luxurious racing cars,

Wikipedia defines a sports car as "a class of automobile that is low to the ground, lightweight vehicle with a powerful engine." Most sports cars are rear-wheel drive, with only two seats and two doors. They are also designed for more precise handling, acceleration, and aesthetics. A sports car, as a vehicle, specializes on superior road handling, maneuverability, braking, low weight, and high power rather than comfort, passenger space, and fuel economy.

Sports cars could either be luxurious or laconic, but the driving mechanical performance is the highlight. Sports car drivers regard brand names, consecutive racing reputation, and history as important considerations of sporting quality. Vehicles or brand names such as these include the Ferrari, Porsche, and Lotus. Yet some brands like the Lamborghini, which do not build racing cars and do not race, are also highly regarded.

Though there are cars that are not really considered to be sports cars, there are cars that share common traits to sports cars. Sporting automobiles like sports compacts, sports sedans, hot hatches, and muscle cars are examples of this. They are sometimes called "sports cars" in order to increase advertising and promotional purposes. They can be sporting automobiles but never really a sports car.

One such car, as its history suggest to have been both, is the AC Cobra, which is first a sports car then a sporting automobile. It first came out in 1963 and featured a 289 cid V8 small block engine. It was a successful car but designer Carroll Shelby wanted more. So in 1964, Carroll created an AC Cobra that was powered by a 427 Big Block V8 engine. The first 427 Big Block AC Cobra was strictly for racing, but in 1965 its first commercial version hit the streets. The 1965 AC Cobra had a top speed of 165 mph and had a tube frame with redesigned coil spring chassis.
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