What Gt Stands For (and Why It Doesn't Always Mean The Same Thing)

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GT stands for "Grand Touring" or "Gran Turismo," nan PlayStation gem that revolutionized racing games. Bam, done, we've cracked nan case. Well, no, we can't time off it here, because telling you what words shape nan "GT" initialism doesn't foster deeper understanding. 

Like galore cool automotive terms, GT comes to america from Italy. A "Grand Tourer" aliases "Gran Turismo" exemplary was a "do it all" kind of car, and nan automotive moniker apt originated pinch nan 1930 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Turismo. Thank goodness nan Italian and English words hap to commencement pinch nan aforesaid letter.

Even though nan GT nickname has go alternatively diluted, looking astatine nan GT cars of nan 1950s and '60s will springiness you a bully thought of what nan word utilized to mean. A "Grand Touring" car had to beryllium sporty capable and comfortable enough to slot neatly betwixt existent luxury cars and all-out sports cars. Long distances could beryllium swallowed up successful comparative comfortableness astatine precocious speeds, pinch capable handling prowess successful reserve to negociate turns erstwhile they arose. 

By this definition, we tin look astatine cars specified arsenic Ferrari's 250 GT bid arsenic possibly nan quintessential Grand Touring line, pinch specified legends arsenic nan 250 GT SWB, Spyder California, and nan astir beautiful car of each clip — don't argue, it is — nan 250 GT Pinin Farina Coupe. Even immoderate cars without nan GT sanction intelligibly fresh into this mould, specified arsenic nan Jaguar E-Type, Mercedes 300SL, and Aston Martin DB5. 

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Perhaps nan astir celebrated GT-badged car connected this broadside of nan pond is nan Ford Mustang GT. Lee Iacocca, Ford's wide head and vice president successful nan 1960s, wanted a youth-oriented sporty car to boost nan brand. Borrowing nan Europey-sounding GT nickname for nan Mustang's high-performance V8 package helped it get coolness from nan GT40. Since "GT" still carried weight and a circumstantial definition, it helped cement nan 'Stang arsenic tin of thrilling capacity and daily-usable comfort. Was nan Mustang a GT successful nan accepted sense? If we suffice it by saying that it's person to being a GT car than a modular Mustang, past sure.  

What, then, of nan Pontiac GTO and its faux racing branding? The "O" stands for "Omologato," aliases "Homologated" successful English. Why not usage GTH? Because that wouldn't person sounded European, nor would it person allowed for an egregiously clone comparison pinch a Ferrari 250 GTO successful Car and Driver. The GTO was ne'er intended to beryllium "homologated," though it did participate FIA competition, thing firm genitor GM didn't moreover want to do. Pontiac's designers named it "GTO" because it made nan car sound fast. Indeed, it was fast, but it besides championed nan contented of stretching nan word "GT" until it broke.

Porsche's 911 GT cars are astir apt closest successful tone to nan original GT nickname pinch their comfy interiors and accrued capacity that still makes them ascendant successful GT racing. What's really nosy is that nan 911 GT3 Touring, erstwhile spelled out, is nan Grand Touring 3 Touring, which is simply a spot for illustration saying "ATM machine." The Nissan GT-R is besides reasonably comfortable and regular drivable for its capacity level, and Nissan added nan "R" to constituent retired that it besides has "racing technology."

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These days, "GT" tin beryllium put connected anything, and usually it intends nan car is faster than a non-GT version, isolated from erstwhile it isn't and nan shaper doesn't moreover connection a non-GT variant. What makes nan Porsche Carrera GT a GT car? That's not precisely a comfortable, opulent, long-distance, high-speed cruiser. Toyota's GR86 was designated nan GT86 successful Europe until 2022, erstwhile personification successful nan Toyota trading section must person realized that a lengthy expansive circuit successful a GT86 would beryllium akin to punishment. And Hyundai saddling nan Elantra pinch a GT suffix was nan institution penning checks nan car couldn't cash. Car and Driver said that nan Elantra GT's "base motor has feeble acceleration," hardly a GT trait.

You mightiness besides wonderment why location are each these "GT" car races erstwhile truthful galore of nan cars successful them intelligibly aren't "Grand Touring" cars, either. Well, keeping connected nan taxable that GT is relative, GT title cars are astatine slightest based somewhat connected existent roadworthy cars, moreover if they are mostly supercars that besides mostly aren't accepted Grand Tourers. They're much comfortable and little utmost than, say, open-wheel Formula 1 cars, astatine least.

All this leaves america pinch a "GT" nickname that has go arbitrary. So, thanks, car manufacturers. Just chuck "GT" into nan bin pinch different automotive designations that are meaningless now, specified arsenic "coupe" and "turbo." Perhaps astir infuriatingly, smartphone/automaker Xiaomi has eclipsed moreover nan Taycan Turbo's car-part-turned-marketing-term and named its electrical motors "V6" and "V8."