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Is the definition of a sports car still correct?

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Created in 1974

Text:

Hilmar Schmitt

Photos:

Renault

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Porsche AG / Porsche Schweiz AG

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Motor

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Archiv Roger Gloor

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Archivbild

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Autocar

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Archiv Reinhard / Max Pichler

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K.H. Münter

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Werk

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Copyright Daimler AG

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Porsche AG

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Archiv

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Renault

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Porsche AG / Porsche Schweiz AG

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Motor

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Archiv Roger Gloor

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Archivbild

1

Autocar

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Archiv Reinhard / Max Pichler

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K.H. Münter

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Werk

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Copyright Daimler AG

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Porsche AG

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Archiv

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With its mid-engine, the Matra Bagheera offers agile handling

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In the mid-1960s, nobody questioned whether a Jaguar E-Type was a sports car

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Frazer-Nash (1948) - conventional with engine between the axles

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Accessories from Kamei (1984) - do accessories turn a car into a sports car?

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Mercedes-Benz SSK (1930) - Rudolf Caracciola wins the Irish Grand Prix on July 19, 1930

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Renault - winner of the first ACF Grand Prix (1906) - an early racing car, but does the original sports car exist?

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MG B GT (1966) - Paddy Hopkirk at the wheel

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Matra-Simca Bagheera (1974) - Maserati styling and mass production technology

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Matra Simca Bagheera (1973) - mid-engined sports car with three seats

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Matra-Simca Bagheera (1974) - flat and wide, just like a sports car should be

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Matra-Simca Bagheera (1975) - Technology explained

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Eberhard Mahle oversteering at the 1966 Rossfeld race

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Porsche 911 (1965), the engine sits far behind the rear axle

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The first Porsche 356/2 with Beutler body and rear engine 1949

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Sports car or gentleman's express? Bristol 411 (1972)

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Frazer-Nash - a chain transmission sits in the trunk

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Alvis "Tadpole" (1928) with front-wheel drive

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Lancia Fulvia Coupé - front-wheel drive to rally victory

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Panhard & Levassor, in the beginning every car was a sports car - winner of Paris-Bordeaux in 1895

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Benz Tropfenwagen (1923) - with mudguards it became a mid-engined sports car

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Matra-Simca Bagheera (1974) - the three-seater interior

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René Bonett Djet (1962) - one of the first production mid-engined cars

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Porsche 356/1 (1948) - the very first one had a mid-engine and poor use of space

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Cisitalia 360 (1949) - Grand Prix car with mid-engine

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For sports and road use - Bugatti Brescia (1925)

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Jaguar E V12 (1971) - the sports car blossomed into a grand tourer

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Lanchester - Touring car from 1912 with mid-engine

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Daimler Patent Motor Car (1886) - the engine sits in the rear footwell in the middle of the car

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Summary

Perhaps the title should be: Does the "classic" sports car still exist? In the mid-seventies, the conventional design - engine at the front, drive at the rear - was hardly represented in motorsport competition. Hilmar Schmitt follows the traces of a crucial question from the perspective of the seventies.

This article contains the following chapters

The conventional sports car hardly exists anymore.
Is the definition of a sports car still correct?
Mid-engine problem: a reasonable amount of extra space.
Mid-engined sports cars are up to date.
Does the conventional sports car have a future?
Let's summarize:

Estimated reading time: 15min

Preview (beginning of the article)

First of all, hardly anyone is able to clearly and unambiguously define the term "sports car". It may include the pure competition car that is only and exclusively used on the racetrack - but where does the sports car end and the racing car begin? Add to this the souped-up or even unkempt touring car (saloon, four-door, with air conditioning, quadrophy and reclining seats), because it is "sporty" from the factory, and there are countless compromises in between. It may have been easier to draw clearer lines here when you drove an SSK both - as a gentleman driver in the earlier sense - on the country road to Dresden and raced in the Ulster Grand Prix. There was no such thing as an original sports car. Small and very small cars, cycle cars, voiturettes became sports car-like at some point, while large, heavy vehicles competed in sporting competitions from the very first hour of their existence. This has not changed to this day. Every Mini is a sports car if you want to make it one (and countless rally victories have proven this), but every VW Beetle can also be a sports car. In the past, people used to unscrew the lights, fenders and even half the bodywork and turn the standard car into a sports car - in other words, a competition car.

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