off topic: american sports cars

LMN dude, I've never understood the whole sports car thing. I get low riders -- not my style, but they seem like fun. I get collecting classic cars. Especially if you dig restoring them as a hobby. But sports cars? No.

If I collected cars it would be late '70s AMCs. Imagine turning heads in a fully restored Gremlin all tricked out as a low rider. THAT would be sweet.

And imagine a sweet, fully-restored and shiny '76 Matador. You drive a car like that and you are making a serious STATEMENT!

I've often considered purchasing a Delorean to pull up to the nightclub in. Nothing gets bitches like gullwing doors.

Yeah! Especially when they have to get in or out wearing a short, tight skirt!

Zipman - there hasn't been an AMC vehicle worth the powder to blow it to Hell since the Nash-Healy (oops, that wasn't AMC) I've always enjoyed sports cars, but usually foreign. Had a 62 MGB, a 64 Triumph TR-3A, bought a 69 Datsun 2000 brand new, but very few American. In 1967 I bought a 65 Mustang convertible with the "high performance 289". Not a sports car but capable of great smoke shows. I sold it in 69 for $700. Wish I still had it.

"76" 280Z.Who flowed?Dice flowed.

I loved the big engines and all the power of the older 'Vettes and I especially loved the Chrysler muscle cars......not such a fan of the styling.

I don't know beans about the power plants in the new sports cars but the styling remains a bit pedestrian for my tastes.

@farmerart

I like the syling of the c6 corvettes and the 2006+ viper acr's.

They do not look as "futuristic" (for lack of a better term) than the European porches, lambos, etc but they have a cool style imo.

Top of the line all time, no doubt and not a contest.

Fuel injected '57 Chevy! Black, of course.

No need to try and differ with the obvious!

C'mon Clubber. Its got to be the '57 T-Bird candy apple red. :) portholeauthority.com

I also liked the 56 Chevy..looked cool

sc,

My neighbor has one, but it is some puke colored light blue, aka Starmist Blue.

When speaking about AMC, people seem to forget the Javelin. That was quite a ride IMHO.

I wouldn't go as far as to say I'm a fan per se, but I can undeniably see why many people prefer them over their European counterparts. For the money, there are few contenders for that raw, visceral feel down the straightaway when you have the accelerator mashed to the floor across endless American highway miles out West. If I could arrange for drone-fleet-assisted radar advance-warning, on a Western-US run, an SRT Viper and a wet girl would be my ride of choice. With my driving preferences, Lambos are the closest road feel to the American makes from the other side of the Atlantic; Ferraris (like a 458 Spider) are about mid-way between that raw road feel and the more refined feel of a Porsche (like a 911 Turbo S) or BMW (like an M6).

I'm not a car nut, just fortunate enough to appreciate a good ride in the above; when I close the door behind me I don't think much about them any longer unless someone brings it up (like this thread). Though I'd like to try a Veyron and a few other makes some day to compare to the one's I've tried before.

American car companies don't even know what a sports car is much less how to manufacture and market one. I watched a Corvette make a try at an Autocross event back in the 70's. Every turn it tried it spun out and stalled. Real sports car?

AMC Marlin.

My fave Vette: 1963-1967 Stingray. 2nd most fave (styling-wise) is the C4 (esp. 92-96 vversion.) I liked the C5 looks, though not quite as much as the C4. I got over that after I test drove one.

As for the C6, I didn't care for the chopped off look of the side profile view. I got over that after I test drove one, more so when I sampled the much improved newer headlights. (The better to see where I'm going during my night club visits.)

I'm not too crazy about the looks of the latest C7 version- looks too much like a Camaro. I haven't test driven one- yet.

As for other American muscle- I prefer Mustang (and its Shelby, Roush, etc mods) over Camaro and Chrysler products.

minnow,

Barrett-Jackson sold a Hemi Cuda for $1,320,000 in January of 2013. Sort of let's you know what the big boys think!

I do seem to recall that Carroll Shelby's personal 427 Cobra went for about 6 million. I'm sure it being HIS car dramatically raised the price.

How about the Cobra? Except for Clubber, nobody has mentioned that marque. I always thought that it was a very cool vehicle.