Car Designations Explained - The European Influence
There's nothing like using the motherland's terminology to make your car sound like it's got more class. Of course, you'll never drive an Aston Martin Black Pudding, but harking back to the gentlemanly days can give a marque some extra kudos.
Shooting-brake (or shooting-break, depending on which country you're in)
In the 1800s and through to the early 1900s a brake was a type of open-topped horse-drawn carriage of any size designed for hunting. It was designed to carry the driver and a gamekeeper at the front and several sportsmen with guns in the back. Dogs, guns and game were carried alongside in racks. While this sounds like it could have morphed into a mafia-style limo, it's more commonly used to describe a station wagon, or estate-type of car.
Aston Martin are particularly fond of the term (DB5, DB6, Virage, Vantage, Lagonda and DBS all had the term applied), and it's been resurrected recently by Audi for a couple of concept cars. Ferrari, Porsche, Volvo, Bentley and even Lamborghini have produced concepts or production cars. Although, anyone trying to shoot a pheasant while hanging out of the side of a Lamborghini would need heat-guided missiles.
Many of the concepts started to look like stylistic hearses. www.shooting-brake.com has a number of images.
Drophead coupe (or drophead coupé)
E-Type Jaguar 187 8Basically, it's a convertible (or cabriolet in British English). The name applies to both cars with a retractable hardtop roof, or a soft folding top. The concept behind a 'convertible' was that you could 'convert' your open-topped car into one that had a roof. British manufacturers tend to use the designation with Aston Martin (DB2/4 Drophead Coupe), Bentley (Arnage Drophead Coupe) and Daimler Double-Six 50 Sport Corsica Drophead Coupe). Rolls-Royce released its 2008 Phantom Drophead Coupe at the January 2007 Detroit North American International Auto Show.
Fixed head coupe
It's the opposite of a drophead coupe. A coupe with a fixed roof, the term was mainly used by British manufacturers such as Jaguar (e.g. XK150, E-Type) well as Rolls-Royce (e.g. Corniche), Aston Martin (e.g. DB3S), TVR (e.g. Tasmin 280i), and Bentley (e.g. Mark VI Park Ward).
GT
CC News Maserati Gran Turismo 200707 00Standing for Grand Tourer (or Gran Turismo in Italian), GT means it's a high performance car with the comforts required for long distance driving. They're usually larger and heavier than sports cars and mostly have their engine at the front. While outright power and acceleration of GT cars can match some sports cars, softer suspension and a heavier body often means on the track they're left in the dust. Examples include pretty much the whole Aston Martin range, Ferrari 599 GTB, Jaguar XJS, Maserati GranTurismo, and the Mercedes SLR McLaren. The Porsche Carrera GT is not really a GT car - more of a supercar or hypercar.
By Darren Cottingham.
Visit the Blog about aston martin lagondaWhat Makes A Classic Car
Those cars that are universally accepted classics such as Ferrari, Aston Martin, and most of the other exotics autos. So what's going to be the classic car of tomorrow? In the past the Chevrolets, Fords, Buicks, and Plymouths of 30-40 years ago were not meant to become future classics, but some of them have actually earned a spot among the Ferraris and Aston Martins at shows and classic car auctions around the world. Will any of the less collectable cars of the 1980s and 1990s make it?
There are so many different definitions of what a classic car is. Some would put specific age limits on the definitions, and others would say that only special variants would qualify for classic status.A classic car is one that stops depreciating in value and either levels off or begins to appreciate over time. The value increasing because of demand ties into the definition that the classic cars have appeal long after they are no longer produced. The goal is to catch these cars when they are at the bottom, before they become more valuable. Of course, values do vary from year to year, so like any potential investment there are risks.
Anyway, here is a list of what we would qualify as potential future classics: BMW 3-Series (E30 1984-1991), Chevrolet Camaro/Pontiac Firebird, Chevrolet Impala SS (1994-1996), Chrysler Shelby K-Cars (Omni GLH, etc), Ford Mustang,Ford Fairmont GM A-Bodies (RWD models, such as the El Camino and Malibu), Mitsubishi Galant VR-4,Mitsubish Starion, Mitsubish 3000GT VR-4 (and cousin Stealth R/T), Nissan 240SX (S13 and S14) Nissan 300ZX, Toyota Corolla GT-S(the famous AE86), Toyota MR2, Toyota Supra (last generation), VW GTI (personally the MKI and MKII)
The value of these cars will more than likely stabilize in the next 5 to 10 years. Granted, some of the cars are special variants, and many may fall into obscurity instead of becoming more popular
By Dhanya V.V.
