I was reading an article on the new Mustang (2015, I guess) in which the writer speculated about whether this new Mustang would finally be the "sports car" that it always promised to be. Not to pick on the Mustang, but Fordies always like to compare the history of the Mustang with the history of the Corvette, as though they were both the same species of car. They are not.
I confess that I am either a purist or an asshole on this point, but the Mustang IS NOT A SPORTSCAR! I don't care if you are talking about a Boss 500, GT, or any other variation on the theme; it's a sporty car, but not a sports car.
With a couple of unusual exceptions, a SPORTS CAR is a two-seater. It may be either open top or coupe, but the term generally applies only to two-seaters.
Some well-known sports cars are: the Corvette, Viper, 370Z, Audi TT, the new Jag, Boxter, Mercedes SL's, BMW Z3/4, and the Crossfire. Older ones are the old MG's, XKE's, Triumph's, Austin Healy's, Fiat 124 and 850 Spider's. All 2-seaters.
Consider some historical cars. When the T'Bird was introduced in 1955, it was a 2-seater, and was properly billed as a "luxury sports car." But when they gave up and made it a 4-seater, it was no longer a sports car, but a moderately sporty coupe.
When Caroll Shelby wanted to convert the early Mustang into a sports car (the GT350), the first modification he made was to remove the rear seat. When AMC wanted to produce a sports car, they took a basic Javelin chassis, but re-designed it as a two-seater - the AMX. The Javelin was not a sports car. The AMX was (arguably).
There are true sports cars that in some models have a back seat, and that doesn't cause them to no longer be sports cars. The main example of this is the Porsche 911, which has a sort of a back seat, but no human who is not a double amputee can sit in it. I'll give you the Panamera if you want to call that a sports car.
The Japanese have made some sports cars that could be had with an optional back seat (the Toyota Supra and the 300ZX), and there are a couple more Japanese 4-seaters that are so close to being sports cars that I might give them a pass: RX7, Mitsu 3000GT (but NOT the Honda Prelude, thank you very much).
A sporty coupe is not the same as a sports car. No Mustang, Camaro, or Challenger is a sports car, and it doesn't matter how much horsepower they have or how well they handle. They are sporty cars. Just like GTI's, WRX's, and Ford Focus ST's. Sporty. Nice. But not sports cars.
I confess that I am either a purist or an asshole on this point, but the Mustang IS NOT A SPORTSCAR! I don't care if you are talking about a Boss 500, GT, or any other variation on the theme; it's a sporty car, but not a sports car.
With a couple of unusual exceptions, a SPORTS CAR is a two-seater. It may be either open top or coupe, but the term generally applies only to two-seaters.
Some well-known sports cars are: the Corvette, Viper, 370Z, Audi TT, the new Jag, Boxter, Mercedes SL's, BMW Z3/4, and the Crossfire. Older ones are the old MG's, XKE's, Triumph's, Austin Healy's, Fiat 124 and 850 Spider's. All 2-seaters.
Consider some historical cars. When the T'Bird was introduced in 1955, it was a 2-seater, and was properly billed as a "luxury sports car." But when they gave up and made it a 4-seater, it was no longer a sports car, but a moderately sporty coupe.
When Caroll Shelby wanted to convert the early Mustang into a sports car (the GT350), the first modification he made was to remove the rear seat. When AMC wanted to produce a sports car, they took a basic Javelin chassis, but re-designed it as a two-seater - the AMX. The Javelin was not a sports car. The AMX was (arguably).
There are true sports cars that in some models have a back seat, and that doesn't cause them to no longer be sports cars. The main example of this is the Porsche 911, which has a sort of a back seat, but no human who is not a double amputee can sit in it. I'll give you the Panamera if you want to call that a sports car.
The Japanese have made some sports cars that could be had with an optional back seat (the Toyota Supra and the 300ZX), and there are a couple more Japanese 4-seaters that are so close to being sports cars that I might give them a pass: RX7, Mitsu 3000GT (but NOT the Honda Prelude, thank you very much).
A sporty coupe is not the same as a sports car. No Mustang, Camaro, or Challenger is a sports car, and it doesn't matter how much horsepower they have or how well they handle. They are sporty cars. Just like GTI's, WRX's, and Ford Focus ST's. Sporty. Nice. But not sports cars.
