We spent a lot of time recently thinking about ’90s cars. From our best supercars of the 1990s to our best sports cars of the ’90s we basically went through every model of the decade to find the best of the best. Thankfully as a teenager during the ’90s I was immersed in the supercars and sports car scene.
For this post we decided to build out some data around 1990s cars. We went through every single automotive model in our database to find the fastest accelerating and top speed cars of the 1990s. The interactive chart below allows you to search for a specific model and to sort by variables like top speed and so on. The is some overlap between the fastest accelerating cars of the 1990s and the fastest top speed cars. We decided to split out the top 10 in each category because in our eyes they are very different things.
10 Fastest 0 – 60 mph Cars of the 1990s
The fastest accelerating cars of the 1990s have a lot in common. They are almost all supercars or homologation specials built to satisfy racing regulators. Manufacturers wanted to go racing so they built just enough production cars to be certified. In terms of outright performance, there were three cars that scoot from 0 to 60 mph in under 3 seconds.
Inside the top 20 fastest accelerating cars it is more of the same thing, made up of homologation specials that were rare, impractical and barely legal. Outside the top 20 we start to see some “normal” supercars of the era show their faces. The Bugatti EB 110 Super Sport, Jaguar XJ220 and Ferrari F50 all manage sub-3.7 second sprints from 0 to 60 mph.
The 0-60 mph crown goes to the Dauer 962 Le Mans Porsche, which was essentially a road-going Porsche 962, the most successful prototype race car of the time. Porsche manufactured nearly 150 956/962s and sold many of the cars to private teams. During this period, Porsche manufactured and made available every component on the car. Of the companies that have produced a 962 road car, the most successful has been Dauer. 0-60 mph was over in 2.7 seconds and top speed was 253 mph, besting even the mighty McLaren F1.
McLaren took the parts from the F1 that won Le Mans and decided to build a production car as the ultimate version of the mighty McLaren F1. The parts from the race car included a ground-effects underbody, unique front bodywork, a rear diffuser and a carbon fiber rear wing engraved with the legend ‘GTR-24 Heures du Mans Winners 1995’. The LM was a monster. 0 – 60 mph was over in 2.9 seconds and it could go from standstill to 100 mph in less than five seconds. Top speed was 243 mph.
The Lamborghini Diablo VTTT (the VTTT stood for viscous traction twin turbo) was a limited production (7 made altogether) made by Platinum Motors in California. The cars were equipped with twin Garrett T4 turbochargers with custom-built intercoolers, competition valves with race guides, cylinder heads with polished ports, and a reprogrammed electronic fuel injection system. With 750 hp, the 222 mph was a surprise to nobody. The 0-60 mph time was aided by the Diablos AWD system, able to somewhat deploy all that power in such as way as to rocket the VTTT from 0 – 60 mph in just 3.1 seconds.
Everybody knows we are huge McLaren F1 fans here (we just named it the best McLaren ever). Its top speed of 240 mph puts much of even today’s supercar crowd to shame, and ergonomic features like the driver-centered, three-seat cockpit have rarely been seen since. Sure there are cars that are faster, but nobody did it the way the F1 did it. With a naturally aspirated 627 hp engine and 479.0 ft lbs of torque in such a small and light body, it was able to accelerate from zero to 60 mph in 3.2 seconds.
Originally conceived in 1994 with construction completed in 1995 by a United Arab Emirates Citizen who desired to own the fastest, individually owned car in the world! He contracted Mercedes which in turn also contacted Lotec for the body design. The letter C stands for the carbon fiber (race car), and the number 1000 stands for 1000 horsepower. Design and engineering cost over $1,000,000 and actual construction cost was over 1,200,000 total production cost was over $2,200,000. 0-60 mph in 3.2 seconds, 0-125 mph in 8.08 seconds, top speed 268 mph.
In accordance with the FIA rules of the day, the GT-One had also to be developed as a legal road car. In fact the differences between the race and road versions were small: in road-going mode, the rear wing was set lower and the suspension ride height was raised. A smaller fuel tank was fitted and the addition of catalytic converters ensured the vehicle complied with emissions regulations.
Toyota says the engineers at Toyota Motorsport GmbH created just two ‘production’ TS020 GT-Ones – one is on display in its museum, the other in Japan.
Lotus wanted to go racing in Le Mans (stop me if you have heard this one before). Of course in the 1990s that meant at least one of the “racing” cars had to be road legal. Cue the Lotus GT1.
The Lotus Elise GT1 utilized a production aluminum chassis with custom carbon fiber body that was optimized for endurance racing. Out went the Elise’s inline-four, swapped for a monster twin-turbo 6.0-liter version of the C4 Corvette’s LT5 V8. Reliability proved to be a problem for all seven chassis that were built, with the best success being a fifth place at Helsinki.
8. Panoz Esperante GTR-1
0-60 mph: 3.2 seconds
Almost a race car in street-legal trim, the front engined GTR-1 was built to meet the 24 Hours of Le Mans homologation requirements. Power came from an aluminum block V8 engine pushing over 600 horsepower. It was definitely one of the most unusual cars of the era.
The GTR-1 debuted at the 1997 12 Hours of Sebring but failed to finish. It later failed to finish the Silverstone Circuit and again racked up DNFs at Le Mans, where all three of them were scratched due to mechanical failure. One was even destroyed when it caught fire.
Initially revealed on the company’s founder, Ettore Bugatti’s 110th birthday in 1991, the EB110 came to be the last Italian-produced Bugatti before VAG took over the troubled automaker.
These days the Bugatti name stands purely for all-out speed and refinement, and though the EB110 was never a record breaker at the top end of the speed stakes, topping out at 216mph in the era of the McLaren F1, it was capable of reaching 62mph in just 3.2 seconds in 1992 Supersport trim – one of the fastest cars of its era over that dash.
That rapid acceleration was mostly thanks to the Bugatti’s 3.5-litre, quad-turbo V12, which transferred 604bhp to the road through all four wheels.
There’s something really appealing about all of the little design details on the EB110 which could be easily overlooked; from the cluster of circular air intakes just behind the doors, to the elegantly simple interior, all the way down to the gearshift layout positioned on the transmission tunnel, keeping the gear knob uncluttered.
10 Fastest Cars of the 1990s by Top Speed
It is no surprise that the fastest cars by top speed in the 1990s largely mirror the fastest accelerating cars of the same period. There are a few differences, but not many inside the top 10. Outside the top 10 there is some variation so we encourage you to play around with the table at the bottom of the post.
Again, homologation specials sit high on the list. Because taking a race car and turning it into production car was so much work and the volumes were so small, it did not make sense for manufacturers to worry about practicalities or worry about usability on the road. Often the top speed of these cars is literally on par with their racing car siblings. Most of the top 10 cars by top speed during the 1990s are likely to be able to go even faster if the tires of the era had been more advanced.
Outside the top 10, the “regular” production cars that weren’t special one-offs or limited edition specials include cars like the Lamborghini Diablo with its 217 mph top speed and the Ferrari F50 at 202 mph both make the top 20. It is also important to note that many of the “normal” cars were limited in their top speed by manufacturers, so don’t be surprised when you look at the full list and cars you expect to be there are missing.
We talked about the Dauer 962 above so we won’t rehash those details. Instead we will tell you a cool story. At the 24 Le Mans hour race, Dauer showed up with both a road version and race version of the Porsches 962, a design which had already won Le Mans six times. After winning the race, the FIA declared it would be creating rules to make sure the 962 wouldn’t be back in 1995. However, with a Le Mans win under their belt, and with support from Porsche, Dauer continued to build their road-going 962. The road going version was basically the race car with enough changes to be road legal. Jeez, no wonder it can hit a cool 253 mph top speed.
F1 GTR Longtail was a rare race (only 10 made). A handful of GTRs were not only bought by private owners, but also extensively modified by McLaren to make them street-legal machines. The Longtail was originally created for the 1997 FIA GT Championship in response to new competition from Porsche and Mercedes. Its heavily modified bodywork was designed to promote more downforce than the previous F1 GTR, which was closer to the standard road car.
What makes the McLaren F1’s top speed records so impressive is that it was never designed to do it. Technical director of McLaren Gordan Murray and stylist Peter Stevens realized that the car had to be small, use the lightest components available and have a large capacity, normally aspirated V12 engine. Little did they know, this design philosophy would break many speed records and win championships it wasn’t even originally intended for. After its release, the F1’s potential was immediately realized when it reached 0-100-0 in 11.4 seconds and a record top speed of 240.14mph in its XP5 pre-production trim.
To take the regular Diablo from its 217 mph top speed to 239 mph wasn’t cheap. The cost of the conversion from Diablo to Diablo VTTT was about $500,000 (on top of the cost of a base Diablo). Twin blueprinted, water cooled, Garrett T4 turbos were installed with electronically controlled waste gates, custom built intercoolers, competition type valves with race-type guides and polished cylinder heads. A custom twin-plate clutch in Kevlar to cope with the extra torque, a new short ratio gearbox to improve acceleration, and reprogrammed electronic fuel injection system were used. Also the brakes were upgraded with cross drilled and ventilated disks using carbon fibre brake pads. About six crazy owners decided to go ahead with the conversion and ended up with one of the fastest cars of the 1990s.
I hate to include concept cars on our list of fastest 90s cars, but this one was special. The Jimenez Novia W16 was a concept car in 1995. It was the work of Ramon Jimenez, a native French Vaucluse. Despite its somewhat exaggerated headlamps, their appearance and design reminiscent of Ferrari. Its interior had a modern, aerodynamic shape. Jimenez Novia had a W16 engine producing 560 horsepower and propelling the car to a top speed of 236 mph (according to the manufacturer).
Like the Dauer 962 Le Mans Porsche, the Koenig C62 is basically a Porsche 962 racing car. Koenig’s C62 is a conversion based on original Porsche 962 chassis. To attain the necessary ground clearance and headlight position needed to make the car a road legal production car, an entirely new carbon fibre body was constructed. Koenig punched out the three liter version of the boxer engine to produce more low end torque. Other engine modifications included softer cams and a Bosch Mototronic system. The changes clearly worked because the car hit a top speed of 235 mph.
We don’t have much to add about the Lotec (see above for the major details). The performance numbers from this car were astounding for this one of a kind machine. While the shape looks slippery and aerodynamic the reality is that it probably wasn’t. The bulk of the heavy lifting when it comes to the C1000’s 232 mph top speed was the 5.6-liter Mercedes V8 that was force-fed by twin turbochargers, resulting in about 1000 HP and 723 lb-ft of torque.
You guessed it. Another 962 based supercar. The car weighed about 2,300 pounds and was powered by a water-cooled 3.3-litre Type-935 Flat-6 with twin turbochargers producing 600 hp. The engine was borrowed nearly directly from the standard Porsche 962 unit used in the North American IMSA GT Championship so no wonder it hit a top speed of 230 mph. Most sources say that six Schuppan 962CR cars were built.
Cars built to the FIA GT regulations were also eligible to compete in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Homologation for GT1 required a minimum of 25 examples to be produced. Enter the competition amongst top manufacturers. Mercedes-Benz started fresh, building one of the most extreme cars of the 1990s. Built with a cutting-edge carbon fibre monocoque chassis, the suspension was by double wishbones and pull-rod actuated coil-springs over dampers on both ends. Mounted amidships was an AMG modified version of Mercedes’ six-litre V12 engine. Breathing through the mandatory intake-restrictors, it was still good for at least 600 bhp.
