Legend has it the term ‘supercar’ was coined by the late great doyen of motoring journalism; dresser of dapper attire; smoker of Sobranie Black Russian cigarettes (ciggys as slim as himself); keeper of magnificent old-testament beard; holder of fiercely insightful intellect and purveyorof masterful word smithery, L. J. K. Setright.
The automotive writer famously wrote for Car Magazine for over 30 years. It was whilst simultaneously being responsible for the genesis of the epic drive feature story, which the publication also became so renowned for, that he coined the fitting descriptor specifically for a Lamborghini Miura, driven 1000 miles from Sant’Agata Bolognese in Italy back to Blighty.
Whether this ‘Supercar’ origin story is entirely accurate or not, it’s the best one told. You really want to believe that such a sensational journey, in such an exquisite progenitor of the supercar genome, by such a charismatic story-teller as Setright, must indeed be the epochal moment, in which was created a term that has come to be widely used (perhaps over-used?) to categorise the most illustrious of all automobiles.
In any case Setright doesn’t appear to have left a comprehensive definition of the term behind – somewhat remiss of so fastidious a fellow. Even the dictionaries explicate only that it constitutes ‘a high-performance sports car’. Hardly sufficient to encapsulate the ethos, the drama and the oft mind-bending abilities on road and track of the protagonists that exists in this exalted automotive realm.
So right here, right now, within these words and on these pages, join me dear reader, in an attempt to pin down once and for all the definitive response to the question: what exactly is a supercar?
Could we say it is a car that exceeds 200mph? Well a four-door Bentley Flying Spur and even a Cadillac CTS-V can do that – superb cars, but not ‘supercars’. High speed is elemental, but like aspects to follow, it’s not unique to the hallowed halo worn by so-called ‘supercars’.
Perhaps it is an automobile singularly competent at violent face-rearranging acceleration? Well a four-cylinder Caterham Seven 620 can hit 60mph from rest in 2.79 seconds. To drive any Caterham is pure delirium, but it doesn’t qualify as a ‘supercar’. Nor does the electric Tesla Model S, which can blitz 0-60 in a shocking 2.3 seconds. I’ll pause here to let you digest that – 2.3 seconds.
Back to the task – how about the engine then? Is it a car endowed with a monumental motor that can be gazed at in awe through the little window on the rear deck? Possibly. Supercar engines do tend to sweep up the gongs in the higher categories at technical awards – in particular the current Ferrari 3.9-litre BiTurbo V8. But for sheer awesomeness they’re easily matched by something like the HEMI V8 in a Dodge Challenger Demon - a magnificent monstrosity of a machine capable of up to 840bhp.
Should it be said that a ‘supercar’ must be mid-engined i.e. that the powerplant is placed behind the seats? The Miura certainly followed this configuration. But so did a Fiat X1/9, Toyota MR2 and Pontiac Fiero – we need a ‘Computer Says No’ gif here. And what about front-engined deviants out there? Would you dare NOT call the formidable Ferrari 812 Superfast a ‘supercar’? Of course it bloody is.
Sticking with Ferraris and gawping at the Sophia Loren of supercars – the Roma (where’s a cushion when you need one?) – we can surmise at least perhaps that supercars are sensual and sexy,with ‘stunning to behold’ being the minimum requirements in optics. That’s a strong contention, very nearly a winner, until you widen your gaze and encounter cars like the Jaguar F-Type, Lexus LC, Polestar 1, Alfa Romeo Giulia and well, I could go on.
Supercars are cool! That’s it, okay?They’re cool. ‘Supercars’ are the coolest cars on the planet, they’re the ones you want to be seen in the most. And, and, and you know what, in the modern twist to the old poster-on-the-wall scenario, they feature most on computer desktop wallpapers, right?
Well, hold your horses, or should I say ponies? Because the car most featured across social media, movies and television is indisputably the Ford Mustang in all its many guises and generations. From Eleanor to Bullitt; featuring in ‘Need for Speed’ and ‘Drive’ the movies; as well as all Mustang’s various incarnations be it Shelby, Mach 1, Saleen or Roush; to classic looks/modern drivetrain restomods from the likes of Revology and Classic Recreations (Lewis Hamilton and Ashley Banjo drive these); iconic is a term easily owned by the effortlessly unchallenged King of Cool when it comes to the automotive fiefdom.
How about we flip it around? Propose instead that it is the drivers that are cool and by inference bestow their motorised steeds with ‘supercar’ status. I see you nodding vigorously to that proposition. Exhibits presented in evidence to substantiate this include Thomas Magnum P.I., Don Johnson and could you resist Sharon Stone in a Lotus Esprit? I thought not. Or in the real world: James Dean, Steve McQueen, Peter Sellers etc. The trouble is, all the evidence presented thus far, is old skool. What about today? Well, er… you have Justin Bieber. And Instagrammers. Plus nine year-olds doing donuts in the Prancing Horse’s finest on YouTube. Sheesh. Scrap that notion then.
Welcome dear readers as we now find ourselves stood at the bottom of a very deep barrel, and ponder with me how we might start to scrape the surface itself in our quest to define the undefinable – and wrestle with the quandry: what is a ‘supercar’?
Or maybe we’ve arrived at the only conclusion that remains: that it is indeed impossible to define exactly what a ‘supercar’ is other than it is, in fact, a ‘super’ car according to the comprehension of the beholder. It seems there are no finite parameters we can draw upon to objectively characterise the term, so we fall back then on the purely subjective – it’s a ‘supercar’ because we just know it is.
A supercar conforms to all the points expounded above. But it has something extra. Call it the X-Factor, call it a special something, a ‘supercar’ has a certain ‘I don’t know what’. Or to put it in the French cliché, because it sounds better: a certain ‘je ne sais quoi’. A ‘supercar’ is a ‘supercar’ because you know it, I know it, and old L. J. K. Setright knew it. Mic drop.
Shahzad Sheikh, AKA the BrownCarGuy, has been a professional automotive journalist for over three decades. He was previously Editor of Car Magazine in the Middle East and presented motoring shows on FOX MENA region TV channels and Dubai Eye radio.