What is, makes, a proper sportscar?

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Lucky13

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Aug 21, 2006
In my castle....
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Two doors, a rag top, light weight, good handling, and decent power. It also has to look cool, which I think eliminates the BMW Z4, Pontiac Solstice, and Chrysler Crossfire among more or less current cars.
 
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A "proper" Sports Car lets you know if a coin is heads or tails by driving over it, is cold in the winter and hot (on your legs) in the summer, has a top that leaks worse than a 50 year old bucket and side "curtains" that unbolt form the doors and are stored in the "boot" on good days. :)

Various electrical components (if not the entire system) will also stop working and start working again at a later point in time for NO apparent reason.

And yet it will still put a grin on your face while driving.
 
My BMW320i was a reminder of what it's like to own a sports car...

You heard and felt the acceleration, you knew when it was time to shift by the sound and feel of the machine, entering a corner, you could tell when to let off the gas or stab it coming out of the turn.

Sometimes it needed to be worked on because it was tempermental, parts aren't cheap and long evening hours spent in the garage, but when it ran, it ran like a Swiss watch.

You simply knew how fast your were going by the sound of the engine and the feel of the shifter's vibration in your hand and your foot resting on the clutch pedal. The floorboard felt warm and the seat just a little uncomfortable as the landscape flew past, but you wouldn't trade that feeling for a million bucks.

It felt good to be inside, comfortable, like an old shoe or a glove...this is a proper sports car
 
There is a huge difference between a fast car and a sports car.

A sports car has

2 seats
Small to useless boot
Rear wheel drive
Usually weak to average engine
No electronics
Looks utterly beautiful

The sports car is an English invention
 
There is a huge difference between a fast car and a sports car.

A sports car has

2 seats
Small to useless boot
Rear wheel drive
Usually weak to average engine
No electronics
Looks utterly beautiful

The sports car is an English invention

Doesn't the engine criteria rule out the E type Jaguar? Shurely shome mishtake :)

Steve
 
Is the E type a 'sports car' or a 'grand tourer?'
A sports car to me is something like a TR3 - TR6.
Power, poise and good (if brutal) looks.

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Lovely car and very tuneable too :)
 
Is the E type a 'sports car' or a 'grand tourer?'
A sports car to me is something like a TR3 - TR6.
Power, poise and good (if brutal) looks.

View attachment 242035

Lovely car and very tuneable too :)
We have a guy here in town that has one of those in red and it's packing a Chevy 350 (5.7L) V-8
 
Remarkably few cars are not improved by a nice V-8: AC Cobra with a 289....
 

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