100 Fastest 1990s Cars – 0-60 mph, 1/4 Mile, Top Speed, Power & Torque Data
June 18, 2019 / Comments Off on Fastest 1990s Cars: 0-60 Time, Top Speed, Power & Torque
Hot Hatches, Rally Weapons, Japanese Rockets & Magic 911s. This is Your Our List of the Greatest Sports & Performance Cars of the 1990s
This is the third post in our series about the best cars of the 1990s. First we ranked the best supercars of the ‘90s. Second, we tackled the forgotten supercars of the ‘90s. In this post we switch things up and move away from supercars to look at everyday sports and performance cars. Our goal is quite simply to curate the ultimate list of the best ‘90s sports and performance cars. A warning for new readers. Our special list posts are very detailed and thorough, we prefer having a list of ALL the awesome 90s cars over some bullshit short top 5 list that gets more clicks.
The 1990s were a great era for sports car enthusiasts at all levels. At the top end there were crazy homologation specials and cars like the McLaren F1. The Honda NSX and Porsche 911s of the era made true sports cars much faster, more usable and significantly more reliable. Dynamically they were much better too that anything from the 1980s. The 90s also ushered in a plethora of fun and fast hot hatches and AWD rally bred cars built on entry level cars anybody could afford. In Japan you had cars like the 300ZX, R32/33/34 GT-Rs and twin turbo Supras fighting Porsches and Ferraris for performance honors. In Australia the local Holden versus Ford rivalry was getting out of hand (in a good way), leading to some epic and iconic muscle cars on they could get away with.
Car design also improved a lot in the 1990s. Misguided enthusiasm for flashy futurism actually gave way to practicality. The frivolity of the ’80s and its flashy techno-paradise of lasers and blinking digital displays gave way to a bunch of hungover engineers who looked at each other, slowly took off their Duran Duran hats, and said, “OK, seriously. Now what?” Gone were the boxy designs, poor fit and finish and horribly ergonomic interiors.
From a technology perspective the 1990s led to a lot of advancements that made cars more efficient, faster and more fun to drive. Fuel injection, ABS and power steering all went mainstream and all three improved dramatically from what we saw in the 1980s when they were fairly new. It was also an era before advanced electronic chassis controls and electric steering. The cars of the 1990s have wonderful feel on the road and you can enjoy the mechanical connection between your hands and wheels.
In terms of raw speed, the cars on this list were fast for the 1990s today but most sub-$20k new cars will beat them in a straight line. Cars today are just too fast and too easy to drive to really enjoy (as an enthusiast). A Tesla Model 3 will destroy a McLaren F1 in a straight line. You can’t wring out a 2019 Nissan GT-R without going to jail within 4 seconds. You can hit 90mph in second gear in a 992 Porsche 911, all shifted for you with a dual clutch auto mode gearbox. Getting the most out of a 1990s sports car took work and that’s what made them fun. The sports and performance cars of the 1990s had the right balance of capabilities that you could really enjoy but you had to work hard to really get the best out of. The golden era of sports cars for sure.
Lets get on with the list. We grouped the best 1990s cars by country. We have the best 90s cars in Japan, United Kingdom, United States and Europe to make it a little easier to navigate. In terms of coverage we have everything from hot hatches to top of the line sports cars just under supercar status and we hope we got all the 90s sports car icons. The 1990s were a golden age of handling and performance for both budget-conscious and sky’s-the-limit budgets and for overall enthusiast enjoyment.
As expected the best European cars of the 90s are a varied bunch.
Audi was starting to build some powerful cars including the Hollywood star that was the S8 in the Ronin movie. Mercedes and AMG (not part of Mercedes at the time) started the trend of stuffing monster engines into small cars and actually engineering them well (unlike the Americans), forever changing what we expect from executive saloons.
BMW gave us the second iteration of the M3 and E39 M5, both arguably the best the motorsports division has ever delivered. Porsche had really hit its stride in the 1990s too, with the Porsche Boxster, a totally new model at the time and the final special versions of the 993 Porsche 911 as well as the 968 Clubsport.
The era of the hot hatch was also on the minds of European carmakers in the 90s, with the Renault Clio Williams and Peugeot 306 GTI-6 coming to market and trying to give it to the VW Mk3 Golf.
The B8 4.6 is a pretty special car. Alpina managed to shoehorn a V8 into the E36 3 series (it took serious modifications to the engine bay to make it fit). The engine was based on BMW’s 4 liter V8 from the E34 540i. The engine needed a new sump because it sat so low in the chassis. Alpina also added new exhaust system. The result was 333hp and a 0-6-mph time of just 5.5 seconds.
The first generation S8 was a spectacular 90s executive sports car. Based on the A8, the S8 was made to look at little more aggressive. It had solid aluminium alloy door mirror housings, chrome-effect beltline and lower front grille trim, and polished twin exhaust pipes, along with subtle “S8” badging. The biggest change was under the hood. With an uprated 335hp from its 4.2 liter V8 it was the perfect getaway car for the bad guys in Ronin.
The history of the RS 4 family began in 1994 with the Avant RS 2. It established the high-performance station wagon segment – which comprised sports cars with large luggage compartments. Audi developed the high-flier on the basis of the Audi 80 Avant in cooperation with Porsche.
The engine was Audi’s classic five-cylinder turbo in its last production development stage. The 2.2-liter engine used a large turbocharger, high boost pressure and expanded airways to produce 232 kW (315 hp). 410 Nm of torque (302.40 lb-ft) was available at 3,000 rpm. The Audi Avant RS 2 sprinted from zero to 100 km/h (62.14 mph) in 5.4 seconds and reached a top speed of 262 km/h (162.80 mph).
A six-speed transmission delivered the power to the quattro drive system, which in addition to a Torsen differential included a manually activated locking differential at the rear axle.
We already talked about the awesome AMG SL73 in our forgotten supercars of the 90s list, but the folks at AMG had a whole host of great sports cars in the 1990s. The SL 60 AMG was the most numerous of these rare cars. Sold from 1993 to 1998, it used a 6.0 litres (5,956 cc) V8 engine producing 375 bhp at 5,500 rpm. AMG claimed a 0–100 km/h (62 mph) speed of 5.4 seconds. Its top speed was limited to 250 km/h (155 mph). AMG also had other rare cars during that era that we should mention. The SL 72 AMG had a 7.12 liter V12 with 500 hp. There was also the SL 55AMG which sold from 1998 to 2001 and had a 5.4 liter naturally aspirated V8 with 350 hp.
This was truly a wolf in sheep’s clothing. It is true to AMGs simple formula of shoehorning monster engines into their everyday family sedans. The E55 had a 5.4 liter V8 with 354 horsepower. Thanks to a longer stroke, a higher compression ratio and an AMG-designed low back pressure exhaust system, the E55 also had a very useful 391 pounds-feet of torque at a low 3,000 rpm. Climb a little further up the rpm scale and there’s a very impressive 349 horsepower at 5,500 rpm.
This was true torque monster. You could get instantaneous response whenever you touched the throttle. Its linear delivery keeps going and the car always felt like it had a lot more in reserve. The smooth 5-speed automatic transmission was a perfect companion to the torque-filled engine. This was a car you could take the kids to school and then hit the backroads and truly enjoy (thank AMG-tuned Bilstein dampers, upgraded coil springs and massive tires). It transformed from mild-mannered family transport to uber sedan whenever you wanted.
The second iteration of the M3 brought classiness and refinement that the first generation didn’t have (more on the first generation later on).
The E36 M3 was the model that really launched BMW’s M division to the masses. It was targeted at the exec who wants speed in a tamer package than the original E30 (which was more of a true enthusiast’s car). With a 240-hp, 3.0-liter inline-six that was silky smooth and rock solid. The motor was torquey and the car was easy to drive. The brakes and the suspension was replaced in the base 3 series to make way for more performance oriented units, the transformation was clear.
In the autumn of 1995, BMW M subjected the M3 E36 to a model upgrade. The engineers lifted the M3 E36 to a new level, especially on the engine side. As well as this facelift, the S50B30 was also further developed. Thanks to the S50B32’s now 3.2-litre displacement and 321 hp, the BMW M3 was able to sprint to 60mph in 5.5 seconds, about half a second faster than before.
One of Lancia’s most successful products was the Delta. It was produced from 1979 to 1994 for many different road and track applications. The car debuted at the Frankfurt motor show as a Giorgio Guigaro design based on Fiat Ritmo components. Surprisingly, this Delta would lead Lancia into its most successful rally program. Many great road-cars have been created for homologation requirements and the Lancia Delta Integrale is one such car. After the Delta HF 4WD’s successful debut year, Lancia started the work on the Integrale. This was a car which integrated the developments from the 1987 season into both a road and rally car.
The final version of the Delta series was the Evoluzione II. It was the only Integrale which was never raced and instead made in honor of the six consecutive victories achieved with the Delta.
With Alcantara-trimmed Recaro seats and additional sound deadening, additional creature comforts highlight the Evoluzione II. Basically the rest of the car is identical to the Evoluzione except for the sixteen inch wheels, remapped engine mototronics and a three-way exhaust catalyst.
The pinnacle of the E30 series. BMW built several limited run E30 M3 specials over the course of four years, from 1988 through 1991. Our favorite is this Sport Evolution (only 600 units were made).
As the high-profile M3 became the most successful touring car of all time, its civilian version became increasingly exciting. To stay on par with seasonal developments, BMW Motorsports released updated versions each year. These cars mimicked the performance changes required to keep the Group A race car ahead of the competition. The last and most potent evolution of these was the M3 Sport Evolution. When the Touring rules increased capacity limits to 2.5 liters in 1990, BMW endowed the M3 with its largest engine. They increased the stroke and the bores of the four cylinders from 93.4 millimeters each to 95.5 millimeters.
To meet homologation, BMW released a road-going model that featured this new 238 bhp, 2.5 liter engine which used sodium-cooled exhaust valves, a larger intake tract and a signature red spark plug wires. Aside from the engine, each car had an adjustable front apron and rear wing, as well as a special interior with Sparco seats and suede controls. There was no air-conditioning or electric windows and each of the 600 cars had a numbered plaque on the centre console.
The Clio Williams was the first hot hatch to worry the Peugeot 205 GTI. I guess that is what happened when you build a real homologation special to compete with the king at the time. It was built because Renault Sport wanted to go rallying and the class maximum displacement stood at 2 litres. Renault simply had to build 2500 road cars to qualify.
Powering the Renault Clio Williams was a 2 liter naturally aspirated 4 cylinder engine that had 145 bhp at 6100 rpm and 129 lb/ft torque at 4500 rpm. Combined with a tight 5 speed manual gearbox and upgraded suspension it was super fun and very fast.
Sometimes a car is great not because of how fast it goes because of how it makes you feel when driving. The Peugeot 306 GTI-6 is one of those cars. It was a fun car to drive, with great balance, enough power and great turn of speed. Few cars could match its eagerness to slip into corners. Its passive rear-wheel steering – enabled by using soft bushings at its torsion-beam rear axle – resulted in a turn-in sharper than many rear-drive machines.
