Talk Morgan Forums Community The Malvern Arms The pros and cons of sliding pillar suspension.

So going on the comments above from some folks more or less all the sports cars that are still referred to as such from yesteryear would no longer qualify because they don't match the performance of a grey saloon or say a Boxter?

E-type isn't a sports car?

Is it truely about just performance or is it about the spirit of a car?

Maybe it's qualified by the driver behind the wheel?

Maybe a sportscar is about fun not raw performance?

I'm off to put RUSH's Moving Pictures CD on, particularly "Red Barchetta"..................

There is an interesting parallel to this thread in Philip's thread in Vehicle Talk (Non Morgan) http://www.talkmorgan.com/ubbthreads.php/topics/224850/1

There seem to be quite a few Morgan owners who would prefer a Morgan with better suspension (plus some other improvements).

I think first you should consider any 'sports car' in the context of it's era. Absolute performance has never been a measure, because mainstream mass produced two seaters have rarely been at the top of the performance league in their time. The E Type was one exception to this. But the question of what is a sports car has no answer, because we all have our opinions.

I seem to recall the Austin Healey Sprite being considered a sports car in its time.......so it definitely isn't about performance!

But what the heck...who cares what other people think, or indeed the so called expert motor journos.....at the end of the day it's down to how the individual feels about his own car that matters.

Upload a photo to the gallery section and you can link to/reuse the thumbnail it generates.

Ah, it's always so easy when you know how, thank you Roger.

Yes it was and deservedly so. I well remember travelling from my home in bradford down to college in oxford in my spitfire in 1964 and averaging 61 mph for the journey on cross country roads. Leaving aside speed cameras you would be pushed to do that these days. But like the E type and the spridget, I would call that car a classic rather than a sports car these days. Obsolete technology and dontyou know itifyoudrive one.

We seem to have a fairly common view with the odd exception. F types and zx are tourers not sports cars.The elise and the 911 are definitely sports cars despite the latters 4 seats. But I would label the caterham a kit car for track days if for no other reason than I dont consider it really useable on the roads day to day. The trad I would label a classic because its based on classic technology of yesteryear.

The odd one is the boxter. I tested one together with a 911 and despite being prejudiced against the latter because of its rear engine, it felt much more of a sports car for reasons I could not put my finger on.

Spitfire... Working on a mid '70s 1500 is what started all my back problems off some 7 years ago...
To be fair I'd actually finished refitting the carbs and putting stuff away after 2 hours or so, when my lower back went 'crunch'... Reaching up to put some rags in the overhead 'store'.

Not true and just shows your lack of Westfield knowledge. Their FW400 was designed by Martin Ogilvie who should be known to you with his Lotus pedigree.

This Westfield is a purer evocation of the modern Chapman spirit than anything produced by Caterham and it was built in 1999! It is still a very fast car, here it is at Snetterton just 2-weeks ago...

P.S. S'cuse the noise, it has a Hewland straight-cut dog box and so has a slightly noisy gearchain