A ridiculous question, of course.
I am conflicted.
I was driving to work today, and passed a mid 70's Corvette Coupe.
IMO you can't get much closer to perfection.
But then, there is the 1980 Lamborghini Countach:
OMG. That was 36 years ago.
I'm a mild fan boy, but I think the Toyota 2000GT is an absolute beauty. It was one of the cars to put Toyota in particular and Japan in general on the map as manufacturers of potent performance cars. My runner up? The Austin Healey Sprite. Just cause it's cute.
My dad has stories of a friend having a Triumph TR-4A. The stories have led me to liking the British two seaters, though I can't imagine owning one. While I may have self esteem issues, I don't hate myself that much.
Got lucky with my Mom's 1965 MGB GT. Yeah, it was Lucas Electrics (company motto: "Gentlemen do not motor about after dark"), but it worked right up until she sold it about 5 years ago. Now the new owner is having the same success we did. She got the Magic MGB.
I love talking to people at car meet ups about their cars. The one thing people who own British Roadsters always talk about is how unreliable the things are and how much work they take to keep running. It must be a point of pride for them. One guy says his MG is the best decision he's ever regretted.
Was talking to a guy. We had Triumphs in our past. I was bitching about the two-position switch for the headlights because it has 11 moving parts. Mutual friend asked what the two positions were for. He said "The first position turns on the headlights. The second position drains the battery."
Yeah, but was the battery in the wheel well?
OK... you stole two that would absolutely be in my top 10... maybe even top 5. Others for me include this beauty... that may not actually be super sporty, but it's beautiful to me: When it comes to performance, I've always had a soft spot for these: I know I've got more... and I gotta tag rd95 because I know he's got a list...
Funny, I'd say neither of those are "cool". Both are ostentatious, and have absolutely terrible performance. I love them both for other reasons, though. For "cool" you have to go back further. My mom's MGB GT was definitely cool: And my old girlfriend's Volvo P1800 was supremely cool... or very weird... or possibly both: I personally find the Avanti extremely cool, but few others do: I'm a big fan of Rat Rods because they are the physical embodiment of the car illustrations I loved in the 1970's: Brian Johnson (previously of AC/DC) drives old Thunder Guts as his daily driver... a classic 6-liter Bentley: http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_6NbRkTM7oUc/TMyWYuCKyoI/AAAAAAAABoY/7_gySXAEjKI/s1600/BrianworkingonBcopy.jpg (oops. Looks like a #bugski with URLs that have plus signs in them.) And finally, what I would buy today if I had $30k burning a hole in my pocket (and would drive year-round, rain or shine) would be the Morgan 3-wheeler with the transverse-mounted motorcycle V-twin on the front: That would make me (and my dog) very, very happy.
Pish-posh. Busting down the PCH, windows down, hair flying, beautiful girl at the wheel... everyone smiles and gives you a thumbs up as you go by. Then you pull off the side a little side road, park at a jaunty angle, and lay out the picnic blanket. Sit out in the sun, pop a bottle of wine, and smile and bask in how cool your are, next to your little sqauty two-seater with the big bonnet, red paint and silver chrome gleaming in the sun... That is the epitome of cool, my friend! (Especially because people are always stopping and interrupting you and asking, "What the heck is that thing, a Jaguar?" or telling you about when they used to own one, and how cool they were back then...)
Yes, I am aware that they aren't the best when it comes to performance. However, when it comes to sports cars, I am willing to overlook ostentatiousness. In fact, I see it as an important point in the sports car vector space. The unapologetic conspicuity of the Countach is one reason why it ranks so high on my list. That, and the fact that the windshield is almost horizontal.Funny, I'd say neither of those are "cool". Both are ostentatious, and have absolutely terrible performance. I love them both for other reasons, though.
We will even forgive you for pointing to the 1980 instead of the '76 LP400, which is the one that's actually aged well. No wings, no spoilers, no bullshit, 70 series tires. Marcello Gandini was 33 and didn't even know how to drive when Lamborghini asked him to design the thing in '71. The '76, the first one you could buy, was almost identical to what rolled out at the Geneva Auto Show.
Do we get pedantic and point out that you said sport cars, and yet neither of those are particularly "sporty"? Do we go down the rabbit hole of trying to define "sporty"? My assumption with "sport car" is that it is a car you want to take out on a curvy mountain road, and possibly even let the back end get a little loose as you hammer it around the bends. The Stingray Vette is incredibly beautiful, but doesn't do anything other than go in a straight line. Stopping, turning, etc, are terrible. The Countach is... wow. That was like an alien spaceship landed on Earth! I remember my friends and I looking at pictures of it in a magazine and debating if there actually was enough room inside for all the things a car needs... an engine, a seat, a human being, etc. But again, they are absolute pigs that don't often run when you turn the key in the ignition. So "sporty"? Not in my definition. How do you define "sports car", or a car that is "sporty"? I'm super curious to unpack this idea with you and see where we agree and where we diverge...
