
In conclusion, I think the world has changed and so has the definition of a "sports car." Modern technology and engineering has eliminated the negative aspects and compromises inherent in a sports car. I still think track performance -- "competition capability" matters. 4 doors and back seats are just WRONG, but if the car can carry me around a track in airconditioned comfort, I'm willing to live with that. Track prowess is important, and dedication to the mission is important if your a sports car, everything else is a GT.
The fact that our cars are fierce Porsche eating monsters on the track, and we've all paid around $100,000 for a 2-door 165 MPH beast that has the rated capacity of only 419 pounds qualifies them as 21st Century SPORTS CARS.
In conclusion, I think the world has changed and so has the definition of a "sports car." Modern technology and engineering has eliminated the negative aspects and compromises inherent in a sports car. I still think track performance -- "competition capability" matters. 4 doors and back seats are just WRONG, but if the car can carry me around a track in airconditioned comfort, I'm willing to live with that. Track prowess is important, and dedication to the mission is important if your a sports car, everything else is a GT.
The fact that our cars are fierce Porsche eating monsters on the track, and we've all paid around $100,000 for a 2-door 165 MPH beast that has the rated capacity of only 419 pounds qualifies them as 21st Century SPORTS CARS.
The fact that our cars are fierce Porsche eating monsters on the track, and we've all paid around $100,000 for a 2-door 165 MPH beast that has the rated capacity of only 419 pounds qualifies them as 21st Century SPORTS CARS.
Holy crap - I just double checked my rating - same thing - 419 pounds!
I don't agree that the Mustang is a sedan (in the author's example, he uses the standard of what would you report it as to the police?), but I agree it is not a sports car. Muscle car, performance car, sure.
I have never been under any doubts that my XKR is a GT car, not a sports car. The only sports car I have ever owned was a Mazda Miata.
I think the Corvette is definitely a sports car. At times, it may not have been a very good one, but a sports car nonetheless.
Mustangs and corvettes are pony cars. Neither sports cars nor sedans. I, personally, have never considered the F-Type to be a sports car either. Too luxurious, too heavy. It's a GT.
A light version (
Mustangs and corvettes are pony cars. Neither sports cars nor sedans. I, personally, have never considered the F-Type to be a sports car either. Too luxurious, too heavy. It's a GT.
A light version (
I can only hope you meant to say Camaro instead of Corvette.
02-21-2016, 10:07 PM
