Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Sports car racing is one of the main types of circuit auto racing, alongside open-wheel racing, touring car racing and stock car racing. Sports car races are often, though not always, endurance races that are run over particularly long distances or large amounts of time, resulting in a larger emphasis on the reliability and efficiency of the car and its drivers as opposed to outright car performance or driver skills. The FIA World Endurance Championship is an example of one of the best known sports car racing series.
The Mille Miglia was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi. It took place in Italy 24 times from 1927 to 1957.
A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with either a two-seat or a 2+2 arrangement. Grand tourers are most often the coupé derivative of luxury saloons or sedans. Many iconic car models, such as the Ferrari 250 GT, Jaguar E-Type, and Aston Martin DB5, are considered classic examples of gran turismo cars.
Zagato is a coachbuilding company. The design center of the company is located in Terrazzano, a village near Rho, Lombardy, Italy.
The Ferrari 250 is a series of sports cars and grand tourers built by Ferrari from 1952 to 1964. The company's most successful early line, the 250 series includes many variants designed for road use or sports car racing. 250 series cars are characterized by their use of a 3.0 L (2,953 cc) Colombo V12 engine designed by Gioacchino Colombo. They were replaced by the 275 and 330 series cars.
John Cooper Fitch was an American racing driver and inventor. He was the first American to race automobiles successfully in Europe in the post-war era.
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.
O.S.C.A. was an Italian manufacturer of racing and sports cars established 1947 in San Lazzaro di Savena, Bologna, by the Maserati brothers, and closed down in 1967. The company name is usually written OSCA or Osca.
The Maserati 450S is a racing car made by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati for participating in FIA's endurance World Sportscar Championship racing. A total of nine were made.
Maserati A6 were a series of grand tourers, racing sports cars and single seaters made by Maserati of Italy between 1947 and 1956. They were named for Alfieri Maserati and for their straight-six engine.
Automobili Stanguellini was an Italian sport cars manufacturer based in Modena. The company was founded by Vittorio Stanguellini and was mostly active between 1946 and 1960. They produced racing cars until 1981, when Vittorio Stanguellini died. Since then, the company has been run by his son Francesco and offers service for the restoration, maintenance and operation of historic racing cars.
The Ferrari Monza is one of a series of cars built by Ferrari. In the early 1950s, Ferrari shifted from using the compact Gioacchino Colombo-designed V12 engine in its smallest class of sports racers to a line of four-cylinder engines designed by Aurelio Lampredi. Inspired by the success of the light and reliable 2.5 L 553 F1 car, the four-cylinder sports racers competed successfully through the late 1950s, culminating with the famed 500 Mondial and 750 Monza.
Devin Enterprises was an American automotive manufacturer that operated from 1955 to 1964. Devin was mainly known for producing high quality fiberglass car bodies that were sold as kits, but they also produced automotive accessories as well as complete automobiles. The company was founded by Bill Devin.
Ilario Bandini was an Italian businessman, racing driver, and racing car manufacturer.
The Fiat-Abarth 750 is a compact sporting series of automobiles manufactured by the Italian manufacturing firm Abarth & C. of Turin, Italy in the 1950s and 1960s. The cars used the floorpan and often the bodywork of the Fiat 600 but were fitted with Abarth's modified engines. Abarth also offered a number of bodyworks by other designers for the 750 and its derivatives, most famously Zagato but also Allemano and others.
The Maserati 250S, and its derivative and version, the 250 Sport, are sports racing cars, designed, developed and built by Italian car manufacturer Maserati, between 1954 and 1957. Only two models were produced.
The Ferrari 330 TRI/LM Spyder is a unique racing sports car purpose-built in 1962 by Ferrari to achieve victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It was the last Ferrari racing sports car with a front-mounted engine and the last of a series of Ferrari race cars known as the Testa Rossas. The "I" in its designation indicates that the car has an independent rear suspension.
The Maserati 150 GT was a prototype sports car produced by Maserati in 1957. Derived from the four-cylinder Maserati 150S race car, it was a singular road-going example, and was given spyder bodywork.
Briggs Swift Cunningham II was an American entrepreneur and sportsman. He is best known for skippering the yacht Columbia to victory in the 1958 America's Cup race, and for his efforts as a driver, team owner, and constructor in sports car racing, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The OSCA MT4, also spelled the O.S.C.A. MT4 or Osca MT4, is an Italian sports car prototype, designed, developed, and made by Officine Specializzata Costruzioni Automobili, between 1948 and 1956, but was raced and used in active competition until 1966.
