Who builds the best affordable production sports car?
04/18/2013
Exactly forty years ago, in April 1973, the American magazine Road & Track published the results of an extensive track test of nine production sports cars in the lower price range. The results were perhaps even more interesting for European readers than for Americans, as the report did not include a sports car from the USA. The field of nine cars consisted of the Porsche 914 (1.7), Opel GT (1.9), MG Midget, MG B, VW Karmann-Ghia, Triumph Spitfire 1500, Triumph GT6, Fiat 124 Spider and MG B GT.
The comparison test was more than unusual, as the cars were selected by the Sports Car Club of America and some of the disciplines were invented especially for the comparison. The background to this was a new racing series that was to be run exclusively with road-going and unmodified sports cars, and the nine vehicles compared in the Road & Track report corresponded exactly to the new regulations.
The results showed expected, but also surprising winners.
In the acceleration from 0 to 60 miles (96 km/h), the powerful Fiat 124 Spider came out on top with 12.5 seconds, closely followed by the Triumph GT6 (12.6 seconds) and the Porsche 914 (12.7 seconds). Only these three also reached 90 miles per hour in the measurement. The Fiat 124 Spider again won the quarter mile measurement, followed by the Porsche 914, the MG B and the Triumph GT6. The values measured on the racetrack between two bends were also interesting. This showed that the Opel GT in particular had sporting talents, as it usually appeared at the top or among the top five in this discipline (alongside the Triumph GT6, Fiat 124, MG B, MG B GT).
As early as 1973, the possible lateral acceleration on the circular track was also measured. The MG B won with 0.795 g, ahead of the Fiat 124 (0.783 g), Porsche 914, Triumph Spitfire, Opel GT and MG Midget (all 0.758 g). Surprising differences came to light during braking tests from 80 to 40 miles per hour. The Porsche 914 mastered this discipline best with 78.85 meters, followed by the Opel GT (82.3), MG B GT (84.7) and Fiat 124 (85.3). The Karmann Ghia brought up the rear here, taking 99.1 meters. The fastest car in terms of top speed on the Riverside circuit was the Fiat 124, followed by the Opel GT, Triumph GT6 and Porsche 914. The slowest was the MG Midget, but it only lost a mile to the Triumph Spitfire.
The most important discipline from the point of view of the potential racing competitor was of course the achievable lap time and here the Triumph GT6 was in the lead with 54.4 seconds, followed by the Opel GT (54.9), Porsche 914 (55.2), MG B (55.2), Fiat 124 (55.4), MG B GT (55.5), Triumph Spitfire (56.3) and MG Midget (57.3). The slowest was again the VW Karmann-Ghia, which at 58.3 seconds did not really show any racing ambitions.
The conclusions of the Road & Track test editors are also interesting. The most important factor for good performance in motorsport was the ability to get from corner to corner as quickly as possible, while lateral acceleration seemed to be less relevant. Engine power proved to be an important factor, but despite the Fiat 124's advantages in this discipline, it only achieved the fifth best lap time.
The recommendation for the buyer was: if you want to win in the production sports car racing category, you should probably go for the Triumph GT6; if you also want to travel in comfort, you should choose the Fiat 124 Spider or the Porsche 914; if you are only interested in having fun, the Spitfire is a good choice. And anyone who needs to prove that Volkswagen also builds sports cars should buy the Karmann-Ghia.
