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Originally Posted by aporigine
Ooohh them's fightin words!!
Contingent, of course, on how you and I define "sports car".
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I obviously use your second definition:
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..."small sporty convertible", typically British, with the center of cultural gravity around any number of Triumph, MG, some Jag and perhaps Healey models.
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So by that definition, the mid-50s T-bird and Corvette were really the last notable attempts by American manufacturers to produce something in that market. (There were a few others - Studebaker's Avanti in the early 60s, the Pontiac Fiero - but nothing significant.)
The later Corvette is sort of an iffy case, I think more like your European GT cars than anything. Too much engine and not enough handling for a true sports car.
The rest - Mustangs, Camaros, and their descendents, including that V10 thing - I'd say belong to that uniquely American breed, the muscle car, which is designed to go very fast (or at least appear to do so) in a straight line.
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...the AC/Shelby Cobras (60s)...
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I wouldn't say that those (or the Tesla) are really products of the mainstream US automakers, being British body & chassis with US powerplants fitted. And the later Cobras were really over-engined for sports cars.