The Most Influential Sports Cars - Part 1 (1900 to 1959)
In this article we examine the first half of the Twentieth Century. In Part 2, we will cover 1960 to 2019.
Car lovers can’t get enough of those five or ten Best Car rundowns we come across, whether produced as articles or You Tube videos. So here is another one for you that I hope does not follow the regular format. I have decided to pick one car for every decade from 1900 to 2010, twelve in total, which I believe were the most important for the advancement of the sports car.
My goal with this list is to select one sports car for each decade that either helped the sports car progress as a segment of the automotive industry, promote this type vehicle by adding more car enthusiasts to the ranks of its owners, or simply helped keep it alive in hard times.
There are many definitions of a sports car, the strictest being that a sports car can only be a competition car that you also drive to and from the track. At the opposite end of the spectrum, other definitions are very broad. For example, vehicles such as SUVs and four-door sedans with a performance orientation are often called sports cars, especially if they display the appropriate badging, stickers and carbon-fibre trim.
Because of this broad array of definitions, I will be specific with mine for the purposes of this list. The car must be a two-seater, with the exception of the 2 + 2 configuration, on the condition it provides rear-seat passengers with a painfully uncomfortable fit. Comfortable rear seats do not a sports car make. It needs to be low to the ground and handle accordingly. It can be very fast and powerful or if its power is modest, it must feel fast even at moderate speeds. I will avoid, with two exceptions, outrageously expensive and exclusive exotic cars. While the thing of dreams, they are not even accessible to your run of the mill rich people, only to the ultra-rich provided they have connections with manufacturers or have already spent obscene sums at a dealership that also sells lesser cars.
And finally, before we proceed, remember that your author has lived his whole life on the North American continent and is mostly familiar with the imports that have landed on its shores. He may not be aware of some extremely influential sports cars found in other geographies that helped the genre along the way.
Truth be known, the cars I have chosen are some of my perennial favorites and while it was easy to find a winner for some decades, others overflowing with automotive creativity, deserve a number of winners. I have done my best to limit my choice to one.
1900-1909: Mercedes Simplex
It is a tricky task to pick a sports car from the first decade of the 20th Century, when the actual term sports car only first emerged after World War I, which ended in 1918. During the first decade of the 20th Century the motorcar was still in its infancy and every new car model was revolutionary, a veritable test bed for new ideas in car layout and technology. Out of this hodgepodge of experiments, the Simplex, produced from 1903 to 1908, stood out as perhaps the first true sporting automobile. Initially delivered as a large luxury-vehicle, it was the first to place Mercedes among the ranks of exclusive car builders. As its status as a well built and reliable motorcar grew, a two-seater version was developed for racing with a lightweight bent steel chassis, a low ride, but using the same fool-proof engine. It was also driven off track by enthusiasts in the know. The Simplex model was extremely successful in both its touring car and a sports/racing car variant.
1910-1919: Hispano Suiza Alfonso
It would be an understatement to say that World War I was a distraction in the development of the motor car. Governments commissioned automotive engineers to design military vehicles and equipment that changed the course of how wars were fought. Cars were not uppermost on their schedules during this brutal conflict. Notwithstanding these turbulent times, what was learned in the production of all this military equipment was later transferred to cars and the industry did make progress when production resumed.
The Hispano Suiza Alfonso, introduced in 1913, is often referred to as the first true sports car. Unlike earlier versions of cars with sporting intentions that started out as larger passenger vehicles, the Alphonso was developed from the ground up as a light two-seater. It was fast and nimble and was the vehicle of choice with royalty and the aristocracy. King Alfonso of Spain drove his with gusto, so much so that Hispano Suiza named the car in his honor.
1920-1929: Bugatti Type 35
I am guilty of bias in the selection of this car. I view the Type 35 as the most important and most beautiful sports car of all time. It conveys speed, sophistication and how mechanical design can become work of art in its own right when all the elements are meticulously melded together. Every component, notably its alloy wheels, are worthy of display in an art gallery. All these pieces assembled as a package create a masterpiece.
During the 1920s, race cars and by association, sports cars, were products of the art deco esthetic, a form that dominated European design during this period. At that same time, the car as a consumer product was coming into its own. By then references to the horse carriage had all but disappeared. Some stunning examples of highly developed sports cars were produced by Alfa Romeo, Bentley, Daimler Benz and many others, illustrating how good the sports car could be. The Bugatti Type 35 was nevertheless in a class of its own. It was a grand prix racer, endurance race car, your drive around town or vehicle to take you on long trips, provided you travelled light. It was and still is the embodiment of the sports car.
1930-1939: BMW 328
The BMW 328 took the sports car concept even further. It’s light-weight body sat on an extremely rigid chassis and allowed for more compliant suspension than was usually fitted in a sports car of that era. This setup resulted in a combination of extraordinary handling and ride comfort. BMW powered the car with an inline straight-six engine, a configuration that BMW is still famous for today. This iconic sports car won its class at the 1938 Mille Miglia and the 1939 24 hours of Le Mans.
1940-1949: Ferrari 1125S & Porsche 356
Yet again a world war got in the way of automobile production, and more importantly its development. Instead of working on cars, engineers were once again working on military applications instead. This time around in 1945 , when life returned to normal, they gave the post-war world the Willis Jeep, the Kublewagon and the Land Rover, the three templates for all compact all-terrain vehicles that have followed. Unfortunately, these robust off-roaders did little for the sports car.
We would have to wait until the second half of the 1940s to see the sports car re-emerge, and it did in many guises. As part of all this activity, both Ferrari and Porsche became road car manufacturers in 1947 and 1948 respectively. They were small startup companies and their overwhelming significance on the sports car could not be predicted until much later. Porsche’s first car was the 356 Number 1, a hand-built cabriolet with a mid-engine layout and aluminium body. Within a few years, they were entering 356s at Le Mans. Ferrari’s first vehicle was the 125 S, with its twelve-cylinder engine located at the front of the car. In the same year, Ferrari campaigned an open-wheel Formula One car which was essentially the same car. These Ferrari and Porsche Road cars both represented the beginning of what were to become the two most iconic performance vehicle brands in automotive history, recognized as such by both enthusiasts and people who know little about cars. I stand guilty of breaking my own rule here, but the two of them have to be included in the list.
1950-1959: Mercedes-Benz 300 SL
We are dealing here with the start of the golden era of the sports car. In Britain, cars like the M.G.A, Austin Healey 3000, Triumph TR2 were produced. Germany gave us the BMW 507, Italy the Lancia Aurelia, the Alfa Romeo Giulietta and in the US the Chevrolet Corvette and Ford Thunderbird were launched.
Despite the importance of these cars, few will argue that the Mercedes-Benz 300 SL (aka: Gullwing) was the car of the decade. Technologically advanced, it came across as contemporary without looking like a comic-book rendition of a chrome-encrusted space ship, an esthetic that was taking hold at that time. The 300 SL’ s design has proven timeless and continues looking even better as the decades roll by. It’s gull-wing doors, a solution to the car’s bulky door sills has become the primary design touch that defines sports car to this day.
Great article