It started life in 1993 as 306 S16 and in 1996 Peugeot updated it to GTI-6 with a refreshed face, a heavily improved engine and a new 6-speed gearbox. The 2 liter 16-valve engine got a host of updates that made is rev more freely and increased power to 167 hp.
The Ford Escort RS Cosworth was built to qualify as a Group A car for the World Rally Championship. Based on the not-so-exciting Ford Escort, it was a rally homologation special. With advanced AWD and turbocharged 2 liter turbo Inline 4 engines they were victorious at 10 different WRC events from 1993-1997. With its massive rear wing, robust, race-bred twin-cam four and excellent handling, the car remains an absolute icon of the 1990’s homologation era machinery.
A wolf in sheep’s clothing. That’s the best way to describe the E39 BMW M5. It started the “let’s put a massive engine and awesome suspension into a mild-looking body” trend. It is also largely credited as the car that really started the German saloon horsepower war of the 2000s. This was the first M5 to get a V8 under the bonnet and with 400bhp, 370 lb-ft. of torque, it had serious performance. A 4.4 second 0-60mph time and 180+ mph top speed were supercar beating speeds in a sedan you could take the kids to school in.
From the days when Volvo has a sense of humor. For 1995, the special limited edition 850 T-5R was offered, and was a commercial success, leading Volvo to produce a second run in 1996. The original Volvo 850 came out in 1993 and it was a cracking car from day one with a solid 170 hp engine. Soon after in 1994 came the “Turbo” model, with 222 horsepower In 1995 was our favorite, the T-5R. The T-5R was available in yellow or black and it was offered as a sedan or a wagon. The T-5R was unique in that it had a cool a rear wing, larger wheels, alcantara seats and a slightly more power, up to 240 horsepower.
This was the top of the 8 series heap. The 850CSi used the same engine as the 850i, which was tuned significantly. The 8 Series Coupé, of which more than 31,000 units had been sold between 1989 and 1999, was a further technological milestone in BMW’s history of coupés: Powered by eight- and twelve-cylinder engines, it was absolutely no problem for this car to reach a top speed of up to 250 km/h (155 mph). A select circle of fans very much enjoyed the unprecedented driving feel offered by this car. Thank the 850CSi’s modified suspension which included stiffer springs and dampers and recirculating ball steering ratio that was altered for better driving dynamics.
For 1993 through 1995, Porsche offered a lightweight “Club Sport” variant of the Porsche 968 which was specifically developed for owners looking to run their cars at the racetrack. Much of the base model 968’s “luxury-oriented” equipment was stripped out of the car, or simply not offered to consumers purchasing the Clubsport edition. Mechanically, the car was specially set up for use at the race track.
Porsche leveraged the track-ready Porsche 968 to help bolster declining sales of the sports car. The car was named “Performance Car of the Year” in 1993 by United Kingdom-based “Performance Car” magazine. The 968 was the last representative of the four cylinder transaxle models.
Alfa Romeo GTV/Spider
Year: 1995–2004 / Engine: 24-valve 3.0 litre V / Power: 215 bhp at 6,300 rpm / Torque: 199 lb⋅ft at 5,000 rpm / 0 – 60 mph: 6.7 seconds / Top speed: 149 mph
The 1997 was the sweet spot in the GTV/Spider history. The turbocharged 2.0-litre V6 was a solid engine but as a car guy it is hard to ignore that 1997 saw the introduction of the awesome sounding 24-valve 3.0 litre V6. Fabulous engines, super fast ‘Quick-Rack’ steering and gorgeous styling made it a no brainer for this list. It was also genuinely fun to drive and far more reliable than anyone expected.
When it debuted in the early 1990s, Volkswagen’s VR6 engine was pretty revolutionary. By arranging six cylinders in a zig-zag pattern on one cylinder head, VW managed to put V6-level power in an engine not much larger than an inline-four.
Our favorite use of that engine was in the Golf VR6. Without the hp draining AWD system and less weight to carry around we liked the VR6 more than the R32. The VR6’s front-drive platform was tied down more firmly than a conventional Golf. A journalist at the time said it best, “the VR6 is a ripper way to get into a quicker-than-average car that has all the practicality of a VW Golf and some of the cachet of the mighty R32”.
When Mercedes-Benz pulled out of racing at the end of the tragic 1955 season, it stayed away (at least on a factory-supported basis) for almost 30 years. The company’s first foray back into circuit racing came with the W201 chassis 190E 2.3-16, a special version of the company’s compact sedan fitted with tauter suspension, a body kit, and a variant of the company’s venerable 2.3L inline-four that was fitted with a twin-cam, 16-valve cylinder head designed and built in England by Cosworth. Cossie Benz development culminated with the 190E 2.5-16 Evo II of 1991. The flared fenders, towering (and adjustable) rear wing and super low bumpers and side skirts ensured that the DTM racers based on it generated impressive aero numbers, while the larger 2.5L engine (rated at 232hp in showroom trim) provided some extra boom. The E30 M3 could not have asked for a more fearsome rival.
We are sports car purists here at Supercars.net so when deciding between the BMW M Coupe and BMW Z3 M Roadster we went for the coupe. It is the better car. Today it has a cult-like following and having driven one recently I can tell you it is a phenomenal car, an icon for sure.
Lots of begging was needed to get approval from the BMW board to build the coupe. Without much budget to work with the small dedicated team had their work cut out for them.
The focus on improving chassis rigidity (see I told you coupes are better) meant that the engineering team was able to make massive handling improvements over the Z3. It also meant that the chassis could handle more power.
Enter the 3.2-liter S52 inline-six (from the U.S. spec E36 M3). While this is a 1990s post, things got really interesting in 2001 when the M Coupe they upgraded to the S54 spec 3.2-liter inline-six which had 315 hp and 251 lb-ft of torque. A fun sports car for sure.
Year: 1996–2004 / Engine: 2.5 L flat-6 (1996–1999), 2.7 L flat-6 (1999–2004), 3.2 L flat-6 (1999–2004) / Power: 201.0 bhp @ 6000 rpm / Torque: 181.0 ft lbs @ 4500 rpm / 0 – 60 mph: 6.1 seconds / Top speed: 149 mph
The Porsche Boxster (Type 986) was introduced in late 1996 as part of Porsche’s 1997 model year lineup. The car featured the Porsche Type M96 engine – a water-cooled, 2.5-liter, flat six-cylinder engine rated at 201 horsepower. The flat, mid-engine layout provided the Boxster with a low center of gravity, near-perfect weight distribution, and neutral handling. The Boxster was released ahead of its big-brother, the new Porsche 911 (type 996), and the initial response the car received was an affirmation to the engineers behind the new 911 that they’d designed a car that would be incredibly well received. The 986 Boxster shared many of the same body components as the new 911 including the same bonnet, front wings, headlights, interior and engine architecture.
The Boxster was the right car at the right time for enthusiasts and for Porsche. When it was released it quickly became a big seller and steadied the ship at Porsche. Reviewers gushed that the car was near perfect. Motor Trend said this in its first Boxster test: “On the road, the drivetrain, suspension, brakes, and rack-and-pinion steering work in concert like a well-rehearsed philharmonic. Each element fuses with the next to create a rewarding, communicative link between driver and car, transforming subtle inputs into controlled responses. It’s all Porsche all the time.”
The elegant Maserati four seater coupé was styled by Italdesign. The 3200 GT’s 104.8 inch wheelbase was just a centimetre longer than that of the Quattroporte IV, which explains its class-leading cabin space. The 3200 GT shared the saloon’s twin-turbo 3.2 litre V8, revised and tuned to produce 370 hp (271 kW) at 6,250 rpm and mated to a six-speed gearbox. Mixed flow turbines allowed response times that were 20% quicker compared to conventional turbo set-ups. To guarantee the highest manufacturing standards, the assembly line at the historic Modena factory was completely modernised. Performance was on par with expectations, highlighted by a 280 km/h top speed (174 mph) and a 0 to 100 kph time of just over 5.1 sec. The sleek body returned a 0.34 Cd. Besides its pace, the 3200 GT’s opulent interior added to its appeal. In June 1999, Group President Luca Cordero di Montezemolo could already celebrate the 1000th 3200 GT to roll off the production line.
We got some abuse on our Facebook page for including so many Porsche 911s in our best 90s supercars list. I can’t help it if Porsche created some cracking cars in the 1990s. Extending an olive branch however I decided that I would only include two 911s in this list. One is the best of the 964s and the other is the best of the 993s.
Porsche’s Carrera 2 was the basis for the higher-performance and racing versions that Porsche developed. The first of those was the RS 3.6 of 1992, which was powered by a warmed-up version of the standard twin-plug, normally aspirated 3.6-liter engine. Porsche then upped the ante with its Carrera RS 3.8 for the 1993-1994 model years. The cars served as the homologation base for the 3.8 RSR for international competition.
The Carrera RS is a lightweight variant of the Carrera. It features a naturally aspirated 3.8 liter engine with 300 hp (DIN). On the outside, it is easily distinguishable by a special non-retractable rear wing, small front flaps and 3-piece 18-inch (460 mm) aluminum wheels. The headlight washers were deleted for weight saving reasons. Inside the rear seats were removed, and special racing seats and spartan door cards were installed. Sound proofing was reduced to a minimum.
Most people who have driven the RS say that it’s the ultimate experience in rawness and purity and easily the best of the 964s.
While the 1998 Porsche 911 GT2 is my favorite 993 generation 911 of the era, it already made our top supercar list so we instead went with the Porsche 911 Turbo S instead.
Considered by many Porsche enthusiasts as the “ultimate 911”, the type 993 represented a unique blend of power and simple elegance. The car had a more streamlined look and was “lower slung” than earlier versions of the 911. The styling was perfect and it is still the best looking 911 series. This was the last of the “air-cooled” Porsche 911s (insert sad face here).
The turbo-version of the Type 993 Porsche 911 was also introduced in 1995 and featured a bi-turbo engine that was at the top of the performance pack for the time. For Turbo 993s the 3.6 liter got twin KKK K16 turbos and made 402 hp although you could customize your order (on Turbo S and GT2 models) to up that to 444 hp. The 993 Turbo was the first 911 Turbo with all wheel drive, essentially lifted from the 959 flagship model.
During the second to the last year of production of the 993 (1997), Porsche offered the 993 Turbo S. The X50 power pack had larger turbos, intake and exhaust upgrades, and a new computer. Power upgrade got it to 424 hp and included extras like carbon fiber decoration in the interior as well as very cool yellow brake calipers, a slightly larger rear wing, a quad-pipe exhaust system and air scoops behind the doors. This was the last of the air-cooled 911 Turbos and our favorite.
The United Kingdom motoring public are obsessed with sports cars. Local manufacturers and sportscar makers are a driving force behind a lot of the innovation in motorsports as well as being home to some of the most well known names in the sports car business.
The British are responsible for some of the greatest sports cars the world has ever seen and the 1990s were no different. The McLaren F1 was the best ever (in my humble opinion).
Lotus was on a roll in the 1990s, punching well above its weight in terms of creating cracking cars. The Lotus Carton was a cool collaboration and the Esprit was fun, but it was the Lotus Elise that was so refreshing that it is still considered the ultimate sports car. Super light, stiff, glued to the road and with the right amount of poke to make you wonder why you ever need anything faster. This 90s originality was not unique to Lotus because you had the crazy guys at TVR building some special sports cars and their approach and ideas were truly unlike anything else. Their scariest model was the TVR Cerbera Speed 12 and we love that it even exists, but it was the base TVR Cerbera that won our hearts at the time.
