Talk:Volkswagen Karmann Ghia
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Hmmmm... Since the first Karmann Ghia's used the same 36hp engine as the Beetle, the car was not suitable as a true sports car; however the car's beautiful looks and "Beetle reliable" parts made up for this shortfall... Quite apart from the grammar, that's incredibly POV. I suppose I'll find a similar statement in Austin-Healey Sprite stating that the underpowered Mark I was not a sports car either? Not everyone enjoys driving a muscle-car! One reason for the popularity of the Karmann Ghia was the opportunity it gave to actually use some driving skill on the road, and the pleasure this gave to the driver.
The first model was actually heavier than the beetle of the time, and was certainly seen by many as underpowered. But while the Mark II Sprite addressed this and was quite lively for its time, the Karmann Ghia remained on the sluggish side all of its life. Motoring writers predicted its failure regularly. The motoring public simply ignored them; They loved the car! This is a reccuring theme: Motoring writers test cars on race tracks, and often seem to forget that the vast majority of sports car owners will never drive on a race track in their lives.
Not quite sure how to handle this. As the sports car article says, where exactly to draw the line is fraught with difficulty. The problem is not just POV and advertising hype, but also cultural differences. In the USA, power is more of a criterion for deciding what is a "sports" car than it is in Australia, for example. The Honda Prelude, Toyota Celica and Datsun 120Y were all sold as "sports cars" here in Australia! While even here this is a bit of a joke for the Datsun, the Honda probably qualifies, and the Celica (even the early 1600) might just scrape in. Andrewa 20:10, 25 October 2005 (UTC)
Hmmmm again... neither the Prelude nor Celica articles are in Category:Sports cars, although both article introductions clearly (and accurately IMO for the Honda at least) describe the vehicle as a sports car. Andrewa 20:17, 25 October 2005 (UTC)
