[Spridgets] Another British Engine

[Larry Daniels]

Ok, some points well taken.  But let's say the engine transplant was a 
lighter AND more powerful engine.  Say the same weight but four times the 
horsepower.  Would that be OK?  They exist.  It should handle just as well. 
Would that be OK?

I used to think of a sports car as being an open roof, great handling and a 
good power to weight ratio.  Let's face it a stock Bugeye has a terrible 
power to weight ratio.  And the square bodies aren't much better.  Does that 
make them a bad example of a sports car?  How many of us have souped up our 
cars or swapped engines for more power?  At what point does that make it no 
longer a sports car?

I have also owned a car that I considered a "sports car", but more 
accurately a "GT" car (a 240Z).  Is a "GT" car a separate classification or 
a sub-classification?

I'd be interested to hear other's definitions of a "sports car".

Let the battle begin!

LAD

--------------------------------------------------
From: "Billy Zoom" <billyzoom at billyzoom.com>
Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 5:36 PM
To: "Larry Daniels" <ladaniels at sbcglobal.net>; "'Spridget'" 
<spridgets at autox.team.net>
Subject: Re: [Spridgets] Another British Engine

> Billy, out of curiosity, what defines a "sports car" and what did the
> addition of the Ford power do to transform the Midget out of that 
> category?
It transformed it into a Hot Rod that was only good for burning rubber in a
straight line, or annoying Big Healey drivers at stop lights. The latter was
kind of fun, but the car was no longer nimble nor well-balanced. It did not
corner well compared to real sports cars, and although admittedly each
corner was a hairy sideways adventure, it was not fast through the turns.
It was also no good at the drags because it made lots of smoke, but never
really hooked up.
BZ