For other British car companies, the success of the sports cars they sold in the 1990s went a long way to helping them survive and eventually thrive. If it wasn’t for the Aston Martin DB7 and Jaguar XKR you could argue that those two brands would be out of the business or at a minimum relegated to the also runs in the performance car side of the game.
With that, please enjoy the best British cars of the 1990s.
One of the most distinct cars in the Lotus lineup is the Carlton/Omega. The name Omega name was given to the left-hand-drive cars while Carlton’s had their driver on the right. Internally at Lotus the car was known as the Type 104. The motivation behind the car came from Opel and Vauxhall who wanted to improve the image of their platform car. Lotus used the Vauxhall Carlton 3.0 GSi 24v as a base for the car, improving almost every component.
The engine used was a GM inline-6 although the block is the only original component. To cope with the 100 bhp per litre load Lotus replaced the pistons, crankshaft, induction system, cooling manifold and induction bodies. The Inline-6 was bored and stroked to a capacity of 3.6 litres. A redesigned cylinder-head and twin Garett turbochargers were also added in the mix. The result was 377 bhp from an engine that originally had 204 bhp.
As expected, Lotus also reworked the suspension, brakes and aerodynamics.
This super-tuned saloon offered the fastest four-door experience in 1990. It was leaps and bounds ahead of the competition which included the BMW M5. The Lotus Carlton/Omega was built up to 1992 with around 900 examples being built, all in Imperial Green Metallic.
Under the direction of Ford Motor Company, the DB7 was engineered by Tom Walkinshaw Racing as a smaller alternative to the V8 Vantages. TWR worked with both Jaguar & Ford components and the result was the first regular steel bodied Aston Martin.
Ian Callum was responsible for the overall design which bears a slight resemblance to the first generation Jaguar XK8 which uses the same chassis.
TWR was also responsible for the development of the Inline-6 which used a Zytec electronic multi-point fuel injection and water-cooled Eaton Rootes-Type supercharger.
In 1996 a Volante convertible version became available and in 1999 the much more powerful Vantage was released with a 5.9-liter V12.
The Lotus Elise was a true sports car that took the world by storm, winning countless awards for handling, innovation and just pure fun. The Elise was first unveiled at the Frankfurt Motor Show in 1995 before entering production with first deliveries in August 1996. The Elise was designed as a sports car to be appreciated by real driving enthusiasts, fashion leaders and those who really appreciate technology and innovation.
The Lotus Elise introduced a range of technologies that revolutionised the automotive industry; such as a chassis made from extruded and bonded aluminium, a composite energy absorbing front crash structure and lightweight composite body panels. The whole car weighed in at half the weight of an average family saloon. This light weight bestowed the car with phenomenal acceleration and handling. In 1996 the Lotus Elise was easily pulling 1g in steady state cornering with standard production tyres and a 0-100km/h in 5.9 seconds. The original Lotus Elise was so special and game changing that it deserved a place on this list, if I had to buy a 1990s Lotus Elise, I’d be looking at the Lotus Elise 111S.
Year: 1998–2003 / Engine: 4.0 L AJ26S supercharged V8 / Power: 370 hp at 6,150 rpm / Torque: 387 lb⋅ft @ 3,600 rpm / 0 – 60 mph: 5.4 seconds (Coupé) 5.6 seconds (Convertible / Top speed: 155.4 mph
It all started with the XK8 which was a new two seater sports car launched by Jaguar in 1996. It was a stunner. The XK8 was available in two-door fastback coupé or two-door convertible body styles with the new 4.0-litre Jaguar AJ-V8 engine. In 1998, the XKR was introduced with a supercharged version of the engine and the addition of a new intercooler and a two-piece driveshaft. The supercharger was manufactured by Eaton and displaced at 2.0-litre. It also looked more aggressive, with visual differences from the XK8 including a rear spoiler, mesh front grille and hood louvres on the bonnet for improved airflow to the engine.
The TVR Cerbera showed that a small boutique company could hang with the big boys when it came to building engaging, beautiful and fast sports cars. It is unthinkable in today’s day and age that we would imagine an upstart building their own engines from scratch and yet that is exactly what TVR did back in the 1990s.
The Cerbera was TVRs coming out party. It was a small sports car that looks out of this world, was really quick, had tons of power and could actually handle. Sure, maintenance was as issue later on and the engines were unreliable, but the Cerbera did the whole pop on overrun thing well before anybody thought it was cool, doesn’t that count for something?
Our pick is the 4.2 liter V8 engine. Known as the AJP8, it had one of the highest specific outputs of any naturally aspirated V8 (83.3 hp/liter) for a total of 350 horsepower.
Hailing from the UK, Lotus has a rich motorsport heritage. It was also the Bond’s choice of car in two of the Bond movies. The Esprit was built between 1976 and 2004, the Sport 350 was made only in 1999 as the “ultimate” incarnation of the Esprit with only 50 made.
As the name would suggest, it was tuned to produce 350hp and 295 lb-ft of torque out of a 3.5L V8 force-fed by two Garrett T25 water-cooled ball-bearing turbos mated to a Lotus tweaked Renault 5-speed gearbox. The Sport 350 made the same power as the regular Esprit V8 Turbo, but the “special sauce” comes from the bespoke AP Racing brakes, track-tuned suspension, aero package, and magnesium alloy wheels.
Unfortunately what put this Lotus as the 14th on the list is the French origin gearbox, which limited the reliability of the Esprit as well as the power it could take. Due to the limited production of this specific Esprit, prices are still quite high. However good examples of regular V8 Esprits are less than half the cost of a new Lotus Evora 400 and has similar acceleration and top speed figures, except the Esprit, has that “old-school” cool factor and unique look.
In 1997, Marcos reused the Mantis name for the latest version of the LM-series cars. It had a 4.6 liter quad-cam, small-block, Ford Cobra V8.
The front-end has been improved by smoothing the various aerodynamic addendums into the bonnet, so that it looks sorta like the old GT. The headlamps are now a pair of small, high intensity units that make the old (well, not that old!) units look huge and clumpy, and this further enhances the front-end. From the windscreen back it looks like the LM series cars. Performance was strong with 0-60 in 4.2 secs and a top speed of 170 mph!
Autocar tested this car and reported that “The doors close with a satisfying clunk, the interior doesn’t rattle or squeak and nothing failed or fell off during the course of its time with us – a rare occurrence for any low volume British sportscar in our experience” and commented that “How a company that builds just 70 cars a year can…design, engineer and produce a car as good as the Mantis is beyond comprehension.” Their verdict was “A credible rival to the TVR Griffith”.
Best 90s Japanese Sports Cars
I was a huge Japanese sports car fan boy in the mid 1990s. I even imported Japanese cars into Australia to help pay for college, owning several tasty cars (R32 GTR, Twin turbo Supra, 300ZX and Pulsar GTi-R). The 90s were exciting times and the pinnacle period for Japanese car manufacturers and enthusiasts alike.
For every dull Camry that came out of Japan was a sports car that was purely awesome. Honda had the NSX, Subaru had the WRX, Mitsubishi had the Evo, Nissan had the Skyline GT-R and Toyota had the Supra. Wow what a list.
On top of that you had the aftermarket tuner ecosystem going apeshit. They were tuning Supras and GT-Rs to over 1,000hp and releasing VHS videos (yes, I am old) that showed street racing and quarter mile drag times in the 8 and 9 second range (in street cars). Oh I miss those days.
The impact that the best Japanese cars of the 1990s had on the industry cannot be underestimated. The cars built by Japanese car companies in the 1990s scared the Europeans and Italians legitimately. Cars like the NSX were revolutionary. Great performance, awesome handling and bulletproof in terms of reliability. You could get a 90s Japanese sports car that was so good it would destroy any Ferrari point to point and it cost no more than a Camry to maintain. Ferrari and other sports car makers had to improve quickly (thankfully they did).
From the Land of the Rising Sun, we have our 6th place entrant on the list of reliable vintage supercars. Car & Driver was so impressed with the 22B STi, that it gave the nickname “The Subaru from Hell”. While the 22B STi didn’t have the price tag of a mainstream supercar, it definitely had supercar levels of performance.
The 2.2L closed-deck flat-4 engine produces 276 hp and about 268 lb-ft torque (at least on paper), however, based on performance tests, the actual numbers should be north of 300 hp Equipped with a driver adjustable center differential (DCCD) and a close ratio 5-speed gearbox driving the symmetrical all-wheel-drive system, the 22B can sprint to 60 mph from a standstill in 4.7s whether it be tarmac or dirt.
There were only 424 copies of this “holy-grail” Subaru ever made, with the addition of 3 prototypes, many rally enthusiasts (Subaru loyal or not) lust after the wide-body haunches and the rally cred this car brings. Due to the rarity and limited production numbers of the car, this Subaru easily fetches six-figures and will likely continue appreciating in value over time, having more than doubled its original sale price since launch.
Heading into the top 5 reliable vintage supercars we have the 1994 Nissan Skyline GT-R V Spec II. This was the last variant and one of best road-going versions of the R32 Skyline GT-R’s, featuring bespoke 17” BBS wheels, larger Brembo Brakes and active rear LSD. Originally introduced in 1989, the Skyline GT-R dominated every class of racing that it was entered in Japan. The “Victory” Spec Skyline GT-R’s were built to commemorate this utter domination.
Due to its success in the Australian Touring Car Championship, automotive press in Australia dubbed the Skyline GT-R as “Godzilla” referencing the Japanese monster from the 1954 film. This name stuck and spread like wildfire, and the Skyline GT-R has since been known as “Godzilla” to automotive enthusiasts.
At the heart of Godzilla, is a twin Garrett T28 turbocharged straight-6 engine, known as the RB26, on paper makes 276hp and 271 lb-ft of torque due to the gentleman’s agreement between Japanese manufacturers; however, due to Group A homologation rules, the RB26 is over-engineered and known to reliably make 5-600 hp with few supporting modifications while the 5-speed manual transmission just being as stout as the engine.
Godzilla also features a very advanced rear-biased all-wheel-drive system known as ATTESA E-TS (an acronym for Advanced Total Traction Engineering System for All-Terrain Electronic Torque Split), sending as much as 50% of the power to the front wheels depending on traction condition of the rear tires. With the V Spec II now becoming legal to import in the US in 2019 (having been legal since 2009 in Canada), expect prices to likely go up with the increasing demand from those nostalgic of the Group A touring car era wanting a piece of the action.
This ultra limited model is a derivative of the R33 Skyline GT-R handcrafted at Nissan’s motorsport division, Nismo, based in Omori. Inspired by the Nismo Le Mans entry of the GT-R LM, the 400R adopts many of these styling cues and performance modifications.
Sitting 30mm lower, sporting a widebody like the GT-R LM, the 400R also has a crown jewel under the hood, a bored and stroked version of the RB26DETT called the RBX-GT2 with a displacement of 2.8L along with uprated billet compressor wheels on the turbos. This incarnation of Godzilla makes a detuned 400 hp and 345.9 lb-ft of torque, giving ample thrust to pin any driver to the seat during acceleration.
