Supercar

A supercar is a luxury, high-performance sports car or grand tourer. The term is used in marketing by automakers for unusual and expensive vehicles, and has been used to refer to different sorts of cars:


 * Limited-production specials from an "elite" automaker
 * Cars specially modified for power and performance
 * Models from smaller manufacturers that appeal to enthusiasts

In the United States, the term "supercar" predates the classification of muscle car. It describes the "dragstrip bred" affordable mid-size cars of the 1960s and early 1970s that were equipped with large, powerful V8 engines and rear wheel drive. The word supercar later came to mean a "GT" or grand touring type of car. By the 1970s and 1980s, the phrase was in regular use, if not precisely defined.

During the late 20th century, the term supercar was used to describe "a very expensive, fast or powerful car with a centrally located engine", and stated in more general terms: "it must be very fast, with sporting handling to match", "it should be sleek and eye-catching" and its price should be "one in a rarefied atmosphere of its own". The supercar term has also been applied to technologically advanced vehicles using new fuel sources, powerplants, aerodynamics, and lightweight materials.

Generally speaking, in modern terms supercars boast power outputs in excess of 500 BHP, are usually mid-engined and rear-wheel drive (although the trend is changing), and are priced well above the regular passenger car or sports car markets.

Examples
These are some examples of supercars that have appeared in the Gran Turismo series, the full list can be seen at Category:Supercars:


 * Ferrari F40 '87Ferrari F40 from the front-side.jpg


 * Jaguar XJ220 '92Jaguar XJ220 '92.jpg


 * McLaren F1 '94McLaren F1 '94.jpg


 * RUF CTR2 '96RUF CTR2 '96.jpg


 * Ford GT '05Ford GT '05 (GT6).jpg