In reply to Knurled. :
While there certainly are extremely well performing 4's, 6's, & pushrod V8's nobody looks at them and thinks supercar.
Hence the cache' of Super car. Cammer V8's like Aston Martin etc. and naturally any V12 tends to evoke those feelings.
Maybe it's a you'll know it when you see it sort of thing? So if someone slips a goofy kit car in. The Concours points go to zero and it's out?
stroker
UltraDork
2/15/20 6:36 p.m.
frenchyd said:
stroker said:
This subject deserves a GRM "Challenge" of some kind, but I'm trying to think of how to do it...
What performance criteria would you insist as a minimum to qualify as a "supercar"?
Since this is GRM we need a "Challenge" ($5020) ? price tag along with a "Supercar" cache
No 4's, 6's, or pushrod V8's
I think that class would have to allow for tube frames and require a minimum of two seats, but I'd respectfully disagree on the cylinder restriction.
In reply to frenchyd :
surely you would acknowledge that the Jaguar xj220 is a pure supercar and it was a "lowly" v6. Fastest production car in the world until the mclaren f1 came along. There's nothing less than super about that!!
As far as I know, the title "supercar" was first applied to the Porsche 959 (boxer 6) and Ferrari F40 (V8)
Robbie
MegaDork
2/15/20 9:51 p.m.
Has anyone said Tesla roadster?
I think they're down into the 40s, no?
Carbon
UltraDork
2/15/20 11:13 p.m.
Exige, Elise, Evora??
$48,500
$25,500
$44,000
each of these are from current Los Angeles Craigslist ads.
I considered an Elise but I wanted something with a little more gusto.... but man they're cool
LanEvo said:
As far as I know, the title "supercar" was first applied to the Porsche 959 (boxer 6) and Ferrari F40 (V8)
I believe it was the Miura There was absolutely nothing like it on the road in 1966.
dculberson said:
In reply to frenchyd :
surely you would acknowledge that the Jaguar xj220 is a pure supercar and it was a "lowly" v6. Fastest production car in the world until the mclaren f1 came along. There's nothing less than super about that!!
+1
The Jaaaaag XJ220 is/was most definitely a supercar, despite cylinder count.
frenchyd said:
In reply to Knurled. :
While there certainly are extremely well performing 4's, 6's, & pushrod V8's nobody looks at them and thinks supercar.
Hence the cache' of Super car. Cammer V8's like Aston Martin etc. and naturally any V12 tends to evoke those feelings.
Maybe it's a you'll know it when you see it sort of thing? So if someone slips a goofy kit car in. The Concours points go to zero and it's out?
I grew up in the 80s, supercar tests always included Esprit Turbos (or Turbo Esprits) and Porsche 930s and tuner cars based on the 930.
Actually in the 60s super cars were used to describe the fastest American muscle cars etc. Exotics was what was used for years for what we now describe as super cars etc.
and then there was Australia in the 70s with the super car scare
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supercar_scare
I have a cheap super in my backyard right now. I wanted one since I was a kid. It's very broken and will need a lot of repairs to work again. It's engine is not iron or even lowly aluminum, but magnesium! Said engine lives in the wrong place and requires frequent maintenance. Around here you don't really see them driving. Definitely gets attention and conversation at gas stations. Drinks more than you'd expect, too. I'll fix it someday.
*edit: also it has a flat plane crank, so...
Indy-Guy said:
dculberson said:
In reply to frenchyd :
surely you would acknowledge that the Jaguar xj220 is a pure supercar and it was a "lowly" v6. Fastest production car in the world until the mclaren f1 came along. There's nothing less than super about that!!
+1
The Jaaaaag XJ220 is/was most definitely a supercar, despite cylinder count.
I'm afraid I'll have to disagree with you. While it's performance was good, buyers who prepaid for their XJ 220 wound up taking Jaguar to court over the 6 cylinders instead of V12.