High Performance Chain

Podcast Episode: 0235
High Performance hierarchy

      What fuels the relentless quest for speed and power in the automotive world? Join us, as we explore this thrilling landscape, tracing the evolution from the early supercars of the 1950s to today's high-tech hypercars and ultra-cars.  

           Every market in the automotive world has different types of sizing when it comes to it. For years, everything was based off of price. When you hit different price points, things change, and then we started adding more segments. We started adding sports cars, supercars, grand touring products, pickup trucks, vans, station wagons, active lifestyle vehicles, CUV's, SUV's all into the mix, and every single one of them has their own different portions of the marketplace. So, as we discussed in a previous podcast, sports cars have their own chain in the world. You start at small little mini sports and move your whole way up to grand touring cars. It's all part of the sports car chain. But what about the step up from sports cars where they end? What goes next? Well, that would be the high-performance chain, the supercars, the hypercars, the ultra cars, the exotics, racing cars and even muscle cars All these products giving us the most performance out of the world. Today, AutoLooks is going to be taking a look at the entire food chain, which encompasses the high-performance market.
​
          Welcome back to the AutoLooks podcast. I am your host, as always, the doctor to the automotive industry, Mr. Everett Jay, coming to you from our host website at AutoLooks.net. If you haven't been there, stop by, check it out. Read some of the reviews, check out some of the ratings. Go to the Corporate links website page and read some of our reviews of design awards Hell, we got copy copycat awards vehicles that look a lot like somebody else's. We got cookie cutter awards, where vehicles look just like something you'd find in a baking store. There are cookie cutter shapes. Which vehicles out of every single year meet these specifications? You can find it all on the AutoLooks.net website. Just click the Rated tab at the top and be immersed in all of the great vehicles from as far back as when AutoLooks began, all from the AutoLooks.net website. The AutoLooks Podcast is brought to you by Ecomm Entertainment Group, distributed by PodBean.com. If you'd like to get in touch with us or the host of the AutoLooks Podcast, Mr. Everett Jay, send us an email over at email at AutoLooks.net. 

           So, like I said in the beginning, the high-performance chain. Yes, there are a multitude of different segments in the automotive world, from like sedans, hatchbacks, CUV's, cross-treks, crossovers, hell, we even have new ones like the active lifestyle vehicle and broken apart the aftermarket industry into both the sport appeal and aftermarket worlds. But today we're taking a look at the high-performance chain and where we go from in here. Well, high performance products essentially start out all the way back in the 1950s. We have the original grand touring sports cars, which added a little bit more power into them, giving us the birth of the first supercars. By the 1960s we actually started coining the term supercar into the world. But by this time our entry-level marketplace had started to take off as the world gave birth to Pontiac GTO. The muscle car era was upon us.
 
            But muscle cars aren't just two-door small vehicles with a massive amount of power jammed underneath the hood. No, muscle cars also encompass a multitude of different size variations and segment variations. At your entry level you get your basic muscle cars. From there. You move up into your dedicated muscle cars, which classify it as the pony car muscle cars. This is where you get your Mustangs, your Challengers, your Camaros and your Firebirds Hell, even the AMC Javelin. These are vehicles built for not just straight-line power. The pony car was a different variation of the muscle car because, you have to remember, the original muscle car was a Pontiac Tempest with a big block, v8 jammed underneath the hood. They're taking as much power out of a standard two-door coupe. They gave the world muscle and essentially that's where we start is muscle cars.
 
          With muscle cars you have the convertible muscle cars and add to that you move into the pony cars. Now pony cars today have more transformed into being classified as just straight-up muscle cars, because in today's world that's all they really are. They are the original embodiment of muscle cars Lots of power in a small space. Well, hell, today I wouldn't really consider it a small space, because the Challengers of today are built off the Dodge Charger platform, so built off the sedan platform. But as Dodge is giving us the rebirth of the original muscle car with the brand-new Chargers. Now, the new charger, essentially, is more of a coupe profile. Why? Because it uses a V6. It's a high performance V6 underneath the hood or electric powertrain, but it's not putting something massive with massive amounts of power underneath a small hood. No, it was made for this power. So, it's more of just a high-performance coupe. And that's where muscle cars have essentially gone today, being whittled down to just the Mustang.

