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The Forgotten Sports Car Decade, The 1950s

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  • The Forgotten Sports Car Decade, The 1950s


  • #2
    Re: The Forgotten Sports Car Decade, The 1950s

    There was some great sports cars in the 50's. If I had my pick I would go with a scarab.

    This is cool!
    http://www.tomstrongman.com/ClassicC...arab/Index.htm

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    • #3
      Re: The Forgotten Sports Car Decade, The 1950s

      The 1955 Jaguar XK-D D-Type looks pretty good to me. It resembles a modern car and I believe the speed is quite fascinating too. Among the long nosed D types in 1955, this one is my choice.

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      • #4
        Re: The Forgotten Sports Car Decade, The 1950s

        You want a sexy sportscar?
        Strap on a Ferrari 250 Testarossa - mama mia!
        Act your age, not your shoe size. - Prince

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        • #5
          Re: The Forgotten Sports Car Decade, The 1950s

          The big dogs of the 1950's sports cars were truly magnificent. The Mercedes 300SL and SLR's, the C and D Jags, and the Ferraiia250 GTO Europa and 250 Testa Rossa were fantastic automobiles. Along with the "big three" were Maserati, and Aston Martin. But if you were anything like me, all of the afore mentioned were way, and I do mean way, out of reach.
          For most of us in the 1950's and the early 1960's the reality lay in MG, Austin-Healy, Sunbeam, and the like. Even some Porsches, Morgans, Elvas, etc were at least close to being within reach. For me those were the cars that were sports cars.
          Although the Mustang, Pontiac GTO and the like may have been the final nail in the coffin for the traditional sports car, at least in the U.S. of A, those nails began falling much earlier. The problem was how to define the term "sports car." To me that term has always meant a rather bare bones performance car that was designed much more around handling than straight line performance. To get close to controversy, I usually see them as two seaters. I was not the only one to feel this way. Was the early T-Bird a sports car? Or what about the lovely Kaiser Daren the Brian posted in his blog? I personally don't think so. Even the early Corvette was questionable as a real sports car (I mean really, the six cylinder automatic Vette left a lot to be desired in either straight line or cornering performance. Not until people like Dick Thompson began having some success on the road courses of this country did the Corvette get some respect as a sports car.)
          While many examples of the traditional sports car were still being sold, the rush to the Pony and Muscle cars was beginning to erode that market. Between the desire for more comfort, emission controls, and new safety regs the traditional sports car really no longer existed in any numbers after 1968.
          In my mind to go back to the mid fifties to early sixties would be a time machine I would like to ride as long as it was in the form of one of that era?s traditional sports cars. How about a Mercedes 300SLR driven by Sterling Moss?..?

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