Sports car
All-wheel drive offers better acceleration and favorable handling characteristics (especially in slippery conditions), but is often heavier and more mechanically complex than traditional layouts.
Many of its features, such as a honeycomb radiator and gate gear change, were continued on the much improved version which Paul Daimler designed in 1899-1900.
Several variants of the car appeared during the next year or two, all conforming to the same basic design and earning for themselves a reputation second to none for fast and reliable travel.
The Mercedes included pioneering features such as a pressed-steel chassis, a gated 4-speed transmission, pushrod-actuated overhead inlet valves, a honeycomb radiator, low-tension magneto ignition, a long wheelbase, a low center of mass and a very effective suspension system.
[50] The 1912 Hispano-Suiza Alfonso XIII is also considered one of the earliest sports cars, as it was a "purpose built, high performance, two-seater production automobile".
[54] The model was named after King Alfonso XIII of Spain, a patron of the car's chief designer and an enthusiast for the marque.
[54][55] Other early sports cars include the 1905 Isotta Fraschini Tipo D, the 1906 Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost, the 1908 Delage,[citation needed] the 1910 Bugatti Type 13,[45][49][56] and the 1912 DFP 12/15.
[52] The Prince Henry Tours (which were similar to modern car rallies) were among the sporting events of the period, bringing renown to successful entrants.
The Prince Henry Tours started the evolution of reasonably large and technically advanced production sports cars.
[45][59] Following the halt in sports car production caused by World War I, Europe returned to manufacturing automobiles from around 1920.
[67] Cheap, light-weight family sedans with independent front suspension— such as the BMW 303, Citroën Traction Avant and Fiat 508— offered similar handling and comfort to the more expensive sports cars.
Powerful, reliable, and economical (although softly suspended) American saloons began to be imported to Europe in significant numbers.
[62] The highest selling sports car company of the 1930s was Morris Garages,[62] who produced 'MG Midget' models of the M-Type, J-Type, P-Type and T-Type.
The decade following the Second World War saw an "immense growth of interest in the sports car, but also the most important and diverse technical developments [and] very rapid and genuine improvement in the qualities of every modern production car; assisted by new design and manufacturing techniques a consistently higher level of handling properties has been achieved.
"[73] In Italy, a small but wealthy market segment allowed for the manufacture of a limited number of high-performance models directly allied to contemporary Grand Prix machines,[73] such as the 1948 Ferrari 166 S.[citation needed] A new concept altogether was the modern Gran Turismo class from Italy, which was in effect unknown before the war: sustained high-speed motoring from relatively modest engine size and compact closed or berlinetta coachwork.
[73] The 1961 Jaguar E-Type is an iconic sports car of the early 1960s, due to its attractive styling and claimed top speed of 241 km/h (150 mph).
The original Lotus Elan (1962-1975) two-seat coupe and roadster models are an early commercial success for the philosophy of achieving performance through minimizing weight and has been rated as one of the top 10 sports cars of the 1960s.
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, several manufacturers developed supercars that competed for production car top speed records.
Ford Europe withdrew from the sports car market at the end of 1986 when the Capri was discontinued after a production run of nearly two decades.
In 1989, a new generation of Lotus Elan roadster was released which used a front-wheel drive layout, a controversial choice for a "purist" sports car.
The Honda S2000 roadster was introduced in 1999 for the 2000 model year and was noted for its high-revving 4-cylinder engine and its exceptionally high specific output of 125 horsepower per litre.
Other sports cars of the 2000s were the 2005-2010 Alfa Romeo Brera/Spider, 2009-2015 Peugeot RCZ, and the 2008-2017 reintroduction of the Volkswagen Scirocco (a coupe based on the VW Golf platform).
However, several American two-seat sports cars have also been produced, such as the 1953–present Chevrolet Corvette, 1962-1967 Shelby Cobra, 1983-1988 Pontiac Fiero, 1991-2017 Dodge Viper, and 2005-2006 Ford GT.
The first Japanese sports car was the 1959-1960 Datsun 211, a two-seat roadster built on the chassis of a compact pickup truck and powered by a 1.0 L (60 cu in) engine.
The Toyota 2000GT, produced from 1967 to 1970, was an expensive two-seat coupe that greatly changed overseas perceptions of the Japanese automotive industry.
The 2000GT demonstrated that Japan was capable of producing high-end sports cars to rival the traditional European brands.
In the 1990s, multiple Japanese automakers made flagship sports cars, such as the Toyota Supra, Nissan Skyline GT-R, Honda NSX, Mazda RX-7, and Mitsubishi 3000GT, which notably performed well against their European competition.
[87][88] These automakers had a well-documented gentlemen's agreement to officially limit advertised power figures for these vehicles to a maximum of 276 hp (280 PS; 206 kW).
[89][90][91] The Nissan Skyline GT-R was reintroduced in 1989-2002 (R32, R33, and R34 generations) which became famous for their use of turbocharging and all-wheel drive, which provided performance comparable with many more expensive sports cars.
[92] Due to production constraints, lower demand, and environmental regulations, the viability of new Japanese sports cars began to decrease in the mid-2000s.