          But during its heyday, during the late 60s and into the 70s, hell. We even saw a rebirth of it in the 1990s with the muscle trucks, the muscle sedans, the muscle wagons and at one point in time if you cross the pond in Australia, you had the muscle crossovers. Now the muscle trucks, as you might guess, are big, powerful pickup trucks. But in its early days these were the crossover utility trucks the El Camino SS, the Gran Torino’s, inspired Ford Rancheros. Go to the other side of the pond. We get the Holden Sandman Utes, the Falcon XC Utes. On our side of the world, we had performance trucks with a high-performance chain of the SVT Lightnings, the Dodge Ram SRTs.
 
          These can also classify in the aftermarket industry because they were specifically built for that. They want a massive amount of power jammed underneath the hood to make a dedicated model. The Commodore and even the Rancheros from the 1970s were the power plans. But then we start moving into the muscle sedans. The 1990s were more of the muscle sedan era with the Mercury Marauder, the Chevrolet Impala SS. But on top of that by the early 2000s we get the Charger R/T’s, again jamming a lot of power into essentially a mainstream product, giving us power in our sedans. This was the muscle sedan. ​

​           Now, as we all know, station wagons were big profit margins in the 1970s and because the muscle car era was out there, people would move from their amazing muscle cars, their Pontiac GTOs, but still want that amount of power jammed underneath the hood of their family hauler. So, we get things like the Chevelle Wagon, the Vista Cruiser 442, and the Gran Torino Wagons Essentially muscle car station wagons. No, they weren't shooting brakes, these were four-door station wagons. The Plymouth Fury Suburban we all know what the Plymouth Fury was. That was a muscle car, but it was transformed into a muscle sedan, a high output, performance station wagon. The last iteration of this we ever saw, the Dodge Magnums of the early 2000s Living two generations. This highly powered station wagon was built for the purpose of a ton of power and more versatility. It was for the grown-up society, but essentially, we were still kids at heart.
 
           Now, on the other side of the pond, we had our muscle crossovers. We're talking about the Ford XB, falcon panel vans or the Holden Sandman yes, the Sandman, the same Holden product that you could see in the original Mad Max movie. These were sleeper vehicles you could hang out in. Now we do call them muscle crossovers, when essentially a lot of these were more of the shooting brake style. They were two-door station wagons but with a high roofline. This classifies it more as a crossover product than a shooting brake. So, the muscle crossovers were upon us.
 
           But as things changed and we evolved, the muscle car era died out. And, like we said, today the muscle car era is only available in short supply. Where a lot of vehicles today can have tons of power underneath the hood, the market has become so saturated and overridden by other vehicles of other classifications that the muscle cars have essentially gone the way of the dodo, with only its pony car division living on through the Mustang today. Is there really a hope that muscle cars will live on into the future for the high-performance chain? Every year for the past six years we've seen less and less vehicles in the muscle car category. 

​         But that shouldn't dishearten you, because a step up from your muscle cars, we move into the supercar category. Now supercars have been around for a long time. Like we said, the original 300SL kind of paved the way for the supercar category. Now supercars have been around for a long time. Like we said, the original 300SL kind of paved the way for the supercar industry. With supercars we have convertible supercars and speedster supercars but all in all supercars have what we like to call the entry level into the high-performance food chain. Muscle cars get us in the door. But they're like the economy variations of the high-performance food chain. So, the muscle cars, essentially, are the Kia's of the high-performance food chain where, at the end of this food chain, we get into things like the ultra cars, which would be your Rolls Royce’s of performance. And what would the ultra car be? We're talking about things like the Bugatti Chiron.
 
       These are things that are dedicated for speed, and speed only. Now, why do we call them ultra cars? Because in the classification of auto looks, we didn't like the term hypercar for a super fast vehicle. No, supercars essentially brought in the over 200 mile per hour barrier. Yes, we get it. In the original days these were vehicles that were only cracking about 160 miles an hour, but their pursuit of speed by the mid-80s finally allowed them to crack the 200 mile per hour area, where everything underneath of that was still classified more of a Grand Touring Sports. These vehicles were a GTS product with more power in them to make them go faster than what you'd buy. Now a 650 from McLaren is your standard GTS where when you move into the 720, you're moving closer to the supercar territory.
 
