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A sports prototype, sometimes referred to as simply a prototype, is a type of 
Prototype racing cars have competed in sports car racing since before
race car
Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition.
Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organis ...
that is used in the highest-level categories of sports car racing
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Broadly speaking, sports car racing i ...
. These purpose-built racing cars, unlike street-legal and production-based racing cars, are not intended for consumer purchase or production beyond that required to compete and win races.
Prototype racing cars have competed in sports car racing since before World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, but became the top echelon of sports cars in the 1960s as they began to replace homologated
Homologation ( Greek ''homologeo'', ὁμολογέω, "to agree") is the granting of approval by an official authority. This may be a court of law, a government department, or an academic or professional body, any of which would normally work f ...
sports cars. Current ACO
ACO, AcO, or Aco may refer to:
Organizations
* Accountable care organization, healthcare organization characterized by a specific payment and care delivery model
* Aco Records, a British 1920s record label
* ACO, C.A., a Venezuelan holding compan ...
regulations allow most sports car series to use two forms of cars: grand tourer
A grand tourer (GT) is a type of car that is designed for high speed and long-distance driving, due to a combination of performance and luxury attributes. The most common format is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive two-door coupé with either ...
s (GT), based on street cars, and prototypes, which are allowed a great amount of flexibility within set rule parameters.
In historic racing, they are often called "sports racing cars". Sometimes, they are incorrectly referred to as "Le Mans cars", whether they are competing in the Le Mans race or not.
Types of sports prototypes
Since the 1960s, various