Nismo had originally planned for 100 to be produced, but only 44 were ever made, which coincided with the end of production of the R33 body style in 1998. Finding a 400R available for sale might be tough, however finding a good condition, well loved final year R33 GT-R might not be as challenging (at least in Canada) as they have been admissible since 2013.
The R33 GT-R was considered by many to be the bloated compared to the R32 GT-R and not as fast as the R34 GT-R, which is lusted after by the Fast and the Furious generation; however, for those who grew up playing Gran Turismo 1, the 400R is definitely a hero.
I was on the fence about including the SVX on the list. There are just so many better sports cars from Japan during the 1990s. For some reason it just sucked me in with its unique looks, its flat six its two-tone paint and those cool windows. In this 90s era of cars like the Honda NSX and R32 GT-R the SVX is so outgunned that we aren’t even going to go into pretend it compares performance wise. Ultimately, this was a big deal for Subaru, easily their most powerful car of the time. It had a cool design and unique approach.
Year: 1991 – 1999 / Engine: 3 liter twin turbo V6 / Power: 320 hp at 6000 rpm / Torque: 315 lb⋅ft at 2500 rpm / 0 – 60 mph: 4.7 seconds / Top speed: 158 mph
Another car I was reluctant to add to this list is the Mitsubishi 3000GT. It sounded so great on paper with a 3 liter twin turbo V6 engine, all-wheel drive, all-wheel steering, active suspension, active exhaust and active aerodynamics. Too bad it was really heavy and that weight hurt it dynamically and commercially (especially in an era with other epic Japanese cars with none of those issues).
I once drove a 3000GT and remember being disappointed. Not surprisingly, the great mass of the car tempers its performance. The steering is heavy and relatively uncommunicative, and though its disc brakes are capable, the nose dives more than the others while entering a corner.
If we have to pick our favorite version, we would go for the VR-4. In 1999 the car received another exterior makeover, including a new aggressive front bumper, headlamps, turn signals, sail panels, and a true inverted airfoil spoiler coined the “Combat Wing” for the 1999 VR-4 to distinguish it from previous models.
Sold worldwide, the Nissan Silvia is best appreciated in its homeland. It is there, in the Japanese market, where Nissan has provided a 247 horsepower Silvia called the Spec-R.
To understand this 1999 Silvia Spec-R, it is important to look at the previous six generations that came before it. The Silvia range started in 1964 with the CSP311, a twin passenger coupe hand-built upon a modified Fairlady 240Z chassis. Since the bodywork was far more pedestrian than the 240Z, and performance was somewhat lacking, sales of the first generation Silvia finished at just over 500 examples..
Not until the third generation, known as the S10, did the Silvia get a foothold in the markets. Also known as the Gazelle, or 180SX for hatchback versions, this S10 sold well in Japan and abroad.
From generation three forward, the Silvia evolved with engine and styling updates: by 1983, the S12 Silvia set the standard for sports coupes in Japan by having the FJ20DET 190 horsepower engine. The following S13 generation came equipped with Nissan’s HICAS four wheel steering which greatly increased the level of technology for all Silvias thereafter.
The final edition of the Silvia, the S15 was, for most parts of the world, a styling upgrade. However, in Japan, the Silvia was offered in two distinct packages: the performance orientated Spec-R and the slightly more subdued Spec-S which is similar to what shipped for export.
As a previous owner of the JZA80 MKIV Toyota Supra Turbo I am biased because I love this car. When the MKIV Supra was still in production, Japan was in its heyday of making sporty cars. The now legendary 3.0L twin-turbocharged 2JZ-GTE made 320 hp and 315 lb-ft of torque transferring power to the ground via 6-speed Getrag or 4-speed automatic gearbox.
Those who aim to build their MVIV Supra’s into exotic slayers gravitate towards the nearly indestructible 6MT Getrag which has been known to hold over 1000 hp with the proper clutch, care, and use. The 2JZ-GTE is also just as stout, with many enthusiasts easily doubling the power on the stock long-block with less than $10k of modifications to the turbo, fueling, exhaust, ECU, and intercooler.
The 300ZX fought Corvettes, Porsches, Supras. The Z32 was a new design. The body was wider with a rounder profile and fewer hard edges. Twin Turbocharged Z32s also featured a then-new active rear wheel steering systems called “Super HICAS”, which was actuated hydraulically until 1994 when Nissan switched to an electric actuator. The 300ZX had a 3 liter engine with dual overhead camshafts (DOHC), variable valve timing (VVT) and producing a rated 222 hp (166 kW) and 198 lb·ft (268 N·m) in naturally aspirated form. The turbo variant was upgraded with twin Garrett turbochargers and dual intercoolers producing 300 hp (224 kW; 304 PS) and 283 lb·ft (384 N·m) of torque. Performance varied from 0-60 times of 5.0-6.0 seconds depending on the source, and it had a governed top speed of 155 mph (249 km/h).
The Nissan Skyline GTR R34 has evolved and fine-tuned through 11 years of competitive racing and extensive testing, which has resulted in one of the best race-bred coupes on the market.
The R33 which it replaced was a great car but the R34 GTR is much more advanced in every area. Under the hood are twin ceramic intercooled turbochargers, which effectively eliminate turbo-lag. The RB26DETT in-line, 2568cc six-cylinder engine retains the 280PS at 6,800 rpm of the R33 it replaced. It also has better power delivery and more torque than it predecessor. Also the R34’s body is stiffer and the aerodynamics of the car have been improved.
The R34’s engine keeps the general layout of straight six-cylinder configuration with twin overhead camshafts and four-valves per cylinder and twin turbochargers. As before, the throttle chamber has six individual throttle valves (one per cylinder) isolating each engine cylinder from the rest and acting like six individual single-cylinder engines. The power is fed through a new six-speed close ratio Getrag gearbox.
Nissan’s electronically controlled four-wheel drive system “ATTESA-E-TS PRO” is specifically designed for both road and racetrack use. Most other all-wheel drive systems are designed for off-road applications or rally cars. The system was designed for more high speed road use, it has a series of sensors and two centrally controlled wet multi-plate clutches to optimise torque split between the front and rear axles. It eliminates understeer and gives optimum traction and stability under acceleration, braking and cornering.
The Nissan Skyline R34 GTR has cut weight in many areas. From the light alloy wheels, which save over 7.7kg, the rear diffuser is now made from a lightweight carbon fibre. All the way to the use of light-weight audio speakers. In addition a new type of aluminium has been used for the front wings and bonnet which has saved about 1kg compared to the hoods of the previous models.
The Toyota Celica GT-Four was a high performance model of the Celica Liftback, with a turbocharged 3S-GTE engine, and full-time AWD. It was created to compete in the World Rally Championship, whose regulations dictate that a manufacturer must build road-going versions of the vehicle in sufficient numbers. These vehicles are referred to as “homologation special vehicles”.
When I was growing up, all I wanted was a turbo MR2. I knew enough reading car magazines in Australia that you wanted a second generation MR2 and not the first generation. It had that Ferrari 355 look about it. The second generation MR2 was better to drive too. With an upgraded suspension components and set up it just was enjoyable to drive fast. It was relatively fast in a straight line, had great feedback through the steering wheel and even gripped around corners and stayed (mostly) flat when pushed.
Motivation for the MR2 Turbo came from a 2 liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine that was good for 200 horsepower and 200 lb/ft of torque. A good old fashioned five-speed manual gearbox completed the package. The end result was a good looking, fun and pretty fast car that was unique. Nothing to complain about here, a great effort by Toyota.
The original MX-5 Miata shook up the sports car world. It was (and still is) a lightweight, rear-wheel-drive roadster with a peppy engine, rigid chassis, manual transmission, excellent balance and perfectly weighted steering. You just get into a Miata and drive. It rewards like no other car on this list. The Miata isn’t fast (and never was) and that’s the beauty. It is not about speed, it is about being balanced with telepathic controls and an incredible degree of driver engagement and having to work to get the most out of the car if you want to hustle along. So refreshing.
The Miata’s impact on the sports car maker goes beyond just the enjoyment for its owners and commercial success for its parent company. It drove other manufacturers to start making smaller two seat sports cars again. something. You can thank the Miata for eventually leading to cars like the BMW Z4 and the Porsche Boxster.
The first generation was basic. No real options, just motoring purity at its most basic levels. Mazda brilliantly took all the great things about old British and Italian roadsters and copied them. The car was just super fun to drive.
For the 1994 model year, a 1.8-liter engine replaced the 1.6 liter unit. We chose the original because it is the one that started it all.
Year: 1999-2001 / Engine: 2 liter turbo inline 4 / Power: 276 hp / Torque: 275 ft lbs / 0 – 60 mph: 4.7 seconds / Top speed: 155 mph
Every generation of the Japanese performance legend should be on this list. Based on the basic Lancer these sports sedans were souped up rally beasts that could beat just about anything else on the road point to point. All of the Evo cars had two liter turbo inline four-cylinder engines and advanced all-wheel drive systems. The Evo VI is easily our favorite of the ten generations of cars. While the EVO V was a solid car, the VI focused on cooling and engine durability. It got larger intercooler, larger oil cooler, and new pistons, along with a titanium-aluminide turbine wheel. Tommi Makinen was the ultimate Evo VI version. It was largely the same as standard RS with close-ratio 5-speed, lowered ride height, Tommi Mäkinen Edition front bumper, and titanium turbine (same option with standard RS).
We think EVO magazine put it best: “You just can’t help but get on the throttle earlier and earlier, revelling in the way the chassis adjusts its balance under power, making the rear wheels ease round to follow the fronts. We sometimes talk about a car pivoting around a point as though a stake has been driven through its roof – in the Mitsubishi that pivotal stake feels as though it’s permanently shifting fore and aft as you move through a corner…the Evo VI Makinen hasn’t been eclipsed by Evos VII to X, and 20 years down the line I think we’ll still be bewitched by the way its Active Yaw Control deals with a turbo spooling up halfway through a tricky third-gear left-hander. If you want a bargain, buy blue, black, white or silver, but if you want an icon to make sure it’s red with stripes.”
The third generation RX-7 was only sold in the U.S. and Canada for three years despite a Japanese production from 1992–2002. These were produced in the sixth series and had a body called the JM1FD. All cars had the 252 hp 13B-REW engine with twin oil-coolers, an electric sunroof, cruise control and the rear storage bins in place of the back seats.
The 3rd generation RX7 was unveiled at the 1991 Tokyo Motor Show and appeared on North American shores two years later. The car’s reduced weight put it below the Acura NSX, MR2, Nissan 300ZX and the second generation RX7. This was achieved by a systematic analysis of every component which resulted in a lighter harness, muffler, glass and oil cooler.
That 225 horsepower always being on tap and mixed with the exceptional handling cemented the RX-7 as a no-compromise sports car and one of the best-balanced cars of all time.
Year: 1997 – 2001 / Engine: 1.8-liter DOHC VTEC in-line 4-cylinder / Power: 195 hp @ 8,000 rpm / Torque: 130 ft lbs @ at 5,700 rpm / 0 – 60 mph: 6.5 seconds / Top speed: 145 mph
The front-wheel drive Type R was one of the sweetest driving and most exciting cars of the 1990s. It had a 1.8-liter four-cylinder VTEC engine that was hand built to produce nearly 200 horsepower. It was the way that it created that 200 horsepower that we remember best. Car & Drive summed up the best: “When the Type R’s tach hits 5700 rpm (or even less, depending on throttle position), the VTEC system switches over from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde with an audible blare, and the engine sets about scaling its 195-horsepower peak at 8000 rpm with alacrity. Yes, that’s almost 200 hp from a 1797cc engine, but before you reach for that calculator, we can tell you that it works out to a specific output of 108.5 horses per liter. The fabulous Ferrari F355 produces just 107.3 horses per liter from its five-valve V-8”.
