Overview
Sports cars can be either luxurious or spartan,[1] but driving mechanical performance is the key attraction. Many drivers regard brand name and the subsequent racing reputation and history as important indications of sporting quality (for example, Ferrari, Porsche, Lotus), but some brands, such as Lamborghini, which do not race or build racing cars, are also highly regarded.
A car may be a sporting automobile without being a sports car. Performance modifications of regular, production cars, such as sport compacts, sports sedans, muscle cars, hot hatches and the like, generally are not considered sports cars, yet share traits common to sports cars. They are sometimes called "sports cars" for marketing purposes for increased advertising and promotional purposes.[2] Performance cars of all configurations are grouped as Sports and Grand tourer cars, or, occasionally, as performance cars.
A sports car does not require a large, powerful engine, though many do have them. Many classic British sports cars lacked powerful engines, but were known for exceptional handling due to light weight, a well-engineered, balanced chassis, and modern suspension (for example, Lotus Seven, Austin 7 Speedy). On tight, twisting roads, such a sports car may perform more effectively than a heavier, more powerful car.
Due to North American safety regulations, many sports cars are unavailable for sale or use in the United States and Canada. In the United Kingdom, Europe, and the Middle Eastern market (e.g. UAE), a flexible attitude towards small-volume specialist manufacturers has allowed companies such as TVR, Noble, and Pagani to succeed.
History
The sports car traces its roots to early 20th century touring cars. These raced in early rallys, such as the Herkomer Cup, Prinz Heinrich Fahrt, and Monte Carlo.[3]
The first true sports cars (though the term would not be coined until after World War One) were the 3 litre 1910 Vauxhall 20 hp (15 kW) and 27/80PS Austro-Daimler (designed by Ferdinand Porsche).[3]
These would shortly be joined by the French DFP (which became sporters after tuning by H.M. and W. O. Bentley, the Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost. In the U.S. (where the type was variously called roadster, speedster, runabout, or raceabout, there was Apperson, Kissel, Marion, Midland, National, Overland, Stoddard-Dayton, and Thomas among small models (which today would be called sports cars), while Chadwick, Mercer, Stutz, and Simplex were among large ones (which might today be called sports sedans or grand tourers).[3]
In 1921, Ballot premiered its 2LS, with a remarkable 75 hp (56 kW) DOHC two liter, designed by Ernest Henry (formerly of Peugeot's Grand Prix program), capable of 150 km/h (90 mph); at most, one hundred were built in four years. This was followed by the SOHC 2LT and 2LTS. The same year, Benz built a supercharged 28/95PS four for the Coppa Florio; Max Sailer won.[3]
Simson in 1924 offered a Paul Henze-designed 60 hp (45 kW) DOHC 2 liter four, the Simson Supra Type S, in a long-wheelbase 120 km/h (60 mph) tourer and 115 km/h (71 mph) twin-carburettor sporter; only thirty were sold, against around three hundred of the SOHC model and 750 of the pushrod-six Type R. Duerkopp's Zoller-blown two liter in 1924, as well.[3]
There was a clear cleavage by 1925. As four-seaters were more profitable, two-seaters increasingly turned over to specialst manufacturers, led by Alvis, Aston-Martin, and Frazer-Nash, with shoestring budgets, fanatic followers, and limited sales (today exemplified by Aston and Morgan): between 1921 and 1939, 350 Astons were built; 323 Frazer-Nashes in the period 1924-39.[3]
By the end of the 1920s, AC produced a 2 liter six, the 3.5 liter Nazzaro had a three-valve OHC (only until 1922), while French makers Amilcar, Bignan, Hispano-Suiza, and Samson had the typical small four-cylinder sporters and Delage, Hotchkiss, and Chenard-Walcker the large tourers. Benz introduced the powerful SS and SSK, and Alfa Romeo, the Vittori Jano-designed 6C.[3]
Two companies would offer the first really reliable sports cars: Austin with the Seven and Morris Garages (MG) with the Midget. The Seven would quickly be "rodded" by numerous companies (as the Type 1 would be a generation later), including Bassett and Dingle (Hammersmith, London); in 1928, a Cozette blower was fitted to the Seven Super Sports, while Cecil Kimber fitted an 847 cc Minor engine, and sold more Midgets in the first year than MG's entire previous production.[3]
Supercar is a term generally used for high-end sports cars, whose performance is superior to that of its contemporaries. It has been defined specifically as "a very expensive, fast or powerful car with a centrally located engine",[1] and stated in more general terms: "it must be very fast, with sporting handling to match", "it should be sleek and eye-catching" and its price should be "one in a rarefied atmosphere of its own",[2] but the correct usage of the term is both subjective and disputed, especially amongst enthusiasts. The use of the term can be dependent on the era; a vehicle that may have been considered a supercar in one decade may not be considered the same in another.[citation needed] The term supercar may refer to factory-built, street-legal race cars. Some vehicles referred to as supercars include features required for race cars such as roll cages.[3] In recent years, the term "supercar" has been defined more specifically as any car that can attain at least 200mph and maintain reasonable control. High price only defines a car as an exotic, not necessarily a supercar.
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[edit] Origin of the term
The term was first noted by Car & Track in 1917 to describe an Alfa Romeo Monza[citation needed]. An advertisement for the Ensign Six, a 6.7 L (≈409 cu in) high-performance car similar to the Bentley Speed Six, appeared in The Times for 11 November 1920 with the phrase "If you are interested in a supercar, you cannot afford to ignore the claims of the Ensign 6."[4] The Oxford English Dictionary also cites the use of the word in an advertisement for an unnamed car in The Motor dated 3 November 1920, "The Supreme development of the British super-car."[5] and defines the phrase as suggesting 'a car superior to all others'. The phrase did not become popular until much later and is often said to have originated with British motor journalist L. J. K. Setright writing about the Lamborghini Miura in CAR Magazine in the mid-1960s.[citation needed] The magazine claims to have "coined the phrase"[6] although it was also used in May 1965 by the American magazine Car Life, in a test of the Pontiac GTO. By the 1970s the phrase was in regular use, if not precisely defined.[7][8].
[edit] See also
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