It has come to my attention, primarily via repeated requests from law enforcement officials and clergypersons, that we make an effort to define what a “sports car” is as definitively as possible. There’s just been too many fights, too many families torn asunder because of a collective inability to agree on an acceptable taxonomy of this category of automobile. They’re right. For far too long we’ve been talking about this very important category of car in the most vague and confusing terms, and we need to solve this problem.
I think most people, even people not particularly interested in cars (fools whom I, with Mr.T-like compassion, pity), have some image that pops into their head when they think of the general category of “sports car.” It’s usually something fast, loud, sleek, and often, red. And while all of those can be properties of what we’d consider a sports car, the truth is a lot more nuanced.
Just in case you don’t believe this is a grave issue threatening the foundations of our society, allow me to direct you to this clip from the long-running animated show Family Guy that I happened to see somewhere online and got me thinking about this issue:
Now, this clip, a bit of well-known popular media that has been shared countless times, does manage to encapsulate the basic issue: people seem to have very different ideas of what a “sports car” is. For the record, I think Peter is completely wrong here; a Miata is a sports car, and I’ll outline why soon. I mean, Peter’s an idiot, but we all knew that.
With that in mind, let’s try to get some clarity here. We’ll start with the broad strokes:
An Overarching Definition of a Sports Car
A “sports car” is an automobile designed and intended to provide an engaging on-road driving experience while performing duties of general transportation. A sports car has two-doors and no rear seat, or at most a minimal/occasional back seat. Any drivetrain layout (front, mid, rear, RWD, FWD, AWD, transverse, longitudinal, etc) is acceptable for all sports car subcategories unless otherwise noted.
Overall speed is not necessarily a requirement, but the car must have as its primary purpose to be engaging and pleasurable to drive via some combination of its design and engineering. The type of drivetrain is not relevant, nor is the power source (electric, gasoline, steam, whatever is fine) but the car’s intent must be one that centers the joys of driving for its own sake.
I think that covers the essence of why sports cars exist. They’re not about fast, necessarily, but they are about fun.
That said, there are a number of sub-categories of sports car, and I think the differences in these sub-categories are what have caused the most confusion for people, who are quick to assume that one category defines the entire genre. This is not so. Everything that follows is a type of sports car:
Fundamental:
These are sort of the closest to the platonic ideal of a sports car that most people conjure up when they hear the words. These are, like all sports cars, two-door cars, primarily two-seaters, usually hardtops (but can have a convertible version), may have any engine location, and their size varies, but they’re not too small. They have dramatic styling, usually of a traditional sports car look, sleek and low and with a long hood and a short rear deck. Practicality is not a significant concern, but these can be daily driven without too many compromises.
Examples: Jaguar E-Type, Corvette, Audi TT, Datsun Z, Porsche 911/356/928, Acura NSX, Ferrari 328 GTS, Lotus Esprit
Roadster:
Perhaps the first true category of sports car. Quite small, open-topped (though fixed-roof variants can fit in), power is less important than the overall handling and driving experience, which leverages the small size and light weight to create a very visceral and connected experience. Sometimes the power can be comically low, like how a Bugeye Sprite makes only 43 horsepower.
Examples: 1898 Bollée, Mazda Miata, Toyota MR-2, Porsche Boxster, Speedster, 914, MGB, Austin-Healey Sprite/3000, Triumph Spitfire/TR series, Crosley Hot Shot
Hot Hatch/Hot Mods:
Cars that started as some other category (economy hatchback, family car, etc) or were designed with more practicality/utility but have upgraded performance and a driving enjoyment focus. These are the only category that did not start as a sports car from the initial design stage.
Examples: VW Golf GTI, Dodge Omni GLH, VW Scirocco, Renault R5 Turbo, Hyundai Veloster, Mini Cooper, Chevy Corvair Monza
Muscle Car/Pony Car:
I know some groups make distinctions between Pony and Muscle cars, but I think they’re part of the same basic category. The main focus is on power, large engines (especially V8s but not exclusively), lots of noise and drama, straight-line performance over handling. Almost always RWD, at home peeling out of a Dairy Queen parking lot.
