Putting the “Sports” in Sports Cars: A Journey Through Time

On this episode of The Logbook, our History of Motorsports series, we present a lecture by Elton 'Skip' McGoun, a finance professor and automotive historian, who explores the term 'sports car' and its evolution from the early 20th century. McGoun discusses how sports cars were initially considered 'sporting cars' capable of both racing and everyday use before World War I. Throughout the 1920s, the term evolved into 'sports models' and finally 'sports cars' by the late 1920s. The lecture explains the gap between racing and touring cars, highlighting that sports cars can embody competition, recreation, and style. McGoun addresses how early advertisements marketed these vehicles and how the term became mainstream in English via translations from German and Italian terminologies. The episode also includes a Q&A session where McGoun answers audience questions about various car types and their classification as sports cars.

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This episode is part of our HISTORY OF MOTORSPORTS SERIES and is sponsored in part by: The International Motor Racing Research Center (IMRRC), The Society of Automotive Historians (SAH), The Watkins Glen Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Argetsinger Family - and was recorded in front of a live studio audience.