Classic muscle vs current supercar - what's underneath?

You all know the typical beauty shot for a supercar, front three-quarter, unrealistically good lighting. Companies that build these cars know how to extract the finest per-pixel image they can.

But what about the angles you don’t see? Like, how often do you see a Ferrari 488 lifted up on a hoist? At a Sydney event the other day, we got the opportunity to have a look.

It was quite a spectacle to see a Ferrari so far off the ground.

A Ferrari 488, a Lamborghini Huracan and, to mix it up, a ‘60s Ford Mustang 2+2 were all lifted up on hoists so that guests, apprentices and students of the host venue, Wetherhill Park TAFE could get up close with the gory underside details of each vehicle.

So, what’s underneath a supercar? Well, not much, but for good reason, it’s all aerodynamics.

Check out the underside of the 488.

All panel work under here, not so much as a pipe to be seen.

It’s all panel work under here, with only the suspension components exposed.

Note the fins that keep air off the tyres and scoop air toward the outside of the car. Clearly aerodynamics is just as important under here as it is on top.

The fins to facilitate aerodynamics on the underside are probably the most interesting part.

Without your proprietary toolset and a voided warranty, there’s not much else to see under there. As there were not even any anchor points for a jack, the cars had to be propped up on rubber blocks.

No anchor points... really?

Clearly owners aren’t expected to even fix a puncture…

It was a slightly different story over at the Lamborghini. Still no anchor points, and still all super-flat panel work, but this time no fins.

Will the Lambo be any more interesting?

Instead the Lamborghini was adorned on the underside with scoops, and there was a large cutaway to expose the base of the engine-block.

Small cutouts for the engine and transmission, but no fins.

It could be for cooling, or some sort of easy access, but it’s not as though there was even an oil filter in sight. Maybe it’s so the oil/fuel/fire has somewhere to go in an accident?

Other fun stuff on the underside of the Huracan included Audi-branded suspension components. Jokes about it being a ‘re-branded R8’ ensue.

Audi bits hide away...

Over on the other side of the room, was the dark horse of the lot. A first-generation Ford Mustang. It was in immaculate condition with some clearly aftermarket bits. Although, it was LHD.

There's a lot more to poke at under here.

You can see the difference immediately, the rudimentary components of the mustang hang out everywhere, with no regard for aerodynamics. Only the underside of the aftermarket gearbox had fins for cooling.

A super-tidy aftermarket job.

Exposed was the linkage to the driveshaft to the aftermarket (and very tidy looking) Limited-slip diff. Nice.

Underneath you could peer directly up between the front of the car and the Ford V8 sitting under the hood. It had impressive belt-work and an easy-access oil filter. Sensible, right?

That's one tidy set-up.

Up under the rear was the incredibly rudimentary leaf-spring suspension (when compared to the other cars on show) and even drum-brakes...

Still maintains a bit of that mechanical simplicity, though.

Funnily enough, the Mustang was the star of the show. It was hoisted up last and attracted the most people who wanted to see something more… real…

What do you think – Would you rather an exposed muscle-car classic you can work on, or a theoretically fire-and-forget modern-day Supercar? Share your thoughts in the comments.