Sports cars owe their origin to an early 20th century practice where cars were stripped down in order to create better racing machines. Even though the term is used loosely to describe pretty much any quick car with a low profile and two doors, there is more to it than that. To be a true sports car it needs to be low slung, lightweight, have little to no cargo space, with only two seats and the emphasis must be placed on handling, steering and construction.

The point of sports cars is to give a driver as much of a physical interaction with a car just as those early racers felt with their machines. The first sports cars from the Europeans Bentley, Ferrari, Rolls Royce and Mercedes were actually street legal versions of the racing counterparts.

The ultimate expression of masculinity, expressed in automotive terms, is the sports car. The little, or lack of, cargo space provides men with the chance to drive without having to think about anything other than the road ahead of them; of course the fact that it only has two seats means there is only room for him and his lady. Sports cars practically scream adventure and virility, features that most men instinctively crave.

An informal survey listed the most popular sports cars as follows:

Number 1 – Chevrolet Corvette – through 6 generations the Corvette has managed to evolve (rather nicely I might add) with the times.

Number 2 – Pontiac Firebird/Chevrolet Camaro – these twins were created to help divert those would be Mustang purchasers in the late 1960’s and were a huge success, after all who doesn’t like twins?

Number 3 – Ford Mustang – many competitors have come and then gone but the little pony sports car is stronger than ever before.

Number 4 – Pontiac GTO – most consider this to be the first real muscle car and when Pontiac decided to add its V8 to the mild mannered car it became as notorious as its Italian namesake.

Number 5 – Shelby Cobra – dream car for enthusiasts for over four decades and has managed to dominate the street and the track in almost every aspect.