Alfa Romeo Spider vs. Chevy Corvette, Datsun 280-ZX, Fiat Spider 2000, Mazda RX-7, Porsche 924

Alfa Romeo Spider vs. Chevy Corvette, Datsun 280-ZX, Fiat Spider 2000, Mazda RX-7, Porsche 924 Alfa Romeo Spider vs. Chevy Corvette, Datsun 280-ZX, Fiat Spider 2000, Mazda RX-7, Porsche 924
Comparison Tests From the April 1979 Issue of Car and Driver TESTED

Want to start an argument? Get two or more enthusiasts together and ask them to define "sports car." Not too many years ago, we all agreed on the definition. In fact, it was so obvious, the question never arose. Sure, we disagreed on the best example of the breed, but a sports car was, well, a sports car. The top went down, or more likely came off completely and was stored in the trunk, along with the side windows; it had two seats; it had a buzzy but willing engine; inside it was hot in the summer, cold in the winter, and wet whenever it rained. But mostly it was fun. Lots of fun.

Today, it's not so simple to define a sports car. There are just a handful of cars around that meet the old top-down, two-seat requirement. Joining them and clouding the issue is a small host of new-era sports cars; two-seaters to be sure, but with unmovable steel tops (not counting sunroofs). Their instrument panels are awash with gauges in the best sports-car tradition, their transmissions contain five forward gears, and their performance and handling will put to shame all but the very best of the old order. Certainly they aren't sports cars in The Tradition, but The Tradition may be almost inoperative these days. These new-generation cars are sedan quiet, toasty warm, and A/C cool. They don't offer the wind-blown, sun-warmed intimacy with the world the top-downers do. But while there's a back-to-nature philosophy rampant in certain circles, it doesn't seem to be carrying over into our automobiles. The old order may be passing. Two-seat roadsters may be little more than interesting anachronisms.

But what about plain old fun? Certainly it's still there, little altered by advancing technology, in today's two-seat roadsters. But what form does fun take out there on "the leading edge"? Has all that modern technology sublimated fun in the interest of comfort and like pleasures?

California, it's rumored, is the home of automotive truth. It's also a million degrees warmer in the winter than Ann Arbor, so that's where we decided to gather vehicles and editors for two days of truth seeking, sports-car division.

The first problem was deciding which vehicles to use. Bringing in everything available would have made the tests unwieldy. We'd have had something like a car for each foot, and then some. A representative sampling seemed the logical way to go.