Ten Slowest Sports Cars of All Time

[w1jim]

It's basically a 308/328 GTB. Those were always Ferraris.

Labeled Ferrari's yes - but Mister Ferrari always held the true Ferrari's were the 12 cylinder cars, while the 6 and 8 cylinder cars were the Dino's (named after his deceased son).
Lots of people rebadged their Dino as a Ferrari - but that's like converting a Bentley to a Rolls - it dishonors the history and just showcases their ignorance. Perhaps the mindset of that era that the marketing people latched onto.

A wonderful fact in the car market of today is that humdrum cars could beat the pants off of the exotics of the 70's - 80's.
I'd take a 308GT4/Merak/Jarama any day of the week, I just wouldn't expect to beat a Maxima (or the like) off the line - to say nothing of economy or reliability. But then sexy don't always come easy!

 

[w1jim]

Two more slow sports cars that I'd love to have (or at least ogle):

Saab Sonett
Triumph Spitfire

 

[Nautiker]

And the GT-6 and the TR-8 and the MG-C and a NUMBER of fyne British Sports cars! (I had a '70 MGBGT - I can speak with Authority on them!)

I don't think the TR8 would be on a 'slow' sportscar list - they were pretty quick, especially for their day and handled well. I believe they're one of the more desirable old British cars. I wouldn't mind having one...

 

[onepixel]

May not be real quick, but most of those I imagine would be hella fun to drive.

 

[hypertone]

Two more slow sports cars that I'd love to have (or at least ogle):

Saab Sonett
Triumph Spitfire

Oh yeah, the Saab Sonnet. I've only seen one in real life. Such a cool car.

I had a Spitfire back in high school. Despite all the issues it was a fun car. There's not too many cars you can hang your arm out of the door and touch the ground.

 

[richamor]

Triumph Spitfire- the epitome of slow sports car. Once in fourth gear, there was no need to change unless you stopped.
Of course, it took a few minutes to hit 60mph My vote for one of the BEST EVER sports cars ever. It even LOOKED like a sports car.
And yes, I miss mine. One to drive and 2 for parts.

 

[Mystic]

I'd take one of those Berkeley models in a New York minute.

 

[Mystic]

Was "The Bricklin" considered a sports car? Had a 351 Ford (C or W?) in it, but don;t recall it being very "quick". The Pantera either, for that matter.

 

[Tedrick]

How can you forget the Fiat X1/9
What a hoot tossing that thing around town - what underwhelming performance on anything resembling a highway or interstate!

I had an X1/9 in high school. Fun car in the twisties, had two trunks that allowed it to carry more gear that you would expect. But straight-line speed?? Fugedaboudit.

 

[brichter]

Was "The Bricklin" considered a sports car? Had a 351 Ford (C or W?) in it, but don;t recall it being very "quick". The Pantera either, for that matter.

The Bricklin had similar performance numbers as the Corvettes of the same time, they used the AMC 360 V8 in 74, then the 351 after that, but it was the Windsor engine, not the Cleveland.

The Panteras from back in the US import era weren't too bad power-wise before they dropped the comp ratio from 11:1 to around 8.5:1 for smog reasons, even bigger cams couldn't help. They were good for almost 160 mph flat out, which was pretty good for that era. They actually continued producing them until 1991, but stopped importing them to the US in the mid-70s. That was a shame, because they got them up close to 500 hp in the later years.

 

[guest109]

Triumph Spitfire..no doubt. Had three 1969 models.

 

[Sandy G]

Virtually NONE of the cars from about a 10-15 year time period from the early '70s-mid '80s were "Fast", due to pollution/safety regs, & the clamping down on performance cars in general by the gov't & the insurance companies. I remember it being described by one wag at the time as having your foot buried on the floor, while standing on the brakes at the same time...

 

[frankxbe]

Problem with the DeLorian was they just couldn't figure out how get that flux capacitor to work right in time. And then there is the Brillo pad thing probably need a case of Brillo pads to keep it clean a 10 pack is 8.99 or by the case 54.99 at Amazon

 

[Bob_in_OKC]

I never understood why the Midget got more recognition than the MGB. The MGB was by far the nicer car and equally slow.

 

[frankxbe]

Bob_ in_ OKC I never understood why the Midget got more recognition than the MGB. The MGB was by far the nicer car and equally slow.

I liked the looks of the MGA and MGB also the TR6 the midget and
Spitfire didn't do anything for me

 

[John James]

I always liked the MGB-GT. They look better in person than this picture.

 

[RamblinE]

I always liked the MGB-GT. They look better in person than this picture.

Has a solid roof? Not sports car enough.

No, actually that's a very good looking car.

 

[hjames]

Hard top shouldn't be a full disqualifier - when I had my MGB-GT,
my friend Jimmy had a Triumph GT-6 and it was quite a fun car.
Again, not a rocket - but the straight 6 was peppy and it handled very nicely!

Image is not his, (his was a deep blue) but shows the marque

Spouse and I were at the local Farmer's market today and
there were a couple of Fiat evangelists showing off the new 500 -
they had a regular car - and a red on red Abarth ... whoa!
Kind of tiny - but looked like big fun ... loved the feel from the driving seat!
(It was parked - they weren't offering rides today)...

 

[Brian]

The B was less involving than the Sprite/Midget that wrapped around you even if you were only 100lbs. The B, a successor to the A was almost a luxury driver compared to its smaller brethern.

Not all cars from Europe are sports cars; the Audi 5000 was a family sedan and the Mercedes 190/250/280 was what was called a tourer or GT that is not in the same class as a sports car. Most if the US mentiond cars plus the Bricklin were not sports cars in the true sense nor is a Subaru.

A sports car is not required to be a top downer, though originally the British with their exports tended to make it one of the indicators. And not all sports cars needed to be slow; I had a '66 Volvo P1800 that could cruise all day long at 110mph in stock form. Don't ask and I'll not tell you how I know.

 

[w1jim]

And not all sports cars needed to be slow; I had a '66 Volvo P1800 that could cruise all day long at 110mph in stock form. Don't ask and I'll not tell you how I know.

Umh, you drove it across Canada?