SLIDESHOW
The sporty cars that actually were pretty slow
Sharp styling, large spoilers and sculpted air dams will occasionally trick us into thinking an appropriately meaty engine lies beneath the bonnet. But looks can be deceiving, and they don’t always mean great acceleration or a high top speed. Here are some cars that are less meteoric than they appear.
MATTHEW MACCONNELL
Volkswagen SP2
At first glance, the SP2 resembled Volkswagen’s answer to magnificent big-ironed GTs such as the Jensen Interceptor or Monteverdi 375. Well, not quite. Brazil was starved of sports cars due to high import taxes (and occasional outright bans), so the country had its own, the Puma, based on a Beetle. VW then developed the SP2 division to give the country another sports car. It had a sleek steel body with cut-out rear vents and a long bonnet, plus leather seats and a low driving position.