Are these cars.....

[Guest EC0T3C]

Considered sports compacts? (with the 6 cylinder of course)

[inZane 240]

The originals

[Guest 81na ZX]

I'd say no. They are sports cars.

 

Sport Compacts are compact passenger cars (coupes or sedans) that are sporty.

[Guest bastaad525]

By definition, yes. Z's are the best of all worlds. They are a sports car, they are compact, they are classic, and as far as japanese cars go they were like the original japanese muscle cars. But I also agree with 81naZX, going by what most people consider a sports compact car (four cylinders, usually FWD, usually four seaters) then no the Z definately doesn't fit in that mold. They are definately pure sports cars thru and thru, unless you count the 280ZX's and 1st gen 300's... those were more GT cars, but the 2nd gen 300 returned to it's pure sports car roots in my eyes.

[strotter]

Wouldn't a Z be considered a GT (sort of in the Italian sense)? I've always broken them down like this:

 

>Open-top two-passenger vehicles as "Sports Cars", the Italians refer to them as "spyders". Generally small, 4-or-6 cylinders, not the most intense performance but for sure the most intense fun. Triumph TR-6 and Spitfire, MG -A and -B and Midget, Fiat 850 and 124, some of the Porsches, so on. The Miata would be a good example today. Aimed at entry-level buyers, mostly young people with some disposable (read: parental) income.

 

>Closed-top two-passenger vehicles as "Grand Touring Cars", such as the Daytona Ferrari (most of 'em), the GT-40, most of the XK-E's, the MGBGT, Triumph Stag, the Jensen Interceptor, so on. Generally larger than sports-cars, and more powerful, with more amenities. Some were 2+2's, but not many, and even then the back seats were a package tray covered with vinyl. A "gentlemen's express". For older, more sophisticated buyers with plenty of cash. Mid-life-crisis specials.

 

>High-powered good handling small coupes (both open and closed top) as "Sport Compact". This definition isn't about design so much as execution. The ones I was aware of when I was a kid were the European coupes, such as the BMW 2002 (and 1602 before that) in the late 60's, the Fiat 124's, like that. The first Japanese ones I can think of were the Datsun 510 and the Toyota SR (which Road & Track said stood for "Secret Racer"). Again, aimed at entry-level buyers, young, with enough money to buy a car but too much sense to buy a sports car.

 

So by my reckoning, the Z was an inexpensive GT which went ( in the U.S.) up against the MGBGT, the Triumph GT-6, the Porsche 911, the Opel GT, the Saab Sonnet, and so on.

 

The term "sports car" has been thoroughly mutilated by Wall Street over the last 20 years. I mean, once they started using the word "sport" when referring to pickup trucks, it was over.

[Guest ZmeFly]

muscle car as far as I always saw it was the PGC10 and KPGC10 skylines. They were just awesome.