Sports car

There is no exact definition of a sports car, but it is typically a two-seater two-door automobile designed for performance - either speed, maneuverability, or acceleration, with great emphasis placed on handling, the 'driver experience'. In fact, many of the early British sports cars lacked a powerful engine and did not accelerate very quickly, but were known for having handling characteristics described as "tossable."

A sports car may have an open top, or convertible, but this is not a requirement. Some sports cars have small emergency back seats that are really only suitable for luggage. Although the original sports cars, typified by British open-top two-seat, two-door coupes, lacked four doors or a full back seat, many modern performance automobiles such as the BMW M5 and Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution are four-door sedans.

The layout of drive train and engine influences the handling characteristics of a car and is the focus of more attention in a sports car. Most modern cars are FF, the engine is in the front and it drives the front wheels, some sports cars have this, but not many and none of the more highly regarded models. Previously FR, front engine driving rear wheels, was common and this form has survived longer in sports cars than in the mainstream and is declared by some to be the 'classic' layout for sports cars. the lighter rear-end and rear drive increases the ability of a car to 'drift' around corners. In search of improved handling and weight distribution other formats have been tried. MR is a layout commonly found only in sports cars - the engine is mounted towards the centre of the chassis, close behind the driver, and powers the rear wheels. Porsche are the sole users of the RR layout, a rear engine driving the rear wheels - the qualities of their cars are sometimes said to have come about despite rather than because of this layout. The weight distribution across the wheels in a Porsche cannot be seen as ideal. The final form used is four wheel drive, this is frowned on by purists and has found acceptance among the more established marques only since the mid-1990s, prior to that it was used only by Japanese firms for their high performance models.

Well known specialist brands or marques, new and old, are: AC, Alfa Romeo, Alpine, Aston Martin, Austin-Healey, Bricklin, Bugatti, Caterham, De Lorean, Donkervoort, Ferrari, HKT, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Lotus, McLaren, Maserati, MG, Morgan, Porsche, Triumph, TVR. Almost all major car manufacturers also make some form of high performance car, sometimes very successfully such as Ford with the GT40.