Examples: Camaro, Firebird, Corvette, AMC AMX, GTO, Mustang, Plymouth Barracuda, Dodge Challenger, Ford Falcon (Aussie)
GT Car (with a Shooting Brake sub-subcategory):
These are fast cars designed primarily for long, high-speed cruising. A GT car is more comfortable and well-appointed than an average sports car, has an actually usable back seat, decent cargo-holding ability, and this category includes Shooting Brakes, those two-door sporty-intended station wagons.
Examples: Jensen Interceptor, Citroën SM, Aston Martin DB series, Buick GNX, Reliant Scimitar GTE, Facel-Vega, Nissan GTR
Supercar:
These are the flashiest prima donnas of the sports car world, and, ironically, are probably the least likely to actually be driven. They have exotic engineering, dramatic styling, are wildly expensive, attention-grabbing, and generally have ridiculous doors that prioritize drama over usability. High power, high status, high visibility, and the lowest day-to-day usability of any sports car.
Examples: Ford GT, most Lamborghinis, most Ferraris, Pagonis, Spykers, Aston Martin Vanquish
Close, But Not Quite
Sporty Car:
That “y” is doing a lot of work here. Sporty cars have much of the look and feel of a sports car, but without the engineering to make them perform in genuine sports car ways. The best-known example of these Sporty Cars may be the Volkswagen Karmann-Ghia; it looked like a sleek little sports car, but was just a Beetle under the skin, which VW played up in ads:
Really, that ad sums this category up pretty well. And it’s not a bad thing! These cars can be delightful and appreciated! They can also be modified to become true sports cars with aftermarket parts or modifications, so I think there is some class mobility possible here.
Examples: Toyota Paseo, VW Eos, VW Karmann-Ghia, Toyota Sera, Nissan Figaro, Mercury Capri (later one), Triumph Stag, Chevy Monza
Track car/Actual Racing car
Because their primary purpose no longer includes basic transportation or on-public-road use, these are not in the sports car category. Once it has enough track-focused modifications (roll cage, stripped interior, race exhaust, etc) these cars become track-only beasts, and are a different category.
Personal Luxury Cars
I mostly included this one because I wasn’t quite sure what to do with Thunderbirds or Toronados and similar cars. They’re not quite driving-pleasure-focused enough to be GT cars, but that’s what they’re closest to, I think. The focus of these cars seems to be comfort and style, so that keeps them out of the sports car category.
Sports Sedans
If it has four doors, I think it needs to be something other than a sports car. So while all those BMW M5s or those Mercedes-Benz AMG C-Class sedans may be as fast and fun to drive and capable as any actual sports car, I think part of the core essence of a sports car is just two doors at most, so these Sports Sedans should be in their own separate category.
Would you like these categories on a chart? I hope so, because I made one:
There! I’m glad we got all that sorted out. I’m sure there are plenty of you out there with different ideas and thoughts on this, and legally I have to leave automotive taxonomies open for public debate for three years before it gets codified into officialdom and carved into marble tablets that will be stored at the Smithsonian, so now’s your time to talk! Have at it!
Dang spoiled rotten kids! Today’s average car out corners, accelerates, and brakes, what was the classic definition of a sports car. Which was purpose built to be competitive. “Simplify, then add lightness” is as good of a definition you likely can find.
I do agree that driver engagement is paramount for a sports car.
When my daughter got her one of my hand-me-down Miatas, after having it for a few months ( a 91 British Racing Green 5 speed), I asked her how she liked driving it. She said:
“ Dad, you don’t drive a Miata. You wear it!”
Never has a father been so proud 🙂 yes it’s a sports car.
Fwiw hard no to muscle cars as sports cars. They’re muscle cars. Heavy, can’t turn, but they eat up the pavement and make lots of smoke and glorious noise,
Oh this would make a great documentary, similar to the (what is) Yacht Rock. Just don’t ask Donald Fagan.
A sports car is 2 door, 2 seat, RWD, and has a hard top.
