This thread is REALLY old. It goes back to post WWI and mirrors the
development of the modern motorcar ! At least read the last quote from W.O.
Bentley.
Quotes from "The Sports Car, Its design and performance". Colin Campbell,
Robert Bentley Inc. 1965
"It is not within the scope of a technical book to discuss why men will live
and die for this thing we call SPORT"
"Despite all claims to the contrary by whimsical friends in the Vintage
Sports Car Club, the sports car does not possess a soul."
....a sports car is a taut, race-bred machine for the dexterous enjoyment of
the road.
...a well designed piece of sporting equipment, like a shot-gun or a mashie
niblick.
...not a highly specialized vehicle but a highly versatile one, capable of
the best possible performance under sharply varying conditions, at all speeds
and on many different road surfaces.
It must corner well at speed and withstand long bouts of full-throttle
driving without over stressing the engine or chasis.
A sports car is a touring car and a racing car at one and the same time.
Quotes from "A history of the world's sports cars" 1961
'"A sports car is a motor car designed primarily for the driver to enjoy
going fast."
"...but fast driving can be enjoyable only if the machine transmits a good
sense of balance and responds with precision to the driver's demands;
otherwise it is also dangerous."
"...every sports car is a compromise between a formule libre racing car and
what used to be delightfully called a 'town carriage'"
W.O. Bentley
" I have never been quite certain what a sports car is........
"I have never thought high performance justified discomfort, noise and
unreliability"
".......the principle on which we worked was to build a machine that would go
far and fast, safely, reliably, and comfortably. "
"...I wanted to make machines that would allow me to travel great distances
efficiently and at high speed."
"But then it is one of the most satisfying things about the motoring scene
today that so many people who care about the better sorts of cars, built in
the earlier days, are prepared to give so much time to keeping them on the
roads and in good condition today."
Bob Paul
Corrales NM
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