STOCK CAR COMPARO: AUDI A4, FORD FUSION, FORD FALCON & LAMBORGHINI GALLARDO

Turn it over to the dictionary. A stock car is "a racing car with a basic chassis of an ordinary commercially produced vehicle" or "an automobile of a standard make modified for racing" or "a standard model of automobile changed in various ways for racing purposes". 

Or as the people (Wikipedia) like to say, "A stock car, in the original sense of the termdescribed an automobile that has not been modified from its original factory configuration. Later the term stock car came to mean any production-based automobile used in racing. Now a days stock cars are not stock, since no Ford Fusion that us common people can buy has a 700 HP engine."

Without delving into the battle of Nascar pros and cons and protagonists and antagonists; let this be a comparison on purely superficial terms. Aesthetics only. Beauty, first and foremost.

While it's not difficult to discover that the Toyota Camry; Chevrolet Impala, Dodge Charger, and Ford Fusion you and I can buy in any car dealership in North America aren't exactly drop-dead gorgeous, their "stock car" racing brethren give a whole new meaning to ugly. NASCAR stock cars rank fourth in this four-way comparison. 

The German touring car series, known officially as the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters, takes a somewhat NASCAR-like approach as far as alterring the car goes. However, technology is not avoided at all costs, resulting in amazingly capable cars. But the once-hot Audi A4 is turned into a monster. For a monster, it's not bad-looking. For an A4? Disappointing.

In Australia, however, the Pontiac G8 equivalent from Holden races against the rather alluring Ford Falcon in the V8 Supercars series. Good looks all around net the Falcon second place.

Will you have a look at this specimen, the Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Super Trofeo. Yow, and indeed, zah. This Gallardo stock car will race in its own series against other Gallardos of the same type in support of DTM, WTCC, and FIA GT races. Dealers and wealthy enthusiasts will have a chance at the thirty cars, cars that Lamborghini says will make for the fastest one-make series in the world. Each car costs about €200,000; support for which will surely increase the tag. The factory team will make use of celebrity drivers, some of whom we can assume will be at least half as good-looking as the car. The Lamborghini Gallardo LP560-4 Super Trofeo wins this comparison handily.