That’s right there’s a Shooting Brake sub category! We might be out of production but we will not be forgotten!!!
Ooh, this is spicy. I’m usually pretty open with definitions, but I think this is actually way too broad. GT cars are borderline for inclusion; hot hatches are a hard no, equivalent to sport sedans. As others have said, I think it’s about the original intent behind the basic design. A VW GTI is a Golf, usually one that’s been very nicely upgraded, but the basic design is a Golf, which was created as a sensible family car. Muscle cars were generally based on boring intermediate-size two-door sedans. Etc., etc.
And Torch, please, please get your Corvair nomenclature right. What you’re after is the Monza Spyder/Corsa, which were the (usually) turbocharged, specifically high-performance-ish trim levels. A non-Spyder Monza is just a features/appearance package that could dress up a Corvair with any of the basic naturally-aspirated powertrains, more often than not with a Powerglide automatic as part of the mix. And even the turbo models would make more sense ranked as “sport sedans” than anything else, a category that can/should encompass two- and four-door cars of reasonable passenger capacity, as the car that defined the genus, the BMW 2002, was a small two-door sedan.
Tangential -the Jeep Wrangler is a sports truck.
Original a sports car was something that could be used for competitive sporting purposes, ie racing or rallying.
In the early to mid 70’s my dad had a 1970 MGB that he used to club race in. He quit in 1978, after the car got crashed really bad after he had to park it midrace, on the side of the track, after some sort of mechanical issue (he was not in the car when the impact occur, a few laps later; no one got hurt).
Fast forward to my teenage years in the mid 80s: while helping him work on his white Chevy Citation 2-door V6 Hatchback (I had to forgive his car choices in the 80s – he did race an MG in the 70s after all), I actually asked him once “what is a sports car?”
H aenswered that, traditionally, a sports car is a car you can do sports with. Usually, it would be a smaller car with very few options, nimble, with good enough power, and good enough stopping. Since weight was the enemy of “sporting”, sports car were available in low/no option trims, with no carpets, no A/C, no power steering, no radio, and very little creature comforts – no luxury items (although you could have cases where higher trim levels existed, with the usual comforts).
Sports cars where street legal, but you could drive them from your house to the track/event site, race/”sport” them, then drive back home, without having to tow them to the track/event site (and hopefully, not towed back home, either).
I then pointed out that, at the time, I could not think of any car that fit what he was talking about. He looked wistfully at me, and said “No one builds sports cars anymore.”
(A side of me agrees.)
Fast forward to my 2000-2015 AutoX years: I had conversations with folks on this subject (and many more), and had folks claim my NA Miata was not a sports car (“It’s a roadster”, whatever the fuck that means), while claiming a Porsche 996 was. I had Porsche owners claim the 996 was really a Grand Touring car, and that the 911 had stopped being a sports car sometime in the 70s. I had folks claim the Chevy Syclone was a sports car, but not TR6s or MG (“those are roadsters!”, after all.)
And. So. On.
After all this time, I decided it does not really matter what is a sports car. A car is a car. A truck is a truck, A minivan is a minivan. Ford’s upcoming cool EVs are “El Caminos”. It really does not matter.
I just let folks define their cars (and themselves, really) as whatever they want to define them (and themselves). Since I don’t autocross anymore, my Miata is now my limousine. My Protege5 is my daily driver hatchback (not a wagon). And my minivan is my Grand Tourer. Although when driving with the family, and the kids and my wife are not really watching, I turn the minivan into my Sports Car, if only for a few seconds, to try to impress them a bit.
And every now and then, I feed beer to my car friends, and debate about car things.
I think part of what makes it so hard to classify things is that actual sports cars are so rare and uncommon these days that most of the driving public have not driven a small and light two seater. So, anything with some competent handling and a bit more pep is a “sports car.” I remain in the camp that sports cars are built primarily for driving pleasure. Once you start adding cargo space, doors, real back seats you’ve declared that the design is not purely focused on driving pleasure. I have a Mustang and it’s a lot of fun….but a sports car it is most definitely not. It’s ok, a car can be lots of fun and not be a sports car.