        These are things cracking over 180 miles per hour. They're built for speed. It's the same product but it's faster with supercars. They can also be had as convertibles and speedsters. Now we all know what a convertible is, but a speedster is either a no windshield or a very light gauge windshield on it. These are the convertibles that are two doors but have a limited top. You can also have your target tops as well. And from our supercars we move one step up. From supercars we move into the hypercar territory. 

​              Now what is a hypercar by AutoLooks standards? A hypercar by our standards is a hybrid supercar. This is a vehicle with an alternative fuel source, built for the same purpose of speed and speed. Only like the supercar territory, hypercars are just using that alternative power. We're talking about things like the Lamborghini Scion, the Porsche 918, the LaFerrari Hell. You even get products like the McLaren Artura. They're built for the same speed classifications as supercars, but with alternative power sources. So, they go fast, but they do it while saving the world. Pure electric or even pure hydrogen vehicles classify into the hypercar territory. So, products like the Yangwang U9, the GAC ION Hyper SSR, the Hyperion X or, hell, even the Lotus Evija, a McLaren Speedtail or a Spark Owl all classify in hypercar territory. These are vehicles that have similar speed ratios as supercars with different power sources.
 
          And, like we said, the supercar category was essentially born in the 50s. It started growing in the 1960s as we saw more of them added in. But by the 1970s well let's just say by the late 1970s the supercar industry really started taking off. The second-generation Lamborghini Countach came out, and then we had products like the Porsche 959, the Ferrari F40. And then we start getting into the 90s and then the early 2000s, the GTA Spanos, the Lamborghini Murcielago, the Diablos, the S7s, the GT, Plethores, hell, even Dodge got into the supercar territory with the Viper TA. The standard Viper classifies in the Grand Touring sports category. The TA pushes the boundaries of speed and it gives us that supercar territory of speed and power.
 
         So, it's not just power alone that'll meet the supercar territory, because some of these supercars what we classify as the supercar may not all have the exact same engine. They range from 6 to 12 cylinders. It's not like when you're going from a Touring to a GTS. Your engines get bigger. Supercars can utilize any form and, like we said, they're dedicated just off speed, similar to that of hypercars built off of hybridization, electric or even hydrogen power sources. Those are the alternatives and some of these allow for more direct power, which makes them accelerate even quicker than supercars.

        But after supercars, we move into what we call the ultra-car territory, and ultra-cars are the vehicles that are paving the way for above 300 mile per hour barriers. Yes, the Hennessy Venom, the Bugatti Tourbillon and the Aspark Owl these are ultra cars. They're built for the top tier of speed. They go faster than anything else. Where supercars broke the 180 mile per hour barrier, ultra cars are breaking the 300 mile per hour barrier. We're just starting to crack 260 miles an hour as a standardized product. Most supercars today range from 195 to over 230 miles per hour.
 
          Ultra cars will be taking our next step as we shoot for that 300 mile per hour barrier for the roads. Sure, we could just classify it as a standard supercar, but these vehicles use brand new technology, higher precision and more expensive products to even get us there. These are the vehicles that you usually find for over eight figures. Supercars range from six to seven figures, but ultra cars are a classification of vehicles that are nearing the eight limits. Yes, they go super fast but they're super expensive. But why would anyone want to go after this? The time and money and engineering that goes into building these vehicles, all on a limited number of sales. Remember, you're only going to produce a few hundred of them. If you're lucky, some of these companies build less than a hundred of them and you still have to turn a profit on something that chases that top tier. But remember, the companies that break these barriers are the ones that get remembered the most.
 
          The F40 was one of the first production cars that broke the 200 mile per hour barrier. Xj220, with a V6, shot for 220 miles an hour. V6 shot for 220 miles an hour. Most specifications and most people that have tested them hardly break 213 miles per hour, but the XJ220 was shooting for the 220 mile per hour barrier. We're less than a decade previous to that. We were just cracking the 200 mile per hour barrier All out of the V6 too.
 
