The 2022 season of envy and bitterness is upon us, because the unaffordable convertible sports cars are finally hitting the streets. Today we will focus our window-shopping efforts on the all-new and facelifted models that once again will be setting even higher design and performance standards within the class.
Tag Archives: Sports Cars
Documentary: Building A Porsche 911 (HD Video)
Porsche 911 – the world’s most successful sports car. Its rear-mounted boxer engine and classic styling are unmistakable. It combines sportiness and everyday functionality like no other vehicle. A street-legal race car. For almost 70 years the 911 has stood for sportiness, elegance and quality. The latest version, the Porsche 992, is equipped with almost 400 hp in the basic version and costs almost a quarter of a million euros. In this documentary, racing legend Hans-Joachim Stuck takes you through the world of what is perhaps the most famous sports car.
British Sports Cars: “1959 Triumph TR3” Roadster
The Triumph TR3 is a British sports car produced between 1955 and 1962 by the Standard-Triumph Motor Company of Coventry, England. A traditional roadster, the TR3 is an evolution of the company’s earlier TR2 model, with greater power and improved braking. Updated variants, popularly but unofficially known as the “TR3A” and “TR3B”, entered production in 1957 and 1962 respectively. The TR3 was succeeded by the Michelotti-styled, mechanically similar Triumph TR4.
The rugged ‘sidescreen’ TR, so named for its employment of removable plexiglass side curtains, was a sales and motorsport success. With approximately 74,800 TR3s sold across all variants, the model was the company’s third best seller in the TR range, behind the TR7 (111,500 units) and TR6 (94,500 units) models.[7] The Triumph was campaigned in races, hill climbs, and rallies across Europe and North America, with several outright, team, and class victories to its credit.
From Wikipedia
1950’s English Sports Cars: “1956 Austin-Healey BN2”
From Wikipedia:
The Austin-Healey 100 is a sports car that was built by Austin-Healey from 1953 until 1956.
Based on Austin A90 Atlantic mechanicals, it was developed by Donald Healey to be produced in-house by his small Healey car company in Warwick.
Healey built a single Healey Hundred for the 1952 London Motor Show, and the design impressed Leonard Lord, managing director of Austin, who was looking for a replacement for the unsuccessful A90. Body styling was by Gerry Coker, the chassis was designed by Barry Bilbie with longitudinal members and cross bracing producing a comparatively stiff structure upon which to mount the body, innovatively welding the front bulkhead to the frame for additional strength. In order to keep the overall vehicle height low the rear axle was underslung, the chassis frame passing under the rear axle assembly.
Lord struck a deal with Healey to build it in quantity; bodies made by Jensen Motors were given Austin mechanical components at Austin’s Longbridge factory. The car was renamed the Austin-Healey 100.
The “100” was named by Healey for the car’s ability to reach 100 mph (160 km/h); its successor, the better known Austin-Healey 3000, was named for the 3000 cc displacement of its engine.
Apart from the first twenty cars, production Austin-Healey 100s were finished at Austin’s Longbridge plant alongside the A90 and based on fully trimmed and painted body/chassis units produced by Jensen in West Bromwich—in an arrangement the two companies previously had explored with the Austin A40 Sports. 14,634 Austin-Healey 100s were produced.
The 100 was the first of three models later called the Big Healeys to distinguish them from the much smaller Austin-Healey Sprite. The Big Healeys are often referred to by their three-character model designators rather than by their models, as the model names do not reflect the mechanical differences and similarities well.
Classic Car Nostalgia: “1939 BMW 328” Is One Of The “Cars Of The Century” (Classic Driver)
From a Classic Driver online listing:
BMW’s 328 is recognized as one of history’s most important sports cars, and examples are proudly displayed in leading museums such as the Revs Institute and the Simeone Foundation Automotive Museum. The model emerged victorious in its debut race at the Nürburgring in 1936, won its class at the 1938 Mille Miglia and the 1939 Le Mans, and won the Mille Miglia outright in 1940. With over 200 victories, 328s were competitive until well into the 1950s.
This incredible 328 was purchased in 1945 in Germany by decorated fighter pilot and American Air Corps Commander Edward B. Giller, who was stationed there shortly after the war. Retaining its matching-numbers engine, the 328 here has remained in the Giller family for over 75 years and has never undergone a comprehensive restoration. Offered for sale for the first time since 1945, it is a remarkable piece of history that enthusiasts of preservation-class cars will admire and respect.
Wikipedia article: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_328
To read and see more: https://www.classicdriver.com/en/car/bmw/328/1939/724625
Classic Car Nostalgia: “1968 Triumph TR6” – 1st Year (Classic Driver)
From a Classic Driver online listing:
Offered as an affordable, six-cylinder sports car, the first Triumph TR6 rolled off the production line in 1968 as a 1969 model. It’s intended target was to rival similar sports cars at the time, and although most were designed with sleek, curved lines, the TR6 was squared off at both ends, making it stand out from it’s competitors. With just a seven year production span, the TR6 grew to become a true British classic.
The Triumph TR6 was offered as a convertible only, with a factory steel hard top available optionally.
Triumph produced a range of TR models, from the TR1 right up to a limited run of the TR8, but it was the sixth car in the range that really stood out from a sales point of view. The TR5 enjoyed a very brief thirteen-month period of manufacture between 1967 and 1968. Less than 3,000 units were produced before the TR6 came in to improve on many of the specifications. Unlike its predecessors, the Triumph TR6 was more reliable mechanically, which means that there are many original models still on our roads.
Website: https://www.classicdriver.com/en/car/triumph/tr6/1968/723270
New Motor Sports Books: “Beautiful Machines: The Era of the Elegant Sports Car” (Gestalten)
From the Gestalten website:
Start your engines for a grand tour of the most stylish grand motoring automobiles ever created. Evoking an era when elegance, romance, and outright performance defined the automobile and the fascinating stories that made them icons of the road. From the shark-inspired Maserati Ghibli to the fiery Lamborghini Miura, from European elegance with American firepower such as the Iso Grifo and Facel Vega to the groundbreaking designs of the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 Stradale and Renault Alpine and the advanced technology behind the Jensen FF or Porsche 918 Spyder.
These cars are less transportation and more testaments to beauty, freedom, ambition, innovation, and speed. Beautiful Machines was conceived and edited by gestalten. The stories are written by automobile expert Blake Z. Rong with a preface by Classic Driver’s Jan Baedeker and gestalten’s Robert Klanten.
Boomers Daily 