The Best Sports Cars

The last week has been very busy for me and I apologize for not posting content sooner, however, the news about the upcoming Frankfurt Auto Show has been overwhelming to say the least. Coming from Chicago, we know a thing or two about auto shows, although growing up reading car magazines I always lusted over what Europe got to see before us, not to mention exotics on display did not happen until my teen years with the “Shell Presents” exhibition and was more of a side-show than the show itself, as unlike the Geneva, Paris or Frankfurt shows, the companies themselves are not on hand.

The news from Frankfurt makes the saying “don’t blink or you’ll miss it” the understatement of the millenia with all that is going on. Just trying to stay on top of the news that is coming out day by day would be a job in and of itself. So with that in mind, with the public viewing set to begin a week from tomorrow here is a list(source: wikipedia) of which future candidates for the best sports cars are to debut at this world class event. As the title states, it really is an excise in “one upping” the competition and in addition I will include a short description of the sports car class/attributes of each model:

• Alfa Romeo MiTo Quadrifoglio Verde

A sport compact with a 1.4L turbo model being the flagship

• 2010 Aston Martin Rapide

A supersport sedan from the same company that brought the radical One-77 concept whose official version debuted at Pebble Beach

• 2010 Audi RS3

The supersport version of Audi’s entry level compact

• 2010 Audi R8 Spyder

Images just leaked this week, an example of “one-upping” as earlier this week, competitor Mercedes, leaked images of the SLS

• Audi e-tron concept ^[9]

An electric powered R8- no way!!! Did we mention one-upping?(see BMW Vision EfficientDynamic below)

• 2010 BMW 3 Series Coupe and Convertible facelift
• 2010 BMW 5 Series
• 2011 BMW 6 Series facelift
• BMW Vision EfficientDynamics concept

The 3/5/6 will most likely be controversial, as is BMW’s style(give us a new model, we don’t like, we fall in love with it, then change it again). However, the Vision EfficientDynamics concept has been rumored for quite some time and this might be the star of the show especially if it ends up looking like the M1 hommage concept!

• Bugatti Bordeaux

A four door version of the hyper-exotic Veyron?

• 2010 Ferrari 458 Italia

See the post about “More To Come From Frankfurt” as the boys in Maranello have been teasing us for quite some time

• Lotus Evora Type 124 Endurance Racer

Another lightweight, track rocket from the boys from England

• 2010 Lamborghini Reventon roadster

Not to be outdone by their rivals from Maranello, the boys in St. Agata Bolognese decided to rain on Ferrari’s party by revealing the roadster version of their road-going jet!

• Lexus LF-ch concept

another sport compact, only this one will be good for the environment

• 2011 Maserati GranCabrio

Maserati’s gorgeous GranTurismo- topless

• Mazda MX-5 Superlight concept

We have yet to visit Japan on our “best sports cars around the world” tour, although you can expect a few future posts on the MX-5 Miata and the case it has made to be one of the best sports cars

• 2010 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG

A re-incarnation of the timeless classic, 300SL Gullwing to celebrate the death of the SLR and Mercedes divorce from McLaren

• Mini Coupe Concept ^[11]

See post titled “Special Feature – Mini Turns 50 and We Get the Present”, this was just the tip of the ice-berg

• 2010 Porsche 911 Sport Classic
• 2010 Porsche 911 Turbo
• 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup
• 2010 Porsche 911 GT3 RS
• 2010 Porsche Panamera (European debut)

Further one-upping the pack, Porsche is bringing 4 new 911’s to the party as well as their controversial, yet cutting edge 4dr hybrid in the Panamera

• 2010 Volkswagen Polo GTI
• 2010 Volkswagen R20 Golf

More sport compacts, only this time it’s everyone’s favorite German SCC in both the Polo GTI and R20 Golf(the 2.0L I4T version of the R32)

• 2011 Volvo C30
• 2011 Volvo C70

Can’t forget about the Swedes, the C70, one of the safest and most beautiful cars under $50k has been received with much fanfare, now we’ll get to see if it does not disappoint.

And finally we can’t forget about the other top sports cars announced this week that just add fuel to the fire in the McLaren MP4-C12, Citroen GT and Koenigsegg CCXR Trevita.

Really makes one wonder what else is to come, stay tuned for more(as well as pictures and videos highlighting what Frankfurt will offer!)

So when it comes to the best sports cars from Europe we’ve already covered the countries you are most familiar with- England, Germany and Italy. This is it, right? Wrong! There are so many more great sports cars from Europe that it will take several more posts to cover them all, however, this post will aim to introduce some of the others that come from places such as Spain, France, Sweden and the Netherlands. If there are any that I am missing, please feel free to comment and I will add more as needed.