         Like I said, supercars are high technology. It doesn't matter your engine size. It's not like muscle cars that all have to be V8s. No, supercars can be anything. Hypercars can hit that same mark with ultra cars going even faster. But what happens when we don't want to shoot for the fastest record in the world? We want to create the most amazing designs, utilize the most advanced technology and the most creative materials out there for a vehicle that barely even cracks supercar territory speed. ​

             What is the classification of that? That is what you would call the exotic category Exotics Fast, cool-looking vehicles, but essentially were just built for singular purposes. They weren't built to go fast, they weren't built to be the most technologically advanced, but they were the vehicles built to make a statement, like the Trion Nemesis, the Hispano-Suiza Carmen, hell, even the Aston Martin DBS GT Zagatos. They have the same speeds as supercars, but their design elements and everything else about them makes them so obscure to the automotive world that classifying them in a standard category like the supercars is out of the question. Lamborghini gets into this all the time with the Sesto Elemento and even the Lamborghini Aventador J’s.
 
           These, the amazing vehicles built to go super fast but also to make a statement. These are the vehicles that don't shoot for that world-class title. They're the ones we put out there. They're the ones from small companies to try and make their mark. They wanted to look different and be different than everyone else. Remember, back in high school you always found that one like group of people that were like weird. You know, you had your jocks, you had your nerds, you had your goths, you had, your metalheads you had, you know, every classification of people, but there's always those few that you can't classify in anywhere else. They're trying to be so different than everyone else they make their own category. Well, essentially, they are their own category.
 
         They're the exotics, which are usually built in less than 50 total. They're built by small little companies that just want to make a car, make a small mark in the automotive world and then disappear, or they're built just to fit a small niche. The Sesto Elemento was built as a concept but then built for public consumption on a very limited basis. It was a Gardo that was just updated. It made it an exotic. You don't see a lot of them, but when you see it, you want it. You don't know why.
 
          Some exotics are very odd and you wonder how did somebody make something like that? The Savage Royal Road Yacht or the Lafayette Automobili Barchetta Weird, odd-looking vehicles that still make it out into the market. Why do we have them? Why do they exist? And who thought of these things? The Ariel Hypercar, like its design, is just out of this world. Why would we ever think of something like that? Well, somebody had an idea, somebody had some money and somebody had some technology. They threw it all together to see if somebody out in the world would think it's cool. They wanted to be different.
 
            They're the people who want their vehicle to be in a parking lot that you could see from a mile away. You know, my old beast, the Kia Borrego, was one of those vehicles. I could park in a parking lot and sure it was a giant toaster of a vehicle, but it still stood out compared to everyone else. My little Rio stands out because, one, there's not a lot of them around anymore because they're essentially just throwaway economy cars and two, it's customized to a point that you can't recognize it as the original product. It's obscure in a field of sheep. It's that one black sheep in that white parking lot. Yeah, that's what exotics are, and they're built for a singular purpose to make sales of a very limited niche. 

​          From exotics we move into our last two categories. One of them is slowly coming out, but throughout its history there are hardly any products in it, and that would be the active sports car marketplace. The active sports car marketplace exists in both the GT and GTS worlds, but in the supercar world there are hardly any in it. But that is starting to change with our wants and needs changing and the reason for us going off-road being there. Active sports cars are going to move into the supercar category. This is a category that exists but barely has any products in it, but in the near future it will be there. From there, our last category in the high-performance chain is at the top tier of the food chain.
 
          When you hit the top of performance for the streets, you eventually move into what you call the racing category. These are dedicated street-built vehicles that are built off of the same chassis and same appeal of the racing car brethren, the Dodge Viper ACR. Essentially was that it was the racing street version of the Dodge Viper Racing Series. These are cars that either classify for road use or direct race courses. These are the vehicles that people buy when they want to go out racing on the weekend but don't want to go racing every weekend. Rich, affluent buyers who like to do weekend racing but don't want to own a race team these are the vehicles they buy Dedicated race cars but not purpose-built race cars. You can either drive them to the track to go racing or you can truck them there and go racing on your own, but they cost more than standard race cars, even though they look like them, they still have more key features and more creature comforts than the standard race car brethren. And from there we go racing.
 
