"America's first supercar"
 

Not a big car guy myself but these do have some coolness going on.

https://www.sothebys.com/en/articles...m_source=zaius

The blue one looks like a stretched out 90s Acura NSX with a Delorean window installed.

I will go out on a limb and state that the street versions of the Ford GT40 may qualify while only just a few decades earlier .

I remember those but with a dad who started collecting cars before an early death I was exposed to American cars decades older that I always though there the first super cars.

Before we had consolidation and a few giants there were small shops and there was really interesting innovation with some name brands. Also innovative materials use.

There were overhead cam engines long ago, front and all wheel drive, hidden headlights and streamlining - really, 1930s stuff. Cords, the Chrysler/Plymouth/DeSoto Air Flow, and Pierce-Arrow had streamlined lights, aluminum and I believe cast aluminum body parts before all that.

I did not get it visiting the Henry Ford museum as a kid in the 1960s and maybe display was different then. The summer before last we visited and you see some of those greats in the context of how long an average family had to work to buy one. That also lets you redefine what a super car is. Some innovators were out of reach and some attainable.

Finally, on the Ford GT comment. That last Henry Ford visit let me get a photo of my wife and born same year most famous Ford GT in the same photo.

BTW, a trip to the Henry Ford and Detroit might surprise you. Take your passport and have dinner at Motor Burger across the river. Do the F150 tour after you see the museum and village to see how far we've come.

Didn't Delorean claim the same thing?


Bob

Yes I was going to mention the GT 40 but perhaps like say even the Ford AC Cobra, may not be posh enough, for the Supercar label .

Renault engine and gearbox and assembled in Northern Ireland. It only had 130 Bhp.

I don't know if that adds up to "American" or "supercar". :D

So it must have been the --- Inconclusive, Reverse, Advance (IRA) shift pattern .

Yup, supercar is a kind of loose and subjective category, and I'm not sure if anyone has ever written an objective definition that is widely accepted.

It is swoopy, impractical looks?

Is it slightly tuned down race technology?

Is it top speed well above the rate of mortal cars?

Is it rarity and high price tag?


Does a car need all of the above to wear a S on it's leotards?


I think Ken Purdy made the case (without using the word) that the Stutz Bearcat was a supercar of it's time. Duesenberg could make a case, but almost all street versions were oversized and had no bodies that referenced current race car practice.


The Mercedes 300SL would certainly qualify. Some other pre-1964 or so cars would also qualify as street-legal versions of contemporary race cars. Ferrari's, Jaguars, Porsches, but none of them were American. I thought of Cunningham of course (a personal favorite), but the street versions while handsome were not particularly racy or extrema in looks. A case could be made for the top of the 1960's Corvette line, though they don't meet the cost factor.

Lance Reventlow/Traco produced at least one street legal Scarab. That so completely meets the rarity rule that it may rule it out.

There's nothing in the Ford GT40 street-legal version that doesn't make it an American supercar before the Vector, unless you write some codicils like must have supercharging, multiple overhead cams, gullwing or scissor doors, etc.

Counter our globalized world, I suppose someone could object to the GT40 based on it having international roots from it's original design onward (based originally on an British design). In my mind that would be like claiming the Marshall guitar amp is American, but....

Oh my! I have a Mitsubishi Outlander Sport! I think it would be a close race. ;)

For those who prefer not to click the link, it's a Vector:

https://cdn.dotcom.sothebys.psdops.c...sothebys-2.jpg

When I was a kid, I had a Vector poster over my bed.

The Delorean never got above 88mph either........ But at least it could fly.

I agree. For it's time, the GT40 was certainly a supercar.

Do all DeLoreans come with a flux capacitor?

A few months ago, I drove a McLaren. “Supercar” is highly accurate for that car.

Bingo.

For it's time, there are several others as well.

This is just another one.

My experience with sports cars is that there is nowhere to drive them (safely). As one would want to drive them anyway. And if you were to rent time on a race track you quickly discover that you are driving over your experience level and beating the crap out of a expensive toy. But boy do you look good cruising around in one. And at my age you look like a wounded ape getting out of it. At least that's what my neighbor says.

I am curious . What British design was the Ford GT 40 based on ?

I will also submit the Ford Thunderbolt Fairlane .

Lola Mk.6 - I watched an episode of Jay Leno’s Garage about it last week.

Yup, here's some more

Lola Mk6 GT

I also don't recall where the original road-going version of the Ford GT was assembled. Of course in our modern age of auto making "domestic" and "foreign" makes are hard to figure out, but it wouldn't surprise me if the Ford GT may have been assembled outside US borders. Which would then bolster the Vector's "America's First" claim. But then that would leave the Stutz and Scarab claims to rebut.

It seems a bit of a jump to go from having a designer assist in a design to claiming that the design is based on something .
So sad to learn that Ford had no hand in designing the GT40 .
Why was it called the GT40 ?
At least I suspect that no one will claim a non American influence with the Thunderbolt , Talladega , Cyclone Spoiler , Hemi Superbird or Hemi Dodge Daytona . All of theses were available as street cars and able to easily triple the National speed limit and then some .
There were Thunderbolts delivered with the 427 SOHC engine that delivered a modest 616 HP in stock trim . No blowers , turbos or nitrous needed .

GT for Grand Touring, 40 for the mandated roof height of 40".

It was actually , no higher than 40" . This was mandated by FoMoCo ( Edsel Ford ) . The remainder was an open book .
Of course , the race version being a pure racing design , does not qualify because it isn't streetable as built . But there was a street version that , like the Vector , was a road car .
Yes , the big block Cobra needs to be considered . These Cobras were not modified street cars . They were designed built from scratch to house the 427 engine .
I would still like to put a 400 Ford engine in a Miyata . Aluminum heads and manifold shed just over 80 pounds from the engine and that long stroke crank puts out prodigious amounts of torque . Step on that throttle and feel the Earth move under your butt . :D

Excuse me for leaving out the words 'no higher'.

And it's a Miata, not a 'Miyata'.

And (I've been meaning to ask this forever, but now I'm in a pissy mood, I will) - why do you always insert an extra space before every punctuation mark. Is it ignorance, or a deliberate desire to drive people like me nuts? Sorry , nuts ?

Obligatory rule #1-avoiding :D here.

For my $0.02, I say the AC Cobra was the first "true" American Supercar, followed by the original GTO. The reason is an American Supercar needs to be made for American roads. That means muscle is the main attribute. Handling is secondary.

Had no idea that anyone was like you .
I just do that . Think of it as revenge for texting if it gives you some peace . ;)

Certainly not the first U.S. “super car”. Several have been cited. In addition to those already mentioned how about the Shelby GT500 current production Mustang and even the Viper ACR, Dodge Challenger SRT Demon.....

Mopar, baby.....

:up:

Only problem with the DeLorean, the 1.21GW power supply don't not come standard...

I'm a huge McLaren car fan from the first F1 I saw on TV as a teen and the subsequent domination at LeMans. It was only after that I learned of Bruce McLaren and the team's previous racing successes. The 720S is truly amazing, and I can't wait to see the SpeedTail come to fruition...

As far as current American Super Car the new Tesla Roadster (Supposed to be Coming 2020) should qualify.
https://i.imgur.com/RTH3Ngp.png