Aftermarket September 2022

BY Andrew Marsh, Engineering Director, Auto Industry Consulting Ltd D efinition is the name of the game. What do we think makes a sports car, well, a sports car? After all, most sports car owners will never use them to compete in any sort of race. Is it just branding, or is there more to it? The concept of the sports car originated back in the early 1900s. Then, as is usually the case now, everything started with a vehicle chassis, the frame connecting all the mechanical elements together, onto which a body was built. For a sports car, you wanted the lightest possible body to flatter the available engine power. Back then, recycling was the name of the game, and the very same chassis might be fitted with multiple bodies during its life. These ranged from a limousine with usually more than five seats, to a cabriolet or convertible. There might also be a sedan/saloon with four to five seats with a distinct box for luggage, a coupe with usually two seats, but often an additional pair of small seats too, and so on. These body styles evolved from horse drawn carriages, with the body style name coming from the same source. As the chassis (frame) became integrated into the vehicle, the external shape continued with these names. The sports car became an umbrella term for anything that might 28 AFTERMARKET SEPTEMBER 2022 TECHNICAL www.aftermarketonline.net WHAT’S IN A NAME? Andrew looks back to the dawn of motoring to see how the sports car came to be defined be more agile and/or faster in a straight line than other models. Typically, in racing a sports car would have enclosed wheels and the space for two people, even if one space did not even have a seat. If we consider Le Mans, originally the driver would complete the race with a mechanic riding alongside. The rules evolved to allow the driver to compete alone, but they have to be able to complete basic repairs if required on the track, so the mechanic’s tool kit remains, as does the space for their seat. For road cars the term has a looser definition, except for vehicles built to allow a model to qualify for competition on racetracks, rallying and hill climbs.