What was the first 'hyper car'?

[rohrl]

I'd go with the McLaren F1.

It was £640,000 which was hugely more expensive than any contemporary supercar. It did 241mph (cats removed) which was a good bit faster than the competition (XJ220 did 217mph). It had over 600bhp when the competition was offering 400-500bhp at most.

[Lordbenny]

Yes, yes, yes but we're talking about the actual phrase here. We agree that the F1 is the greatest car ever made and that it certainly is a hyper car but it wasn't called that at the time.

[Tickle]

Did Clarkson not come up with Hypercar in his TV prog 'the car years' more specific in the episode 'rise and fall of the supercar'?

This is going of memory and a quick bit of goggling so I could be wrong!

He used the word to describe the F1

[Four Litre]

Term came first used when the Enzo, Merc SLR, Zonda and PCGT came out.

I've always thought that at the same time the 911 seemed to become more 'sportscar' and no longer a 'supercar'.

[Lordbenny]

Sensibleboy said:

So who invented the hypercar term?

Good question, we need proof!

[kambites]

Lordbenny said:

Sensibleboy said:

So who invented the hypercar term?

Good question, we need proof!

My money is on Clarkson. It sounds like the kind of thing he'd do.

[tubbystu]

kambites said:

Daston said:

Maybe Ubercar

That'll do. I give it twenty years before we're calling the bottom of the Ferrari range "hypercars" and everything above it "ubercars".

We might be able to slot "megacar" in between "hypercar" and "ubercar" though to make more name-space. That should keep us going for at least thirty or forty years.

By which point we will all have hover boots and jet packs. Thats what they said in the 1970's anyway

Wasn't the DeLorean the first hyper car ? Oh no ....that was more hyperbole !

[jonnM]

So if an Enzo is a hyper-car and an F430 is a super-car, what is an Aventador?
What is the difference between hyper-car and super-car?

[Lordbenny]

jonnM said:

So if an Enzo is a hyper-car and an F430 is a super-car, what is an Aventador?
What is the difference between hyper-car and super-car?

Usually about £250,000

Edited by Lordbenny on Monday 30th December 18:05

[FreeDrinkSpotter]

The term was used in 1927 by Lea Francis for their supercharged "Hyper" sports model. There could well be an earlier use of course.
Several can be seen competing with the VSCC one being owned by a friend of mine.

[jonnM]

Lordbenny said:

jonnM said:

So if an Enzo is a hyper-car and an F430 is a super-car, what is an Aventador?
What is the difference between hyper-car and super-car?

About £150,000

Hmm...so it's a price/exclusivity thing rather than outright performance?

[Vladimir]

Remapped 335d of course.

[GC8]

Lordbenny said:

Sensibleboy said:

So who invented the hypercar term?

Good question, we need proof!

Super car and hyper car are schoolboy hyperbole, and as such theyre meaningless terms.

[Nedzilla]

For me there is no such thing. A supercar is a car that is made for showing off and driving pleasure and nothing else. Some cost £80k and do 180mph and some cost £2m and do 250mph but they are all just supercars.

IMO.

[kambites]

Nedzilla said:

For me there is no such thing. A supercar is a car that is made for showing off and driving pleasure and nothing else. Some cost £80k and do 180mph and some cost £2m and do 250mph but they are all just supercars.

IMO.

I think I'd say a supercar is a car that's made for "showing off", or at least for "drama", both visually and in terms of performance figures which needn't be the same thing; a sports car is made for driving pleasure. Something can be both at the same time.

[Exige77]

Think its a combination of price, acceleration, top speed and exclusivity.

Price: North of £500k
0 to 60 less than 3 secs
Max speed: well into the 200's
Exclusivity: under 1000 but more than 50 produced.

+/-

It's a moving feast so will never be an exact science.

[heebeegeetee]

It's either the Macca F1, or the Miura, or the Merc Gullwing, or even the Merc SLR though strictly speaking that was a competition car only, or the Bugatti T35 which was possibly the last car that could genuinely be driven to the race track and then take part in a genuine Grand Prix.

[Lordbenny]

We know what a hyper car is thanks. All I'm after is the first use of the phrase. We now think that Clarkson may have used the term for the F1 but I think that could have been a long time after the release date of the actual car. I still am banking on it being the Ferrari Enzo.

[FreeDrinkSpotter]

Used in 1927 as I posted earlier --------

[TheEnd]

jonnM said:

So if an Enzo is a hyper-car and an F430 is a super-car, what is an Aventador?
What is the difference between hyper-car and super-car?

The aventador is an Ultracar, unless it has slicks on, and it then becomes Maxicar.
Likewise, the Enzo is only a Hypercar on dry tarmac, on grass or dirt it becomes a supercar.