Bob -
I don't disagree with you, except on the spelling of "Springsteen". (I'll
take your "do anything 20 to 60 MPH faster" as intentional hyperbole, since
I can show you corners that I drive at 20MPH, that full race GTP cars don't
take any faster.) Sure, the Z28 is a "sporty car", but does that make it a
"sports car"?
If it does, there are a lot of BMW and Mercedes sedans that can handle as
well as a Z28, and can go faster, and therefore are also "sports cars"
(okay, so they cost more than the total of any 3 houses on my street). A
car can be a "sporty car" (be fast and handle exceptionally well) and not
be a "sports car". Heck, by >>my<< definition, my MG isn't really a
"sports car".
All I was saying is that, once upon a time, the term actually had a
definition you could point to, (street car that could be competitive in
motorsport). I suspect that with the advent of big money motorsport, by
that definition, it could be that here haven't been any "sports cars" built
in 20 - 30 years, except for homologation specials! If that's the case, I
can accept that.
I think you also have to compare based on time period. My (nearly) stock
'77 Midget could give my father's Stage III race-prepped '47 TC a run for
it's money on some courses. I'd bet that a lot of stone-stock '97 Toyota
sedans could, too. Does that make Toyota sedans "sports cars"? Or does it
make a '47 TC not a sports car? Or is it simply an instance of the art and
science of automobiles having advanced over the last 20 - 50 years? (You
want to compare the performance of a P-51 to an F-16?)
So I still say that a Camaro/Firebird/Mustang is a "sporty car", but not
"sports car". Then again, most of our cars aren't. That doesn't make any
of them any less worthwhile to own, and enjoy, and drive at "ten tenths"
every chance we get.
I guess I'm up to $0.04 now...
Chris Kotting
ckotting@iwaynet.net
P.S. Loved the comment on Barney. Too true...
On Thursday, May 21, 1998 12:31 PM, Robert Allen [SMTP:boballen@sky.net]
wrote:
> The SO drives a '95 Z28. I can't imagine anything a stock MG could do
that
> the Z28 couldn't do 20 to 60+ mph faster (with the air on and the stereo
> blasting a Springstein tune).
>
> Everything about the Z28 is quite sporty, thank you. I can't imagine any
> objective criteria that our stock LBCs would surpass a modern, purpose
built
> car. Hell, on the track, Barney could whip most of our asses tillering a
> minivan!
>
> We just like our LBCs as they are anachronisms from an earlier era and
there
> is great pride of ownership in that our simple minds and tools can keep
> these simple cars on the road.
>
> Get over it, Boys and Girls.
>
> Bob Allen, Kansas City, '69CGT, '75TR6
>
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