Sports cars were a hot item in 1951. And the definition of such a vehicle was not totally clear, from homebuilts to Rocket 88s to MG-TDs. But this does stretch the truth more than a bit.
From Ed --
Thought you'd get a chuckle from this ad for the 1952 Henry J that I found. The 1951 model year was the first year for the Henry J, but in the 1952 model year, a variant of the Henry J was launched that purported to be "an American sports car." Of course this vehicle was a tin can with inside door panels made of cardboard.
The only difference between the base model Henry J and the "sports car" Vagabond variant was that the latter had a continental kit on the rear. Apparently that made it "smarter than Europe's custom models." 
It certainly had nothing to do with performance. The four-cylinder Henry was more akin to the smaller Fiat and Simca designs, and was outperformed by the Crosley Hotshot which had a motor of one third the size.
ReplyDelete