As far as Spain goes, there are a few defunct brands and probably most associated with sports cars would be Hispano-Suiza, a pre-WWII luxury car manufacturer that made a few great models of its time, however, for today’s market the brand of Spain is Seat(pronounced- Say-At, not “seat”). Known for compact models the sports car market they cover is the sport compact as seen by their best selling model the Ibiza(picture c/o Lemon3 from wikimedia)

Next up is France, who has their own Big 3 of Peugot, Citroen and Renault. All of which also have their share of sport compact models as well as historically signicant roadsters that are collectible sports cars. The best known sports car from France, however, has to be Bugatti. A relative unknown in the US until the recent release of the all-world exotic known simply as the Veyron(and it’s many “special edition” variants). It is hard to ignore the predecessors such as the EB110, a limited production exotic whose “110″ commemorates the 110th anniversary of the late Ettore Bugatti, the founder of the company. The contributions Bugatti has made will make a great series of future articles as much like Ferrari, the roots of this company are in their racing vehicles that made their way to the road such as the legendary Type 57 Atalante coupe(shown below, image c/o Liftarn from wikimedia):

Moving on to today’s market we also have top sports cars from Sweden, not only the sporty models from Volvo and Saab, but also some sport compacts from Skoda. Then there is the current “fastest car in the world” with a Veyron shattered top speed of 259mph, the Koenigsegg CCX-R(image c/o Fpm from wikimedia):

This beauty is at its best when run on environmentally friendly E85 and puts out over 1000hp, expect more on this in future articles!

Last but not least is the newest contender, the Netherlands, while the Dutch are known for their chocolates, their flowers and their beer, it is not enough and companies such as Spyker with their Audi powered supercars, are made to be noticed, here is the C8 Aileron as shown at the 2009 Geneva Auto Show(image c/o Yo Ghurt from flikr)

As you can see the best sports cars from Europe come from more than just England, Germany and Italy. Hope you enjoyed this!

One of the last stops in Europe will be the wonderful land of Italy! Here there are more of the best sports cars than you can shake a stick at or just wave a broom. From much the same as England and Germany, they come in all shapes and sizes, while here in the US we are most familiar with the exotics and such top sports cars as Ferrari and Lamborghini, the rest of the world, namely, Europe and Asia, get to see some of the fun sport compacts that have not yet made their way stateside.

So how did we get here? The origins of the best sports cars from Italy go back a ways and as far as Ferrari and Lamborghini go, their origins preceded the cars that made them famous. In fact much as we’ve come to see in Italian culture there is one renowned brand: FIAT. Dating back to 1899, Fiat has added a little flair to the sports car market themselves, however, unbeknownst to some, today the Fiat group consists of another one of Italy’s oldest brands, Alfa Romeo and of course Ferrari and Maserati.

Not to be left out, we have the tractor manufacturer, turned exotic car extraordinaire- Lamborghini, in fact, these cars were made for the road first, the track second unlike Ferrari who took their racing heritage and brought it to the road. Both companies are also relatively young in comparison to some of the other Italian or even European brands with Ferrari hitting the scene in the late 40’s and Lamborghini following suit in the 60’s.

Maserati, often associated with Ferrari, due to their co-operation through Fiat, dates back to 1915 although in the US we have not been fortunate enough to have a strong Maserati prescence since Joe Walsh famously sung the line “My Maserati does 185…” until recently. Which much like Fiat and Alfa themselves, went M.I.A. for most of the 80’s and 90’s with a few offerings making their way stateside.

Other brands of top sports cars from Italy who believe in co-operation, this time, on a global level are Zagato(with England’s Aston Martin) and De Tomaso(with USA’s Ford). In addition, the famed Italian design studio of Pininfarina as well as world renowned designer Giorgetto Giugiaro and his family have designed many of the best sports cars the world over, in addition to some of Italy’s best!

Yes, you could definitely write a book about all the best sports cars from Italy, but for time’s sake we will wrap this up soon with where we are today and what the future holds. First off, this would not be an article on Italian sports cars without one of the latest contestants, the Pagani Zonda(c/o JaseMen from Flickr):

And on to today, where it seems like the 80’s was the battle of the 400+ hp offerings such as the legendary Lamborghini Countach and Ferrari F40 to the 90’s battle of 500+ with Diablo 6.0 versus F50 and the current decade and the 600+ contenders in the Murcielago LP640 and the Enzo(picture below was taken by me in 2007 at the Ferrari Museum in Maranello):

So it is only natural that the next decade will mean 700 is the new 600 and that we can expect the more “pedestrian” models such as the Gallardos and F430’s who currently put out 500+ to have their heir apparents churning out the 600+ that their current big brothers offer.