And that in a nutshell is what we loved most about The Honda Integra Type R and Japanese sports cars of the 1990s, they were able to do things that the exotics did but at 1/10th the cost. We love that about the 90s.
The Honda Integra Type R was more than just that engine though. Other performance enhancements include a close-ratio five-speed manual transmission, the addition of a limited-slip differential so both front tires pull their weight, larger anti-lock brakes, larger sway bars, and additional body bracing to reduce body flex for improved handling. Most reviewers still consider the Type R as the best-handling front-wheel-drive car of all time.”
The N14 series also saw the introduction of the Nissan Pulsar GTI-R three-door hatchback (badged as Sunny GTI-R in Europe). This was a homologation variant produced between 1990 and 1994 in order to enter the WRC under Group A rules at that time. It featured the turbocharged 2.0-liter SR20DET engine producing 227 hp and 210 lb·ft. The body is largely the same as the standard N14 three-door model, but distinguished by the large rear wing and bonnet scoop.
It has an ATTESA all-wheel drive system and a unique variant of the SR20DET engine (not used on any other car). With a power-to-weight ratio of 0.083 and AWD, the standard GTI-R is able to accelerate from 0–100 kph in the 5 second bracket, and cover the standing quarter mile in the 13 second bracket.
Most car geeks (and a good many non-car geeks) are familiar with the current Nissan GT-R, but how did Nissan settle on the AWD, twin-turbo six-cylinder formula? Well, it actually started in 1989 with the R32-chassis Skyline GT-R, the first Skyline GT-R since the fastback “Kenmeri” GT-R of the early 1970s. Thanks to a gentlemen’s agreement among Japanese automakers, the 2.6L twin-turbo straight-six was officially rated at 276hp, but the real number was more like 320hp. Couple that with AWD, all-wheel-steering and a beefed-up 5-speed manual transmission and it’s no surprise the first modern GT-R dominated the national touring car championships in both Japan and Australia. In fact, it was Australia that gave it the nickname Godzilla (which has been applied to all GT-Rs since), but it wasn’t necessarily a term of endearment: After the GT-R of Aussie Mark Skaife and Kiwi Jim Richards romped to the win in the 1992 Bathurst 1000, they were greeted by a chorus of boos from the legions of Holden and Ford partisans. And rather than ignoring the crowd’s dissatisfaction or attempting to make peace with it, Richards (in)famously retaliated by calling the spectator mob “a pack of arseholes” (though in his defense he had just been told that his friend and countryman Denny Hulme had died of a heart attack while driving a BMW M3 in the race).
With the fourth and final generation of Cosmos of 1990, Mazda had incorporated all of its trademark rotary engine technologies with a twist. The Cosmos was the first and only Mazda equipped with a triple-rotor engine with twin-turbocharging. Two displacements of 1.3 (230 hp) or 2.0 were available. The larger engine featured a two stage turbocharger that boosted power to 280. Turbo lag, a common trait from the era was eliminated with a sequential boost system similar to what the late Toyota Supra had, but years before it popularized the concept.
The Eunos was such a technology tour de force that many of its goodies would be incorporated in future Mazdas as well as becoming commonplace years later. Although the exterior may not have excited many, the interior was much more inspiring. A curved dash with flowing lines was very much the model of ergonomics best practices, circa 1990.
If you loved speed in the United States, then the 1960s and 1970s was a great time to be alive. Massive V8 engines and scorching straight line performance were the norm. Emissions and other regulations would curtail things in the 1980s and would create tough times for American performance car fans. Towards the end of the decade things started to turn around and by the 1990s things were back to being exciting.
The pinnacle of the 1990s sports car scene in the United States was the Dodge Viper GTS. The GTS delivered 450 HP which was 35 HP more than the 1995 roadster version. The rest of the best included a stable of Corvette or Mustang cars that were great performers. The rest of the American cars are “ok” and a best described as regular cars with a massive V8 added.
The limited-edition Grand Sport was a fitting end to the C4 Corvette. The Grand Sport package included exclusive Admiral Blue paint and featured a single white stripe that ran the length of the body as well as two red accent stripes on the driver side front fender. Unlike the ZR-1, which showcased a wider backend, the Grand Sport featured rear fender flares to cover the wider back tires.
The Grand Sport’s interior upholstery was offered either in an all black or a sporty red/black combination, and all of the Grand Sport interiors featured a specialized embroidered headrest which featured the Grand Sport emblem. All Grand Sports –both coupes and convertibles- were equipped with a six speed manual transmission. Likewise, all Grand Sports were equipped with the newly revised LT4 5.7 liter small-block V-8 engine. When ordered with the Grand Sport model, the engine received a special “dress” kit that included bright red paint and red ignition wires. In all, Chevy built 1,000 Grand Sports, and each was given a special, sequential serial number.
Re-establishing the Mustang as a performance vehicle, the Mustang Cobra was produced by Ford’s Special Vehicle Team. This SVT Cobra is highly reminiscent of the 1983 Ford Mustang SVO which was developed by Ford’s Special Vehicle Operations.
Like the SVO ,the SVT is an upgraded version of what the regular Mustang should be. Necessary horsepower and suspension components help the Cobra keep pace with other sports cars of the period. During the year it was released, the Cobra was the official pace car of the Indianapolis 500.
The fourth generation of the GM F-Body platform debuted in 1993 with the brand new Camaro and Firebird. The new model brought much-needed modernization to the Firebird range. Most importantly for performance car fans was that the Trans Am returned with the powerful LT1 V8 engine with 5.7-liters of displacement and 285 HP. The engine was the same as in the Corvette of similar vintage.
Image source: hagerty.com
Chevrolet Impala SS
The Impala SS name was resurrected it in 1994 as an option on the seventh generation of this Impala. Since the early 90’s marked the return to performance for most American manufacturers, Chevy installed the famous 5.7-liter LT1 V8 engine in the full-size rear wheel drive sedan. They also added a heavy-duty suspension and updated components to create this modern-day muscle legend. For two years, Chevrolet produced almost 70,000 Impala SS models in several colors, with dark purple being the most popular hue. The engine delivered 260 HP and propelled this big sedan to 0 to 60 mph time of 7 seconds. Not exactly spectacular numbers, but for the mid-90’s, those were impressive results.
Corvette ZR1
While the C4 generation Corvette languishes for the most part in the bargain bin of classified adverts, the ZR1 is a sought-after gem. After toying with the idea of turbocharging the existing V8, the decision was taken to develop an overhead camshaft engine.
The now legendary LT5 was born with 375 hp and helped build one of GM’s finest cars to date. It’s not an overstatement to say the C4 Corvette ZR1 could play with Ferraris that cost double to drive off of the showroom floor. When Chevrolet introduced the ZR-1, it brought back the confidence in American performance cars. The Chevrolet engineers knew the C4 chassis had enormous potential, so they were looking for ways to improve its power and performance.
The Corvette ZR1 could accelerate from 0 to 60 mph in 4.5 seconds.
Some might not consider the original Dodge Viper a supercar, but at the time of its release it was a revelation with its aggressive looks and insane 8-liter V10 engine. The 1996 RT/10 could be referred to as a second generation Viper and it featured a host of upgrades over earlier Vipers produced from 1992 to 1995. It was a much better car. Outwardly the main difference to the 1996 Viper was the absence of side exhausts which were replaced with two standard exhausts exiting the rear. The three spoke wheels were also gone and replaced with 5-spoke counterparts. Inside, the cabin remained largely unchanged, but a removable roof was standard as was sliding plastic panels for the windows. Underneath, the chassis was stiffened, suspension geometry revised and a more robust rear differential was installed.
Our pick of the 1990s Viper’s was the GTS which was launched in 1996. It was a more powerful version of the RT/10 with 450 hp and a new double bubble coupe body. Beyond more power though, the GTS had over 90% new parts compared to the RT/10. In 1997 and 1998 model years the Viper would continue to receive minor updates and the GTS would get second-generation airbags, revised exhaust manifolds, and a revised camshaft for 1997, and the RT/10 would gain a power increase up to 450 hp (336 kW; 456 PS) for 1998.
Callaway has built a firm reputation for producing some of the most sophisticated and advanced Corvette-based automobiles. Introduced in 1998, Callaway’s C12 continued this proud legacy. Designed, developed and constructed by two top German engineering and development companies, Callaway and IVM, the C12 was intended as a bespoke, high-performance car that offered its occupants a civilized interior and relaxed ride.
The Callaway C12 serial number is the same as a standard production Corvette, but the C12 is in no way standard. With aerodynamic bodywork fabricated from fiberglass, carbon fiber and Kevlar™, a massaged aluminum V-8 engine, heavily revised suspension, enormous disc brakes and a thoughtfully upgraded interior, the Callaway C12 is a custom-built American supercar. It is so different from its Corvette base that cars sent to Europe were titled as Callaways. Very few of these exclusive cars were made, as most were custom-made to the specifications of the clients.
There are cars that we were promised that never materialized. There were cars that were delivered that disappointed and we pushed them out of our collective memories. There were bright spots too, 90s supercars that were unique and awesome but history forgot them because they were way too rare.
The 1980s saw a lot of entrepreneurs announce new supercar companies. Each was ready to deliver the ultimate car for the rich yuppies that flooded cities like New York, Tokyo and London. The market crash of 1987 and the following 1990-91 recession in America dampened their spirits. Ultimately, the recession proved to be one of the smallest and shortest in the modern era and the economy returned to 1980s level growth by 1993. Some of these new carmakers made it through the storm while others did not. The result was a lot of stillborn supercars that we anticipated but never saw beyond a sole prototype or ambitious press release.
Major manufacturers were not immune to these tough times either. Many of the forgotten supercars of the 1990s were successfully developed and were released into a supercar market that had cooled significantly. Moving units was harder than expected. These were some cracking cars, it just would have been awesome to see more of them sold so we didn’t forget them all these years later.
Speaking of small quantities, there are other rare supercars of the era that we don’t remember because there were literally only a handful ever made on purpose. Homologation rules of the mid-1990s were designed for a new GT racing series (itself a response to the heavy shift towards expensive prototype cars in the 1980s). It was ultimately killed off in 1998 by manufacturers getting too good at interpreting the rules but it did lead to some of the rarest, most batshit-crazy cars ever.
Note:Some rare homologation cars were listed in our greatest supercars of the 1990s list which is why we did not include them in this post. While they were rare and often forgotten we figured including them in both posts didn’t make sense. In fact, we applied that logic pretty much across the board. If the car made the best 90s supercar list then it didn’t make this forgotten list.
27 Awesome 1990s Supercars We Totally Forgot Existed
AMG SL73
The perfect 90s AMG monster. Also the rarest of the rare with only 85 examples built. It was a convertible daily driver with a 7.3-liter V12 (same engine as the original Zonda)
Try 525bhp and 553lb/ft of torque on for size. AMG’s extraordinary rare SL72 was initially available beginning in 1995 and at 525 bhp it offered the largest and most powerful V12 engine ever put into any road-going Mercedes Benz. It was updated in 1998 with a 7.3-liter engine and renamed as the SL73.
