I was having a tough time coming up with a Top Ten list this week when I stumbled across some notes I'd taken a few weeks ago for potential lists. This one jumped out at me: List my top ten favorite supercars.
1. Lamborghini Countach. Sure, the Diablo and Gallardo are sleeker and faster, but to a teenager growing up in the 1980s there was nothing that even came close to the scissor-wing perfection of the Countach.
2. Ferrari F40. Basically a "street legal F1 race car", the F-40 delivers performance like Tam delivers snark. It was the last Ferrari built under Enzo's direct supervision, and was put together to celebrate Ferrari's 40th anniversary.
3. Porsche 959. Not legal for importation into the US due to low ground clearance and emissions, you can't help but love a supercar whose all-wheel drive variant won its class in the Paris-Dakar rally...
4. Lotus Esprit S4. While the Esprit of the 1980s reached movie fame as a Bond car (or as the car Richard Gere drove in "Pretty Woman"), the S4 of the mid-1990s was the model that pulled 300 hp out of an inline 4-cylinder. Pretty darn impressive, especially considering that, at the time, the Chevy big block 454 motor was rated at 210 hp...
5. Callaway Sledgehammer Corvette. The twin-turbo, 880HP 'Vette from the wizards in CT brings our first American supercar. While only one model exists, the fact that it achieved a blistering 254 MPH top speed puts it in the top five.
6. Bugatti Veyron. One of the few recent cars to make the list, pretty much any car running 1,000 HP deserves a slot on the list. So what it if costs a couple million? After all, it was built to be the "fastest, most powerful, and most expensive" car in the world...
7. Ford GT40. The car won the "24 Hours of LeMans" four years in a row after its introduction in 1966. That's badass, especially considering the competition at the time and the fact that American cars at the time were known for going very fast in a straight line, not so fast around corners (heck, that's more or less true even today...)
8. Mercedes SLR McLaren. There's just something about this sleek, fast Mercedes. Maybe it's the fact that the AMG V8 puts out over 625HP. Maybe it's the fact that it costs more than most suburban homes. Maybe it's the fact that it will hold its own among the Porsches, Ferraris, and other world-class supercars while wrapping you in luxury equal to that of the finest hotels... Or it could just be the ultra-cool scissor-style doors again...
9. Bentley Continental GT. Much like the aforementioned Mercedes, the Bentley-from-hell promises sumptious appointments destined to pamper the driver rocketing around the curves in this twelve-cylinder, 2.4 ton monster. At a price that could get you several Ferarris with change in Corvettes...
10. Dodge Viper SRT-10. Wrapping up the list is the high-end Viper of the late 2000s. As GM started to realize that they were losing the "fastest American car" designation on the 'Vette, they started upping the output going to the American Classic. Mopar's response was typical, producing a motor capable of a ridiculous 600+HP in a car that can only be described as awe-inspiring...
So there's my list of Top Ten supercars. Not all of the cars on this list are the tops in the field, or even necessarily the top offering from their respective manufacturer. They are tops in my list, though.
What supercars are on your list?
That is all.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
15 comments:
You should note that these are factory production supercars. Aftermarket tinkerers like John Lingenfelter could produce custom one-offs that made these look like go-carts.
Well, for me the Ferrari F40 will always have a leg up because the first time I'd ever seen it was in a big pictorial in a nudie magazine. :P
I was getting worried until I saw the McLaren... ya can not forget that car. BTW, it was another F1 car with a license plate, like the F40.
One I've always wanted to own was the "unlikely supercar": The Acura NSX.
To look at the outside, it was a wicked mid-engined two-seater.
To look at the spec sheet, it was an Italian dream sled.
To look at the maintenance logs or the road from the driver's seat, it was a Honda.
Of all the "hot cars" I've been privileged to pilot, it was the easiest in which to feel like a hero; kind of a 944 Turbo for the wannabe-Ferrari crowd...
See, now that's funny.
A 944S is about the fastest car I've ever driven...
(Although my LeMans with the 400CI engine was close...)
McClaren F1: Uncompromising brute force, and the car that jump-started the recent supercar arms race.
Jaguar XKR-S: I have a soft spot in my head for Jags: Sure, the build quality on older models is a little iffy, especially when it comes to electrical systems, but they've always been some of the nicest-looking cars on the road.
The Duesenberg Model J: The Veyron of it's day: The fastest, plushest, most expensive car you could get.
Cord 810: Same thing, only 10 years later.
Quick story about the Viper: I worked on a photo shoot a few years ago where we lined up a Ferrari, a Jag, a Lexus, a 'Vette, a Porsche and a Viper all in a row on a unused runway at a local civic airport. As we we drove the cars out to the shoot location, all the rest of us were escorted by air field workers so we wouldn't floor it and break something.
They let the Viper run free.
The guy who drove it said afterwards, "I was doing 125 and had 1500 RPM and another gear to go, but it was starting to shake too much so I had to slow down."
Best. Car. Post. EVER.
And this video of someone driving 280 km/hr on the Japanese highway shows the sort of nerves you need to drive one of these. At first, it looked like a two-way road, because the traffic in the next lane is going past at 100 mph.
The other traffic is going the same direction he is. Yikes!
And what about the old Stutz Bearcat? Set speed records, back in the day before seatbelts, padded dashes, and synchromesh.
How about this awesome beast, a 1952 Ford consul
http://www.philseed.com/images/ford-consul52a.jpg
+1 on the McLaren F1.
Not only is it still the fastest naturally aspirated production car in the world, but it's own custom gold plated titanium tool set and tailored, proprietary luggage bags specially designed to fit the vehicle's carpeted storage compartments, including a tailored golf bag, were standard equipment.
It also had an unusual interior - the driver's seat was in the center, with the two passenger seats set slightly behind and on either side of the driver.
Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale. Powered by a 2000cc V8, it could rev up to 10k and make about 230hp with mechanical fuel injection. Not a lot of power? Consider it weighed under 1600lbs. Plus it looks like an orgasm on wheels.
Oh, and all that awesome was on sale in 1967.
There can be only one.....
1967 Shelby Cobra 427sc
...'nuff said,
steve
What about E-type Jags and the almighty Koenigsegg?
This forum is alive? If yes, please remove this topic and my account.
Post a Comment