What makes Super Cars Super?
Most of us must have grown up with posters of supercars on the wall. To be truthful, we even dream of owning a garage full with outstanding cars that we drive hard and fast. But all that happens in an ideal world and our world isn’t that perfect. Most of us here won’t even get the chance to drive a supercar, forget about owning a garage. As a matter of fact, for most these cars cost much more than they make in their entire lives.
However, it’s not all that bad. With hard work and fate some people do buy a supercar. However, in reality, even after owning such car, nobody drive at 250kph neither do roads allow to drive at that speed, but still people are crazy about these cars. So, the real question that arises here is why these cars are so expensive and what are the factors that make a car supercar? But before we get into this, first let’s start with what are supercars.
There is no exact description that what distinctiveness should be present in a car to define it as a supercar. It is a term that applies to high performance, expensive and technologically advanced vehicles that use new fuel resources, lightweight materials to produce immense horsepower. In general, the term is used for ultra exotic high-performance cars that are a perfect blend of engineering, performance and styling. With their exotic designs, these cars are definite eye. It’s the combination of factors such as power, performance, sleek design, high price that makes a car supercar.
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The history of supercar goes back when an advertisement for the Ensign Six, a 6.7L high-performance car similar to the Bentley Speed Six, appeared in ‘The Times’ dated 11th November, 1920 with the phrase- “If you are interested in a supercar, you cannot afford to ignore the claims of the Ensign 6.” Even the Oxford English Dictionary has made use of the word in an advertisement in ‘The Motor’ on November 3, 1920 for an unnamed car, “The Supreme development of the British super-car.” During the 1950s and the ‘60s, performances of cars progressed.
In 1954, Mercedes launched 300 SL ‘Gull Wing’ that was the first supercar to cross the 150mph mark. In 1957, Chevrolet with the launch of Chevrolet Corvette made an impression in the supercar industry. The car could reach 60mph in less than 6 seconds. Gradually other automakers such as Jaguar, Lamborghini, Maserati, Ferrari also came up with supercars to satisfy needs of customers. Some popular examples of supercars from these automakers are Ferrari 458 Italia, Bugatti Veyron, Audi R8 GT, Lamborghini Gallardo LP570-4 Superleggera.
These are the cars that change the whole concept of what a car is and what it can do. These are the result out-of-the-box engineering and optimistic thinking. It was Ferrari F40 who broke the 200mph barrier and since then speeds have continued to climb. Nowadays, 200mph is considered unexciting; cars are approaching 270mph within few seconds. So, it won’t be wrong in saying that the use of term ‘supercar’ for a car also depends heavily on the era, i.e. cars that are considered superior at one time might have lost their superiority now.
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The production of these cars is always limited. Generally, around 5000 cars are produced, while in some cases the production runs as low as 100. Even the material used for manufacturing these cars is quite costly. As these cars are expensive, only a small percentage of people can afford them. And as a result the market of these cars is quite small, i.e. only few buyers can afford them, hence the business purpose prices remain high. That’s why to spread the cost these cars are sold quite high. Some mainstream automakers even marketed these cars as “halo” vehicles.
As a matter of fact, most of the work on these cars is done manually. For instance, most of the Ferrari’s are hand-built by experts. Manual production of these cars in turn increases the total production cost. So, to sum it up limited production, superior quality material, handcrafted, excellent finish, brand and money invested in R&D are the reasons for the high cost of these cars.
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To have a supercar is a dream of almost everyone when they were children. But driving these cars can cause a serious dent in one’s bank account as they drink a lot of fuel, draw high road tax and insurance prices. Not only buying them, even maintaining these cars is no kidding as the insurance and maintenance cost on these cars is quite expensive. So, before you head towards buying these cars, be aware of the true cost associated with them.
They come in millions. So, is it worth to spend that much money on a car? Well, maybe for the most powerful car on the planet. Some buy these cars because of their engineering and quality. While some to project the image that they own a supercar rather than its performance. And some buy simply because they can afford to pay that much amount. So, whatever is your reason, if you can afford them, then go for it as owning them is your childhood dream.