These second generation SL73s had their engine slightly updated with larger displacement, improved bhp and torque and were designed to be more reliable. While quoted output remained the same, most sources were all well aware that power was now approaching 600bhp! The same 7.3-litre V12 found in the last of the SL 73s was later used by Pagani in the Zonda. A total of just 85 SL 73 AMG roadsters were built with 50 being rumored as destined directly for the Sultan of Brunei. If true, just 35 lucky private clients were able to acquire one of these legendary machines.
Most people know the F50 so it is hard to call one of Ferrari’s finest forgotten. With good aerodynamics and braking to complement its stiff chassis design, and having the necessary production figures to meet homologation requirements, it seemed only fitting for the F50 to continue the legacy of the F40 GTE. That is, contest the BPR Global GT Endurance Series, a precursor to FIA GT. Not surprisingly, Ferrari flirted with this idea and began a development of the F50 GT.
For reasons which Ferrari never mentioned, the F50 race program was halted after five tubs and one complete car had been made. Despite the fact that the GT never saw action on the track, we are thankful that Ferrari completed two more examples and sold all three cars to very specific clientele who were told not to race the cars in modern race series. Being such a limited version of an already limited series, the F50 GT is one of the most exclusive modern day supercars, and one of the great ‘could-have-beens’ in Ferrari history.
Yamaha began competing in Formula One in 1989, and using the experience they had gained during that time they wanted to build a price-no-object, pure supercar based on actual Formula One technology. Even though the Formula One team was doing poorly in competition, by 1991 the team had just come out with a new engine, the OX99, and approached a German company to come up with an initial version of the car. Commissioned by the Yamaha Sports division rather than the bike one this supercar was based around Yamaha’s V12 F1 engine that was sat in the current Brabham at the time, granted detuned to only 400bhp. Within a year they had built this, a tandem 2 seater that had a definite F1 car look about it. Unfortunately all this carbon fibre and F1 technology came with a price tag $800,000 this just at the end of a recession. A further 2 cars were built and used as test beds and press car but the car never made it in to production. Issues were found with its handling which needed additional design development which was to be expected in supercar designed and built in 12 months, however this was taken over by Yamaha’s own company Ypsilon Technology in Milton Keynes, which was set up to both service the F1 engines and build the cars. Unfortunately 6 months later due to a perceived lack of demand the plug was pulled in 1992.
Built by Aston’s Works service in Newport Pagnell, the V600 dynamic driving package was a comprehensive upgrade that could be installed on any Virage V8. Using twin mechanically-driven Eaton superchargers, the 5,340cc produced a a colossal 550 lb/ft at 4,000rpm. Ventilated & Grooved Discs w/AP Racing 6-Piston Calipers were fitted as standard to the V600, as was the suspension with Eibach springs, Koni dampers and a stiffer anti-roll bar. The package was finished off with 5-spoke Dymag wheels and Goodyear Eagle GSD tires.
Autocar described the V600 as “a real Aston Martin; a big, very beautiful, very fast, albeit expensive GT with so much appeal and purpose behind it that it is more an experience than it is mere transport.” They were able to reach 60 mph in 4.6 seconds.
Along with the V600 transformation, the Works Service typically fitted a small badge and chrome surround on the grill. 56 customers opted for the V600 package with another 25 cars built up as special projects.
Meant as an all-out performance GT, the Shamal inaugurated the new generation of V8s which would subsequently power the Quattroporte IV and 3200 GT. The new unit boasted 4 DOH camshafts 4-valve-heads and the usual twin-turbo, twin intercooler set-up, good for a staggering 326 hp and 436 Nm of torque from 3.2 litres. The Getrag 6-speed manual gearbox was the first one mounted in a production Maserati, and indeed an advanced feature for the time. The top claimed speed was 270 kph (169 mph) on the later versions. The fact that Maserati managed to sell 369 units of this powerful beast was certainly no mean achievement.
The De Tomaso Guarà was based on the Maserati Barchetta Stradale prototype from 1991. The Guarà was launched at the 1993 Geneva Motor Show as a coupé, spider and also as an open barchetta.
Fibreglass, Kevlar, and other composites make the body shell, fitted to a backbone chassis. The suspension is true Formula 1 and IndyCar technology with independent upper and lower wishbone with pushrod front and rear end suspension.
It was known for its highly agile handling and its “a bit too nervous” for the average driver characteristics. The Guarà has no luggage space at all, the area under the front being taken up by the racing-style suspension.
Production ceased when De Tomaso switched to the Ford engine as the new powerplant did not leave enough room for the canvas. The first cars were sold in 1994 and were selling up till around 2005.
Built for a new series called the Intercontinental Challenge, the XJR-15 was a limited-production supercar built by Jaguar Sport, a partnership of Jaguar and TWR. The design was loosely based off the XJR Group-C cars which TWR manufactured for Jaguar. Thus, it retained the XJR-8’s 6-liter engine and basic chassis layout. A new body was drawn up by Peter Stevens which he thought was more distinctively Jaguar.
For clientele wishing to use the car on the road, Jaguar Sport fitted bumpers, blinkers and raised the overall clearance. This greatly affected overall performance as the undertray aerodynamics and suspension were optimized for a very low ride height. Only 53 were made.
Based mechanically on the Le Mans-winning Jaguar XJR-9, the car had an aerodynamic body designed by Tony Southgate and styled by Peter Stevens, who later went on to style the McLaren F1. The car featured in a 1-make racing series called the Jaguar Intercontinental Challenge, which supported 3 Formula 1 races (Monaco, Silverstone and Spa) in 1991. The $1m prize was won by Armin Hahne. XJR-15 was the World’s first fully carbon-fibre road-car.
The Pininfarina-designed Ferrari 456 GT debuted in Europe in 1993 and was first available in the U.S. in 1995, and can be viewed as a replacement for the 365 GT 2+2 / 400 / 412 series. This front-engined 2+2 grand tourer had a 436 hp, 5.5-liter V-12 mated to a six-speed gearbox that propelled it from 0-60 in just over 5 seconds on its way to a top speed of 186 mph.
All of this performance could be managed from a cockpit that provided Connolly leather appointments for four (two of whom would almost certainly need to be children) and every other comfort expected of a $245,000 automobile, including a cockpit-adjustable suspension. Shortly after Ferrari introduced the 456 GT, the 456 GTA became available, the “A” signifying a four-speed automatic gearbox.
In 1998, Ferrari introduced an updated version, the 456M GT and GTA. This “Modificata” had a revised interior, some bodywork changes around the nose and hood, and a slight increase in horsepower to 442. The 456M GT remained in production until 2003, and in all just under 3,300 456 GTs and 456 GTMs were built until giving way to the 612 Scaglietti in 2004.
Named after its oddball drivetrain, this supercar took the Miura concept one step further by using a transverse V16 engine mated to a longitudinal gearbox that together forms the shape of a T.
Claudio Zampolli first envisioned Cizeta in the mid-eighties and had his fully functioning prototype ready in 1988. The final result looked like a Diablo in the rough, but that’s because it was the work of Marcello Gandini for Lamborghini.
Never before had the world seen a V16 engine mounted in a transverse layout. Such a setup was necessary due to the long length of the engine, but also made the car one of the widest ever produced. Essentially, two flat-plane V8’s were grafted such that the timing mechanisms shared the center space. Gearing between the two provided a single input for the longitudinally mounted transmission. The block was similar to two Ferrari V8 engines but in the end it had to be cast as a fully custom unit.
When completed, the car sold for $400 000 USD which was a hard sell considering the company had no race history or company heritage to build upon. For these reasons only ten cars were completed in period.
Lotus wanted to go racing in Le Mans (stop me if you have heard this one before). Of course in the 1990s that meant at least one of the “racing” cars had to be road legal. Cue the Lotus GT1.
The Lotus Elise GT1 utilized a production aluminum chassis with custom carbon fiber body that was optimized for endurance racing. Out went the Elise’s inline-four, swapped for a monster twin-turbo 6.0-liter version of the C4 Corvette’s LT5 V8. Reliability proved to be a problem for all seven chassis that were built, with the best success being a fifth place at Helsinki.
God bless whoever made homologation a requirement for GT racing. The Lister Storm was yet another late 20th century racing car that set rubber to the road in the name of the h-word, with what was at the time the largest V12 engine fitted to a production car since Word War 2 – a 7-litre sky splitter.
4.1 seconds was all it took to launch this British behemoth from 0-60mph, courtesy of the 546bhp bomb mounted up front, but also thanks to the Storm’s racing-inherited low kerb weight.
Prices were high for this low-volume British sports car manufacturers’ first furor into the supercar market at around £450,000, meaning only four road-going Storms were originally sold. Of those, just three are believed to survive to this day, making them one to watch in the coming decades when they appear at auction.
For a return to GT racing, a range of modified Mantaras was also produced in the LM (Le Mans) versions. In order to qualify as a production vehicle, a limited number of road going cars were also made. Several versions of the LM were made such as the LM400 (with a Rover 3.9-litre V8 engine), LM500 (Rover 5-litre V8) and LM600 (with 6-litre Chevrolet small-block V8). Only 30 road-going LM cars were ever built, and of these only one was a road-going LM600. They put together one road car at the end of 1995, and that was a blue one with the registration M206FAE. This one is rare and once again was a result of Marcos trying to support homologation of the LM600 race cars.
The Ferrari 550 Maranello launched as a 1996 model and was a replacement to the aging Testarossa/512TR models. Unlike the Testarossa the 550 Maranello returned to a front-engine layout like the classic Ferrari GTs (think Daytona and 275) of yesteryear. The end result was a massive upgrade over its predecessor, with better handling, more comfort, practicality and better looking proportions. Ferrari 550 Maranello had a 5.5 liter V12 with 478 horsepower and rear wheel drive. The design has the perfect front engines GT proportions and looks modern even today, aging very well.
The manual gearbox and well weighted steering mean that the handling balance and driveability of the 550 stand out on the road. It is perfectly powered too (especially compared to the crazy F12 or 812 Superfast) so you are total ease behind the wheel, comfortable giving it the beans and really pushing it without the fear of something bad happening. It is way more engaging and fun than the rockets being made today (call us old school). The fantastic powertrain combined with comfortable seats and a decent amount of space to make an absolutely brilliant grand tourer.
The 400 GT remains one of the best performing French cars ever produced, and it is in fact the very first car in the world to have standard carbon brakes. The Venturi 400 GT was a road version of the one-make race series used in the Venturi Gentlemen Drivers Trophy.
It was powered by a 3 liter twin turbo V6 with 408 hp and 530 Nm of torque.
The main difference between the race cars and the street cars consisted of a series of small changes aimed at road homologation. The street engine was the same as the race version. The passenger compartment was taken from the Venturi 260. Only about 15 street versions and 73 units for racing were built.
The TVR Cerbera Speed 12 was an ultra high performance concept vehicle designed by TVR in 1997. Based in part on the TVR hardware at that time, the vehicle was intended to be both the world’s fastest road car and the basis for a GT1 class Le Mans racer.
The vehicle’s engine, displacing 472 cui and having twelve cylinders, was reportedly capable of producing nearly 1000 horsepower, although an exact measurement was never made. It’s performance was said to be astonishing, and by all calculations it would have been capable of hitting sixty miles per hour in the low-three second range and power to well over 240 per hour.
