The MacPak Auto Blitz

Porsche continues to offer the next-generation of its Porsche 911 series fast cars with very minimal changes. Today the Stuttgart automaker revealed the face lifted 2009 Porsche 997 coupes and cabriolets. While the 2009 Porsche 997 may look the same visually with the exception of new wheels and tires, for the first time ever, a Porsche sports car gets direct-fuel injection coupled with an optional double-clutch gearbox. The new Porsche-Doppelkupplung double-clutch 7-speed automatic gearbox replaces the former Porsche Tiptronic S-automatic transmission of both Carrera models. Porsche says PDK improves the car’s acceleration and fuel-economy. Output on the 2009 Porsche 911 Carrera withits 3.6 liter unit is increased by 20-hp to a total of 345-hp. Without PDK, the Carrera Coupe gets a combined fuel-economy of 25.7mpg (or 21.3mpg in U.S. standards) - with PDK the Carrera gets 28.8mpg (or 24mpg on the stateside. The 2009 Porsche Carrera S and its 3.8 liter unit are now up by 30-hp to a total of 385. The 2009 Carrera S now has a top speed of 186mph.

Many sports car fans have gone into production! That’s right, they have built their own sports cars-often to resemble some of the most rare and valuable sports cars in history. These replicar owners are kit car builders who go out of their way to make high-quality replicas of the real thing.

Among the most popular home-built replica cars are Cobras. The finished products often look indistinguishable from their original counterparts. (more…)

For a great many people there are certain cars that can confer on the driver the status of being a really great driver to be around. There are a few cars that have this ability. New sports cars are found to be in this category. You will find a variety of these cars being produced every year. Of the many different cars you will find are the roadsters, coupes and some exotic cars are even capable of being called spots cars. (more…)

When you stop to consider that some of the fastest and most expensive cars on the market come from overseas this seems like a stupid question. Americans probably still consider the Corvette to be the true American Sports car as a two seater built mainly of fiberglass and just about all motor.

Italians have the right to be boastful of their accomplishments with the beauty and performance of the Ferrari line, no none can question that they are a force in the sports car market, albeit and expensive one. If you were to ask a German who builds the best sports cars they have the cars to back an argument as well, from the Bugatti to the Porsche Turbo Carrerra GT the Germans have introduced a long line of true sports cars to the world market.

We can’t forget the Japanese influence of late, from Nissan’s Z car series going back to the original 240Z when they were called Datsun, to the 360Z of today they have remained dedicated to offering a pure sports car. Toyota was once a dominant force with the popularity of the Toyota Supra, especially the turbo model but they have become more focused in the sedan market. Mitsubishi has been continually introducing new sports cars and they seem to be more focused on the young auto buyer, the Lancer EVO featured in the Fast and The Furious movie makes their case well.

Sports cars have been a global phenomenon since before the start of mass production when cars were considered just for fun or sport. There were cross country rallies all over the globe where independent car makers would test their cars and their skills against each other.

After World War II the big cross country rallies were added to with one on one races like the street races in the United States that were glorified by movies like Rebel Without A Cause and later films like Grease. Usually these races would occur in the wee morning hours when the roads were fairly empty and racers would sometimes race for the pink slips or titles of their cars.

In Europe the races happened on the long and winding country roads that are all over the Old Country. And now the Japanese began entering the fray, due in large part to the concern over the price of gas in the United States, the Japanese brought quality and performance to new levels while showing that both could be done while offering decent fuel economy.

The love of sports cars is even growing in the Middle East where Maserati has found a dependable niche market among the rich young oil barons. The Maserati Quatroporte is especially in demand among the young drivers there.

In a world of differing opinions and political views the sports car seems to be a common unifier all across the planet.

Ask anyone what a sports car is and they will probably invent an answer. Ask a dozen different people the same question and they will probably provide a dozen different answers. There are a variety of ways to define what constitutes an actual sports car. With no standardized definition available within the industry, the term “sports car” is without certain meaning.

Originally, it was easy to differentiate between a sports car and a regular production automobile. If a regular person could buy it, it wasn’t a sports car. Sports cars were toys for the extremely rich and automobile-obsessed. They are also used primarily in situations that represented a radical departure from conventional driving. Road races, rallies and other competitions were the home of the sports car as manufacturers and designers went head to head, testing their newest technological advances and inventive ideas.

These sports cars were almost always designed for a single driver and no additional passengers. Occasionally a “co-pilots” seat might have been added. The notion of a backseat made little sense considering the purposes for which the cars were being used. They tended to be extremely small and exceptionally faster than most regularly produced cars.

This historical moment gave birth to a notion of the sports car that survives today among many automotive enthusiasts. These traditionalists will consider a car a sports car only if it is a two-seater and designed for racing.

This perspective was antiquated somewhat by the post-war experience in the United States and elsewhere. Cars based upon the test car technologies began to make their way into the garages of the public. With a more mainstream audience, some changes were made to the traditional sports car, including the frequent addition of a small back seat.

As time passed, sports cars slowly grew and the technologies pioneered by sports cars found their way into vehicles, which were not undersized or built for racing.

In the 1960s, John Delorean decided to drop a large V8 into a Pontiac Tempest. His new invention, the GTO, ushered in the muscle car era. Purists might argue the American muscle cars were not sports cars, but simply cars making use of sports car refinements. The distinction however, began to become lost in regular conversation and “sports car” began to refer to any fast or high-performance vehicle.

The line becomes increasingly blurred with every year. Traditional sports cars are becoming increasingly rare as automakers recognize a need to maintain some level of functionality if they are to entice buyers. The innovations spurred by traditional sports cars are being adopted into vehicles of every size and shape. While traditional racing style sports cars are maintained in many product lines and though some boutique manufacturers still focus their efforts on small high-speed cars, it is impossible to ignore the “crossover” appeal of many traditional sports car features.

Some may say there are sports cars, sporty cars and sporting cars and that they are all different things. To the average person, however, they blend into one.

Which cars are sports cars? Today, it’s hard to tell. You can be a hardliner and say only the racing-based two-seaters qualify, or you can be liberal in your interpretation and proclaim all high-performance vehicles sports cars. Either way, you’d probably be right.