With that I say “arrivederci” to Italy for now, but please come back as future articles will not only go more in-depth, but as promised in the opening article will offer tips on how to enjoy these beautiful machines in person such as tips for buying used sports cars from Italy as well as some cool sports car wallpaper to stick up on your desktop, much like the above Enzo photo which has resided on mine.

While America has the Big 3, Germany has the Big 4, well there’s much more than Porsche, Audi, BMW and Mercedes when it comes to the best sports cars of Germany, however this is a starting point. Although we cannot forget that a few of those top sports cars from Porsche and Audi wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for Volkswagen, in fact the father of Porsche(literally as his son was the founder of the sports car brand with the family name), Ferdinand Porsche, was also the man behind the Volkswagen Bug, which despite being marketed as the “people’s car” can still claim some sports car roots.

As far as German sports cars go there is so much to say in so little space, but do not fear, we will get much more in depth as we discover more, not to mention some tips to help find yourself nice used sports cars from Germany, some of which might have 6 digits on the odometer, which isn’t a problem as most are built solid like a tank!

So where to start? While Porsche comes to mind, especially since the sole purpose of the Porsche brand was sports cars from day 1, we can’t forget about Mercedes and BMW and of course Audi whose four rings stand for the conglomeration of Audi, Horch, DKW and Wanderer and it was a Horch who just took best in show at the prestigious Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance with a model similar to this one shown below:

Along with this beauty there was the Mercedes SSK models of the late 20’s and 30’s that captured the imaginations the world and still fetch a pretty penny at auction today!

Next came the 50’s and with it there was the Porsche 356 and Mercedes 190/300 SL, available in both gullwing and cabrio models, as it is truly a one of a kind I had to include the gullwing:

‘

Not to be outdone, Porsche came out with what would ultimately be their defining model, the 911, in 1963, a model that despite all the re-designs and intricate technology, has kept the same silhouette of the original model.

On to the 70’s and 80’s while Porsche and Mercedes were up to their old tricks and providing the world with fast yet reliable vehicles, BMW and Audi had a few tricks up their sleeves, in fact the late 70’s and early 80’s brought some true German beauties in the form of the BMW M1 and the original Audi Quattro, a vehicle slotted for rally racing whose revolutionary all-wheel drive system became the basis for the Quattro AWD system standard on most Audi models today and speaking of AWD, the Porsche 959, a “flex your muscles” project whose technology is still employed in Porsche’s flagship 997 Turbo and GT2 models, came about in 1983!

BMW did keep up pace though with the new “M” series in the M3 model which spawned today’s favorites the M5 and M6 as well as the current M3 variant. To keep up Mercedes, Audi and Porsche all have special lines of AMG, S/RS and S models respectively, all adding a little extra punch.

The new millenium has plenty of promise, not only in the alternative technologies, but the sports cars themselves, whether it is the V10 TDI Audi R8 or the controversial new Porsche hybrid the Panamera, Germany just keeps pumping out quality, cutting edge sports cars. We can’t forget about Volkswagen, who has provided some nice sport compacts in the Golf variants such as the GTI VR6 and the more recent R32 as well as the first W16 engine in the concept of the same name that was the basis for the Bugatti Veyron motor.

So with that I leave you with a lesser known German sports car, but nevertheless a jaw-dropper as it has been in fierce competition with the British made Radical SR8 for the record lap time at the famed German test track, the Nurburgring, I am of course talking about the Gumpert Apollo as seen in the image below submitted to wikimedia by a user named Chumwa:

Yes, Germany has had plenty to offer when it comes to the best sports cars and we haven’t even discussed the best part – The Autobahn!

The second stop in our journey to start revealing the best sports cars in the world is jolly ol’ England. Being one of the few countries in the world where the driver’s side is on the right in addition to Japan and Australia(who will both be discussed in subsequent articles) lends to the unique nature of the top sports cars from.

When it comes to the theme for the English sports cars they can be broken down initially to the prestigious and the fun, now don’t get me wrong, the prestigious can surely be fun(in the case of the Jaguar E-type or it’s modern offspring the XK-series) and the fun can be downright prestigious(as evidenced by the Lotus Esprit).

So now that I have gone on and spilled the beans it’s time to start discussing which marques fit into each sub-category and what makes their claim to be some of the best sports cars in the world.

The most well known prestigous British sports cars in addition to Jaguar are Aston Martin and Bentley, while Bentley is mainly a luxury marque along with its British sibling Rolls Royce, it is hard to argue that the Contenintal GT and GT-Speed do not represent the features of a top notch sports car, not to mention all the other “Speed” variants of the 4-door models, even though they are technically labeled sedans or touring mobiles.

