Hmm, I loaned a buddy my "bible" on this topic (R&T Used Car Classics), but
my Golden Guide to Sports Cars, 1968 ed., shows the following (roughly in
ascending order of price, in my estimation)...
Austin Healey Sprite Mk.III - 61hp SAE, 1345lb
MGB - 98hp SAE, 1920lb
Triumph TR4A - 114hp SAE, 2072lb
FIAT 1600 S - 100hp SAE, 2282lb
Sunbeam Alpine - 88hp SAE, 2083lb
Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint 1300 - 80hp DIN, 1940lb
Austin Healey 3000 Mk. III - 150hp DIN, 2460lb
Lotus Elan 1600 S2 - 106hp DIN, 1289lb
Jaguar E-type Roadster - 265hp SAE, 2420lb
Porsche 911 - 130hp DIN, 2200lb
Ferrari 330 GTS - 260hp DIN, 2469lb
Sorry about the mixed HP scales... I don't know what they were
thinking....<g>
My opinion on the question has always been that the MGB was smack in the
middle of the price/performance/features curve in its prime (it kind of fell
off the curve by the mid 70s). The TR4, for comparison, gave you more
performance, and was positioned a little up-market, but you had to put up
with a more primitive package overall. In contrast, the Alpine was also
up-market, and modern, but lacked performance. Downmarket was the lair of
the Sprites and Midgets, which were good value for the price but didn't
compare performance-wise with their more expensive brethren, as one would
expect. At the top end you got seriously improved performance at a serious
price.
BTW, whether it is authoritative or not from a technical standpoint, this
book is great. It has an illustration and/or description of every obscure
60's sports car you can think of, and some you probably can't (Olympic II
Rochdale? Fairthorpe Electron? Hino Contessa 900 Sprint Coupe?). It fits in
your pocket, too -- all for only a buck (cover price)! Good luck finding
one, however...
>
>> I recently was in a discussion which included the line "you call 65 hp
>> to the ground a racecar?". Since MGBs came out in 1962 and never
>> substantially changed, I thought that it would be interesting to look
>> at the performance figures of 1962 Ferraris, Porsches and Corvettes to
>> compare with todays cars.
>>
>> Does anyone happen to have, or know where to find these data?
>>
>> Larry
>
--
Max Heim
'66 MGB GHN3L76149
If you're near Mountain View, CA,
it's the primer red one with chrome wires
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