Sport cars

A sports car or sports car (from the English sports car) is a conditionally generalized name for a wide class of two-, rarely four-seater cars with higher speed qualities and, accordingly, increased engine power (specific power, motorization) and low body landing (ground clearance, clearance). Unlike racing cars, sports cars are designed for driving on public roads (which means they pass state registration, must have a full set of lighting devices and license plates).

For driving at a racing pace, with a long hold of the engine speed at the red mark, sharp braking, cornering at the limit of opportunity and accidents at high speeds, the sports car is not intended. A package of options that allows you to go to the race track, for example, on test days, is called a ringtone (often referred to as RS - for example, Porsche GT3 RS) [source not specified 688 days]. A typical ringtone includes a stiff sports suspension, aerodynamic body kit, a sports braking system and a welded safety cage.

Historically, there were two types of sports cars - European and American, which were significantly different from each other in accordance with the difference in the road system of these regions and the tastes of the corresponding audience.

European sports cars were created primarily for fast driving on country roads (which in the most developed countries of Europe were already well paved in the 1930s) - narrow and winding, full of dangerous bends - or along mountain serpentines. And for that, and for the other, first of all, good controllability was required, power was in the background, since the speeds were relatively low. Therefore, European sports cars had a very well-developed chassis and relatively weak engines with a working volume of 1.5 ... 3 liters, often forced versions of quite ordinary power units from mass sedans.

Classic English sports cars stood out against this background, as a rule combining minimal dimensions, extremely primitive interior equipment (often there were even no side windows, instead of which, in bad weather, the driver had to fasten tarp blinds with small windows to the doors) and minimal comfort with a relatively large displacement a low-powered engine of the configuration I6 or V8, and Italian, often having an exceptionally sophisticated motor design (usually a small, not more than 2 liters of volume) with a high degree of forcing. Typical examples of the former are Austin-Healey, Sunbeam Tiger and Triumph TR, the latter are Lancia Aurelia and Alfa Romeo Spider.

Massive export of European sports cars to America began in the 1950s, which eventually became their main market for them. This caused a significant change in their concept, in the first place - a sharp increase in overall dimensions, increasing the level of comfort and characteristics of the power unit. First of all, it was the American buyer who addressed the now considered typical supercars of the Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini brands, which in size, power and comfort came close to the Gran Tourismo class. At the same time, much more modest sports cars of a traditional type continued to be produced for the internal European market.

The American tradition of building high-speed cars is also very old, dating back to the 1920s and to brands such as Auburn, Kord and Dusenberg. However, the Great Depression interrupted this process, shifting the emphasis to lowering prices, increasing the size of cars and increasing their comfort. He went again only after the Second World War, when soldiers returning from Europe began to bring home European sports cars, such as the MG TC - small, not too powerful, but well-controlled and very fun to drive. The response of local manufacturers to this trend was their own American sports models, the first mass among which was the Chevrolet Corvette (1953). It was a fairly large car by European standards with a fairly primitive chassis. Initially, only relatively weak six-cylinder engines were installed on it, and the level of comfort corresponded to that of European counterparts, that is, by American standards it was very modest. However, the public considered this a significant drawback, so subsequently Corvette developed in the direction of increasing engine power (now exclusively V8) and increasing comfort. As a result, an American sports car appeared - it was very powerful, quite comfortable and having good, but not as polished as that of the "Europeans", handling, which was not a significant drawback in the country of straight highways like an arrow.

"Ford" from the very beginning relied on these qualities, but built its "response to the Europeans" - Ford Thunderbird - on a shortened version of the serial chassis of a regular sedan, which made the handling very unimportant. He is usually not even considered a sports car, since he became the founder of a very special, typically American automobile "genre" - the Personal Luxury Car, that is, a luxury car for the driver, designed for maximum comfort for two people in the sportcars.

In the mid-1960s, fashion trends in the American market switched from "pure" sports cars to "sports" versions of ordinary cars - Pony Cars and Muscle Cars, which of all signs of sportiness had only a powerful engine (and even then only in higher trim levels). And ten years later, after the outbreak of the gas crisis of the first half of the 1970s, personal luxury models began to flourish, with usually very modest speed capabilities.

Some recovery in the American sports car market began only in the late 1980s, when models such as the Dodge Stealth, Ford Probe and Dodge Viper appeared - usually combining American size and accessories with a European common concept.