           You hit the top tier of the high-performance automotive food chain when you hit the track and go racing. We all essentially, in the end, want to do that. We all want to go racing, we all want to have fun and that is where that automotive food chain will eventually lead you the end of the high-performance food chain. You wind up on the racetrack. For that you don't. You're on the streets. 

        ​High-performance cars are of high value. They cost more than the average consumer can hoard. Sure, when you start out in what you call the economy base of the high-performance food chain of muscle and pony car chains, the average consumer can't afford them at specific points in their life. But when you move from there into supercar category, it gets harder and harder. That's because you're buying purpose-built vehicles designed for speed and speed only, maximizing the amount of power coming out of their power sources. The high-performance chain is it. It's the top tier of automotive technology and it's the top tier of power for the automotive world. It's where we all go when we want to go fast. High performance is where it's at, and high performance is what will get you there.
 
           Without high performance products, our racing cars for the streets may not be able to be there, because high performance cars essentially give us our profit margins for racing cars. Like we said, Ferrari doesn't care about the road cars. They do now as a major corporation. But Enzo Ferrari never gave two craps about the vehicles he built on the street. He built them to finance his racing cars. So why not just build them all as racing cars for the streets? Well, that's just way too much money to try and create. So, he built more generalized products. He started in the touring, moved to Grand Touring Sports, moved to Grand Touring, got into the supercar category, created some more hypercars, has all kinds of different weird exotics and hell, he's even gone racing. Ferrari has done it.
 
          They have been part of nearly every single one of those high-performance categories and high performance are what we all strive to own. Every single car enthusiast out there wants something from one of these categories. We start in a sports car, but we want to wind up in a supercar. Trust me, ask anyone, even people who own a Mustang, what their dream car might be. They might say it's their Mustang, but if they can afford anything, money is not an option. A lot of them will say, oh, I'll take an Aventador, oh, I'll take a LaFerrari, oh, I'll take a Veyron. They want to move up to the top tier of the food chain, just how every one of us buys a Kia Rio but wants to wind up rolling around in a Rolls-Royce Phantom.
 
           These chains exist and in the automotive world, each segment of the automotive marketplace has a chain. Each chain has a beginning and an end, but they all intertwine together to move people through the automotive world and with that, the high-performance chain is here for all of us and it's going to be here for a long time coming, because we all demand and want for more and more power, more speed, more performance, more power, more torque, high performance. Without it, your everyday sedan may not exist. Most safety features, new technology, new building products all come from these categories. Without the muscle cars in the 1960s, we wouldn't have sedans today that clock in over 200 horsepower and can tow a tent trailer. We needed that muscle and we needed the high-performance chain.

          So, if you like this podcast, please like, share and comment on any of the major social feeds or streaming sites that you've found the AutoLooks podcast on, hit the like button at the bottom and share us with all your friends and family and after that, send us a quick comment about what you think about the high-performance chain that you've seen. High performance products are what we all want. We all see them and we all want to go fast. Trust me, every single person you can ever ask all has something within the high-performance chain that they all love with it. This chain is never going to break.
 
           And after that, stop by the website, read some of the reviews, check out some of the website and go to the corporate links website page. Big or small, we have them all Car companies from around the globe, all on the AutoLooks.net website and stop by and read some of the ratings that we had for the 2025 model year. Find out how well you design the vehicle you're looking at is in a global scale we have rated over 600 vehicles for model year 2025 and see who the automotive top tier of this food chain really is when it comes to exterior designs all on the AutoLooks dot net website. The AutoLooks Podcast is brought to you by Ecomm Entertainment Group and distributed by PodBean.com. If you'd like to get in touch with us. Send us an email over at email at AutoLooks.net. So, from myself, Everett Jay, the Ecomm Entertainment Group and PodBean.com, strap yourself in for this one fun, high-performance ride that this marketplace is going to take you on. Thank you. 

Everett J.
​#autolooks​