A sports car is a small two door vehicle designed for performance. It usually lacks a back seat. There's a giant tag cloud of confusion around the term that lesser men hide behind, but the overwhelming majority of non-idiots will agree to: - two doors - small - performance And you can talk a massive line of smack about the countach but at the end of the day, it had a 5L v12 and weighed less than 3000lbs and if your definition doesn't include that, your definition is useless.
kb covered the definition: However, when it comes to ranking them, I would say that the form isn't as important as embracing the form. A coupe that hugs mountain roads can rate just as high as a rocket IMO as long as it knows what it's all about. When you are buying a sports car, you have a mix of passion and disposable income, and you are ok with wearing that on your sleeve. Your car should take the same approach, IMO. That said, I am hardly a purist. I have a soft spot for the Fiero.A sports car is a small two door vehicle designed for performance. It usually lacks a back seat.
I like that definition! And yeah... the Stingray definitely meets those standards. It takes a confident man to admit an affection for the Fiero. :-) This is where my Fiero died two hours after I bought it. The girl I bought it from was in the passenger's seat when I spun out and went off the road and down the cliff. The car rolled twice and wound up in the top of a tree. We had to climb out the sunroof, climb down the tree, and walk back up the hill to the road. For some reason she never wanted to go on a second date with me... A coupe that hugs mountain roads can rate just as high as a rocket IMO as long as it knows what it's all about.
I have a soft spot for the Fiero.
Holy crap. o_O What were the weather conditions? Were you doing the 35 MPH? ;P I had a pal that had one here in MI. He used to put cinder blocks in the trunk I think to try to get some traction. It was a disaster in the snow. Three of us as teenagers used to drive across town with me sitting on the floor and my other buddy indian-style on the passenger seat. Thank god we never crashed.
It's California, so it was a sunny and 72, of course. I was throwing the thing around on my favorite mountain road (probably 50+ MPH), but when the front wheels broke loose in the middle of the corner there was no correcting it. We did a wide, lazy, sliding spin, 180-degrees, and went over the edge of the cliff on her side of the car. We had lots of time to consider our imminent demise. And then we were in top of the one tree on the whole hill. (Otherwise we would have rolled 50-100 times to the bottom.) Adding weight to the
That car had the potential to be amazing. Unfortunately GM stuffed it with a bunch of mediocre parts, allegedly because they didn't want it to chip away at The Corvette's sales numbers. During its last production year, things started to go straight and you get to see hints of what The Fiero could have been. Wikipedia has a great little history of the car. Interstingly, this wasn't the first time GM was afraid of Pontiac up staging The Corvette. Pontiac's Banshee I concept car never got to see production.That said, I am hardly a purist. I have a soft spot for the Fiero.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamborghini_Countach The Corvette looks like the ideal matchbox car and the Countach looks like a space ship.
The Countach used to be my favorite car when I was a child. I remember it from the game Need for Speed III. That game used to give detailed descriptions about each car, it was very interesting to read.
Since I grew up watching James Bond movies, I have to go with a modern(ish) Aston Martin. They all look the same after the DB7, so take your pick. I can almost imagine a world where I can afford a used 2008 Vantage V8. For me, a cool sports car can't look out of place parked on the side of a road in a decent part of town. I saw an Audi R8 parked on a road in Lower Queen Anne in Seattle, and it looked fantastic. Maybe not the coolest, but it's up there on my list. I'm personally not a fan of the Corvette. Along with Lamborghinis, they're too ostentatious to be cool.
"What car would I buy myself if I had unlimited sums of money?" I asked myself. Well, after I managed to kit out my dream bicycle for actual transport, I'd stop to pick up one of these: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lotus_Seven Would I use it for anything? Probably not, I hate driving. It'd just sit there to be seen.
I drive a Dodge Stealth. It's a total dude magnet. Always has been. That's the problem with most sports cars - they impress men. Women couldn't be sussed. Teenaged boys? I've been impressing them for 15 years. "Coolest" isn't necessarily the one you like the best. It's the one that gets imitated the most. "Cool" is that thing that can't be captured but you know it when you see it. And while there have been many iconic sports cars in the history of sports cars, the shorthand, the immediate response, the one that everyone of all genders knows as "sports car" without any debate is one that doesn't need a wikipedia link.
