The Power of &: What the Ampersand Means to UsHearst OwnedThere's a reason the founders of this endeavor named it Road & Track. Well, technically, the founders named it Road and Track, but that's another story. In fact, it's another story in this magazine issue, which also introduces R&T's new logo. But I digress. Already.This story originally appeared in Volume 36 of Road & Track.Covering the niche delights of European sports cars and the far-off romance of grand prix and Le Mans racing in the early postwar era, Road and Track had a name that encompassed both main venues for vehicular enjoyment. The magazine's worldview was highly focused, but the "and"—as well as the later ampersand—joined the words more than it separated them. After all, the owner of a sports car in the Forties and Fifties was much more likely to race their road car than current-day owners are. I don't mean just running around on a track day. I mean driving their MG TC or Austin-Healey to a circuit, the airport, or roads temporarily converted into racetracks and participating in a sanctioned sporting event.AdvertisementAdvertisementIncreasing safety standards over the ensuing decades would mostly put an end to competition-viable road cars. And race cars, tightly focused on the narrow band of performance needed to win, became both too expensive and too unpleasant for use on the road. Here, the ampersand between Road and Track acts more like a barrier.Hearst OwnedMore recently, the gilded tip of the sports-car market has been overrun by every permutation of supercar, all working the edges of the divide between road and track. Most arrive from the road side. The Lamborghini Revuelto, the Bugatti Chiron, and the Ferrari 849 Testarossa are street cars with more power and straight-line speed than many dedicated race cars. But they're not built to race. A few approach from the racing side of the divide. The Bugatti Bolide, the Aston Martin Vulcan, and the Ferrari FXX cars might share a configuration or parts with road cars but are track-day specialists, ill-suited or illegal for roads. Collectibility aside, why buy these costly track cars instead of just purchasing a purpose-built racing car to track? But I digress again.At early-Fifties races like Pebble Beach, the Allards and specials were dramatically outnumbered by simple MGs.ISC Images & Archives - Getty ImagesThen there's the curious case of the Aston Martin Valkyrie, a street-legal track car designed by Adrian Newey, the world's most successful Formula 1 designer. One might wonder whether a vehicle that requires occupants to wear ear protection to avoid hearing damage can really be called a road car. Then it was turned into a race car for Le Mans, where occupants must wear helmets anyway.Over the last several months, I've been lucky enough to drive the two best new fence straddlers in the game: the Ferrari F80 and McLaren W1 hyperhybrids. They evidence broader breadths of talent than anything I've driven before. Truly representing better living through technology, these showboats combine pure race materials and engineering with sophisticated software and highly adjustable aero, suspension, and powertrain settings to deliver staggering performance. They come the closest to combining road and track into a single car, even if neither will ever be sanctioned to race. For us mere mortals, maybe autocrossing a Miata would be a good start.—Daniel Pund, Editor-In-ChiefA car-lover's community for ultimate access & unrivaled experiences.JOIN NOW Hearst OwnedYou Might Also LikeIf You Can Only Own One Car, Make It One of TheseThese Are the Most Popular Cars by State