First off, the term "fast" is relative. How fast is "fast"? Is a stock Crossfire Limited coupe fast?

With that said, I feel most every car I've owned looked fast AND was fast. '68 350ci Firebird, '78 Mustang, '82 Datsun ZX, '90 Mazda RX7, '99 Integra GSR. All looked sporty and reasonably fast, but in fact were hardly the quickest things on the road. Much like my current XF. All of them were zippy enough and all of them were very agile. Much like my current XF.

But the way many board members feel about a stock 215 HP engine, I'm not sure if they'd consider my car "fast". I do. I even thought my 170 HP Integra as fast, but the XF is clearly faster.

So, to answer the question, I will say that I always opt for a powerful appearance as opposed to actual might. But most sporty looking cars have some degree of intrinsic brawn.