Sports Cars are all about fun. For any car to be considered a true sports car it has to be fun to drive. Blistering performance is not enough (but it helps!). No matter how good the raw performance figures are, if the car does not thrill in terms of character, handling and looks, then it won't be much fun. A good example is the Opel/Vauxhall Calibra Turbo 4x4. This was a fast good looking car, but as it was no more than a 2-door Vectra, it did not handle in the way a true purpose built sports car should.
On the other hand, the car which defines the modern sports car, the Mazda MX-5, is a delight to drive. It is not all that fast in a straight line as it only has a moderately powerful 1.6-1.8 litre four, but it is lightweight, has sharp responsive steering and brakes, handles brilliantly due to it's front engine/rear wheel drive layout and looks terrific. Best of all, it's a convertible, lending itself to wind in the hair thrills! Admittedly I am a huge fan of this brilliant little car as is my wife used to own a 1:1 example of the breed. She had a 1993 1.6 model in silver (identical to the 1:18th MX-5 by Gate Models pictured above). When I was lucky I got to take it for a blast, but not often as my better half was very attached to her little Miata!
For many years the British car industry had the sports car market sewn up. MG's, Austin-Healy's, Triumph TR's and Morgan's dominated the world sports car market, especially in the USA. However, just as they did with the motorcycle industry, the Japanese beat the British at their own game. Cars such as the Datsun 240Z, Toyota 2000GT and the Honda S800 looked and went as well as their European competitors and could also be relied on to start on a wet winters day.
The British are no longer the volume leaders in sports car production. However, they still make some terrific machines such as the MGF (well they did until Rover went out of business in 2005, but there are plans to put it back into production as of 2006) and the Lotus Elise.
The following models are those in my collection which I feel deserve to be called sports cars. Please click on a name to find out more about a particular model.