Now what makes these marques prestigious? The price tag for one, in US dollars you can expect every new model of these brands to top the 100k mark. Next is the pedigree, from their roots, which dig deep, these brands have stayed true to their origins and it is easy to see the original models of Aston Martins, Jaguars and Bentleys as the epitome of motorsports for their time and timeless classics today, usually found at prestigious racing and auction events.

As far as fun goes, the list of just world renowned brands is long enough for such a small country, names like MG, Mini, Austin Healey, Triumph, Caterham and as mentioned above, Lotus. The British just know how to have fun! Listing these names alone makes me want to get my driving gloves and cabby hat and picture myself in the driver’s seat.

Fun? You bet! Just catch a glimpse of the film “The Italian Job” or the famous chase scene in “The French Connection” and you can see how fun the Mini really is. It goes to show that you don’t need a lot of horsepower or even rear-wheel drive to have fun in a sports car. If you do require rear-wheel drive though, MG, Austin Healey and Triumph have you covered. And if that’s not enough and you need just a fun little track car with gobs of horsepower and rear wheel drive look no further than the Lotus Esprit V8 twin turbo, although you can argue that even the original Esprit was a model of potent power, the 140 HP the US version had seems rather pedestrian by today’s standards.

Digging even deeper you can see the sport compact class represented, not only in the Mini and MG brands, but several brands that will be discussed in detail later and can be found in all stages of tune in magazines such as Max Power(warning- this magazine does contain some adult material and is not for children).

So with that I leave you for now, hopefully wanting for more, if not, here’s a taste of what’s to come, not only in the world of best sports cars, but the best sports cars blog- The astounding Aston Martin One-77 concept:

Our first stop is home sweet home(atleast for me) which is the US of A, birthplace of the muscle car. While the modern American sports car is basically a homage to the glory days of yester year, make no mistake these sports cars still aim to please. Don’t forget that a lot of modern sports car technology had its roots in the US, for example did you know that the first 16 cylinder engine was not the Volkswagen developed W16 that became the basis of the incomparable Bugatti Veyron, which itself is a homage to Ettore Bugatti’s line of racing cars from the early to mid 1900’s, it was actually Cadillac, who in 1930, first had a 16 cylinder engine for production models(Bugatti had one in 1915 however it only found its way into 2 Type 45’s).

So from the very get-go Americans have been clamoring for “bigger is better” and why not, in comparison to most of the rival producers of the best sports cars, America is bigger in size and as such, why not have bigger cars with bigger engines?

Which leads us to the origins, this is where the fun starts, as we have yet to truly define “sports car” and in fact I’d rather not, as it leads to too much debate and here at best sports cars blog it’s more about fun then arguments and it also let’s us enjoy more of what there is out there. So if the top sports cars in your world are the hot rodding bunch and you consider a 1930’s Ford to be your ideal model of the first sports car more power to you! Maybe you harken back to the 50’s when it was Corvette versus T-bird. And then it’s very possible that the 60’s and early 70’s(before the embargo destroyed so many great marques) was your shining time for the dawn of the muscle cars where it was GTO versus Chevelle, Challenger, Road Runner and the list goes on. Not to be confused, but almost always mistaken for the muscle cars were the pony car class, your Mustangs and Camaros. The 60’s and 70’s also gave us a glimpse at the American supercar, the Ford GT40 or the Shelby Cobra come to mind. While the era died down in the late 70’s and even the 80’s was a blur, minus the potent Buick Grand National and more potent variant the GNX or if you just like outrageous design we can’t forget the DeLorean DMC-12, the birthchild of the designer of the GTO. The 90’s came back with a bang and it was now Corvette versus Dodge Viper. Even the Viper’s Japanese designed little brother, the Stealth, which falls into the GT subsection of sports cars, still packs a punch.

Another American glory to consider is the Panoz motor company, while the Big 3 had such a hold on the American industry, up sprang Panoz with an American twist on European style and performance.

Then we have today and what tomorrow holds, love the extreme, then the Saleen S7 does the trick and then there are cars to be built tomorrow that will whet the appetite of the eco-friendly and the powerful, however it seems some of our competitors already have an edge in this area, we can’t forget the Tesla Roadster, although it is basically a redesigned Lotus Elise outfitted with an electric motor, its roots are from the Silicon Valley and much like the technology we covet and that make blogs like this one possible, it is a sign of what’s to come, where the Big 3 will be replaced by the startup!

So with that, I bid farewell until another day, there are so many directions we can go here and it would be unfair to focus solely on the American offerings, however the aim will be to not only introduce our contenders for the best sports cars, but to really break them down, past and present as well as what the future holds and I leave you with the homage to the muscle car days, the modern pony cars….