One of the more notorious tuners of the era was Koenig Specials. Known for custom body parts and conversion-kits, Koenig had created some truly outrageous show cars.
It is hard to decide which was their most radical car, because among the top cars was a Twin Turbo Ferrari F50, a 1000 horsepower Ferrari Testarossa nd a road going version of Porsche’s 962 prototype race car. We chose the Porsche 962 road car.
Koenig’s C62 is technically a conversion based on original Porsche 962 chassis. To attain the necessary ground clearance and headlight position, and entirely new carbon fibre body was constructed. Koenig punched out the three liter version of the boxer engine to produce more low end torque. Other engine modifications included softer cams and a Bosch Mototronic system.
After a long production run of over 7000 cars, Ferrari updated their Testarossa design into the 512 TR. The body was slightly updated by Pininfarina, while much work was done by Ferrari under the hood to gain roughly 40 more bhp. It was way better than the Testarossa and is often forgotten by collectors. Great car and great buy.
In 1985 De Tomaso rolled out GT5-S, a real sports car and six years later it was the 1991 Pantera turn, completely changed in its styling by Marcello Gandini design. 38 vehicles equipped wîth a 5-liter Mustang V8 engine developing 305 hp were manufactured before starting the production of Guarà.
Only two Series II Super Speedsters based on the ZR1 model were ever made so this 90s supercar is less forgotten and more “not ever known”. It was the offspring of collaboration between Corvette performance guru Reeves Callaway and designer Paul Deutschman.
The Super Speedster LM was an astonishing step up on the original Speedster, taking full advantage of the ZR1’s Lotus-engineered, all-aluminum DOHC engine and 6-speed manual transmission. It had a twin turbocharged and intercooled LT5 engine built by Callaway, delivering a pavement-shredding 766 HP.
More than “just” an incredibly well-engineered engine swap, the Callaway possessed engineering modifications to the suspension and driveline that fully complemented its massive power output. The Le Mans body is the only one used on a Speedster and was designed by Paul Deutschman.
The Venturi Atlantique was a mid-engined, fiberglass-bodied French sports car produced by Venturi Automobiles from 1991 to 2000.
The original 260 was a revised version of the Venturi APC 260, carrying over the 2.8L turbocharged V6 engine with 260 hp (194 kW; 264 PS), but with a reduced weight of 1,110 kg (2,450 lb). It was good for a top speed of 167 miles per hour (269 km/h) and accelerated from 0-60 miles per hour (97 km/h) in 5.2 seconds.
Another special from the Koenig Specials team. This looks like an aftermarket hack job. This car is more than it seems. It is a hand-built custom car by a famous Ferrari workshop owner. It had a 4.8 V8 Twin Turbo Racing Engine with 600 horsepower and a Top speed of 335kph (208mph).
Panoz Esperante GTR-1
Almost a race car in street-legal trim, the front engined GTR-1 was built to meet the 24 Hours of Le Mans homologation requirements. Power came from an aluminum block V8 engine pushing over 600 horsepower. It was definitely one of the most unusual cars of the era.
The GTR-1 debuted at the 1997 12 Hours of Sebring but failed to finish. It later failed to finish the Silverstone Circuit and again racked up DNFs at Le Mans, where all three of them were scratched due to mechanical failure. One was even destroyed when it caught fire.
In 1992 Aston Martin’s works service offered a 6.3 liter upgrade on existing models. Easily identified by their ‘Virage 6.3 Litre’ badge, these were fitted with a larger version of the potent V8 engine. Furthermore the rest of the car was comprehensively upgraded in this £50,000 conversion.
The engine work involved enlarging the engines to 6347cc which resulted in 465 bhp to 500 bhp. Other upgrades included larger brakes, a wider bodykit and in some rare cases features that were offered on the upcoming Vantage model. Both coupes and convertibles were equipped with the 6.3 engine.
For customers that missed out on the very limited production run of X180Rs, the 300 Sport was offered in 1993. It essentially offered the same package as the X180R race car. With an optional LotusSport package, the car incorporated a full roll cage, harness and fire extinguisher. All versions of the Sport 300 featured the 300 bhp, S910 power plant which was similarly tuned to X180R specification.
A number of weight saving provisions were made. This helped lower the weight of the car by 250 lbs compared to the Esprit SE.
If the Jaguar XJ220 was the fastest production car in the mid-nineties, then the TWR supercar made from the Le Mans race version had to be astonishing. Compared to the standard XJ220, TWR’s version sported a new composite body, a more powerful engine and went on a weight-reducing diet. Tom Walkinshaw Racing (TWR) and Jaguar Sport announced the XJ220S, a limited-production, road-going version, to comply with homologation requirements. It was easily the most radical supercar in Britain.
TWR’s version replaced every panel, expect the doors, with carbon fiber. In doing so they added a front splitter, wider sills and an adjustable rear spoiler that gave the car an imposing edge and made the standard XJ220 look docile.Overhauled out to 680 bhp, TWR took the twin-turbo V6 to its limits. Combined with a weight reduction that removed the stereo, air conditioning and heavy seats, the car could accelerate to 60 mph in 3.3 seconds and reach 228 mph. Only 9 were built.
The W8 delivered staggering numbers for the early 1990s, outperforming the fastest Ferraris and Lamborghinis of the era. In 1992 it was declared the fastest production car in the world by Road & Track, but its laurels were quickly stolen by the McLaren F1, which arrived for the 1993 model year. Despite its short-lived success, the Vector W8 remains the first American-built supercar and already benefits from classic status, with some examples fetching enormous amounts of cash.
The Vector M12 was the first vehicle produced after the hostile takeover of the company from Jerry Wiegert by the Indonesian company Megatech. The model was produced from 1995 to 1999, when production was halted, partly due to slow sales of the cars and mismanagement of the company. The average price of the vehicle was $184,000 (USD).
The vehicle was a rebodied Lamborghini Diablo with a chopper gun fiberglass body set on a lengthened Diablo chassis. It was a loose copy of the Vector AWX-3, which was not released due to the Megatech hostile takeover.
The drivetrain was a 5.7 liter Lamborghini V12 engine, which produced 492 hp and 425 lb/ft of torque at 5200 rpm.
So close and yet so far. These are the 1990s supercars that almost were. Candidly we wish some of these were made and we are happy some of them died before arrival. We will let you decide which is which.
Originally conceived in 1994 with construction completed in 1995 by a United Arab Emirates Citizen who desired to own the fastest, individually owned car in the world! He contracted Mercedes which in turn also contacted Lotec for the body design. The letter C stands for the carbon fiber (race car), and the number 1000 stands for 1000 horsepower.
Power plant powered by Mercedes and body design by Lotec. It is a 5.6 liter V-8 Mercedes engine, with Garrett twin turbo chargers. Runs on a mixture of unleaded gas, and aviation fuel. Body consists of carbon fiber and Aerospace material frame. Design and engineering cost over $1,000,000 and total production cost was over $2,200,000. 0-60mph in 3.2 seconds, 0-125 mph in 8.08 seconds, top speed of 268 mph. A cool one off car that wowed us.
Built with Japanese backing, Le Mans-winning driver Vern Schuppan created his very own street-legal Porsche 962. These cars were built as a tribute to his victory at the 1993 Le Mans behind the wheel of a Porsche 956. After 2 years and $7million in development only 6 out of an initially projected 50 Schuppans were made. Due in part to the worldwide downturn in the hypercar market, but also due to the astonishing $1.5 million asking price! In either case, the 962CR, when new, was one of the most expensive cars ever produced. After payment failed to arrive when two cars were shipped to Japan, Schuppan was forced to declare bankruptcy. The 962CR remains as the only car Vern Schuppan has ever made
Ok technically this car never made full production, but Italdesign did produce a version of the M12 for the Sultan of Brunei and his brother Prince Jefri Bolkiah and that is good enough for us. After styling supercars like the Lotus Esprit and Lancia Delta, Giorgetto Giugiaro created this one for BMW in 1991. Giugiaro had already styled BMW’s first modern supercar, the 1978 M1, so his newer M12 was a natural evolution.
Italdesign’s production versions for the Sultan were unlike the first show car. A version was fitted with the S70B56 BMW V12, but upgraded by Alpina to produce more horsepower.
In 1993, Italdesign again revisited the M12 project. Fitted was a new carbon-fiber body lacking front lights. Called the C2, both a coupe and spider version were made. Like the M12 these were fully functioning prototypes.
This is a car we wish they made. The Spiess C 522 was a joint development of hardware manufacturers Gemmingen and generator manufacturer GEKO. It was designed by Karl-Heinz Knapp, formerly of Mercedes/AMG. A super-sports car with a tuned engine from the Chevrolet Corvette to be built in a limited edition of just 100 examples, initially priced about 500,000 DM, and later 870.000 DM. The prototype had 2+2 seating, a monocoque chassis of carbon fiber composite materials, steering wheel-tip control (flappy paddles), ABS, traction control, and reportedly over 500 hp.
The project never got beyond the planning stage. There was only one built, with a dummy engine for presentation.
Following his purchase of the Onyx Formula One team in 1992, Peter Monteverdi sought to take that technology onto the road in the form of the 650 F1 hypercar.
This high tech beast was based on an F1 monocoque chassis and powered by no less than an F1 650hp Cosworth V8 with screaming 11000 rpm redline. A staggering 766 bhp/ton power to weight ratio produced a claimed 208 mph top speed and McLaren F1 like acceleration of 0-125mph in around 8 seconds.
Orders were taken and two models produced (plus a third non runner). However, the 650 was not road legal, so customers never saw their cars as Monteverdi changed his mind and kept them all for promotional use!
One of the little known Ferrari prototypes is this one-of supercar built on Testarossa S/N 83935 for the 1993 Geneva Auto Show. Called the Formula Zagato ’93 (FZ93), it followed a small series of curious Zagato 348s and some classic Zagato-Ferraris which were all built in exclusive numbers.
FZ93 was penned by Ercole Spada who made a return to Zagato and design this car. Ercole was responsible for the legendary Aston Martin DB4 Zagato and more recent cars like the iconic Alfa Romeo 155. His Testarossa made no concessions to the original and featured stylistic creases, huge air intakes and pleasing curves.
The Spectre R42 is a 2-seater mid-engined rear-wheel drive supercar built by British speciality car manufacturer Spectre Supersport. The car was offered to the public in the early summer of 1996. The car was designed by Ray Christopher of GT Development fame, who built accurate replicas of Ford GT40. The R42 was the modern reincarnation of the GT40 given the same wheelbase and size of the cars together.
The Spectre R42 is powered by a 4.6 litre (281 cubic inches) Ford V8 with 4 valves per cylinder with an output of 335 hp at 6000 rpm and a peak torque of 317 lbs-ft at 5000 rpm. Zero-to-sixty was achieved in around four seconds and top speed was reached at 175 mph. The engine was placed mid-ship. the combination of development costs and a worldwide recession forced GTD into receivership late in 1994.
This Espace came on the scene in 1994, celebrating ten years of partnership between Renault and Matra with ten cylinders for birthday candles. To make the Espace F1, Matra used 1994 world champions Williams Renaultâs power train unit.
This engine was fitted centrally in the Espace without changing the model. To do so, they took an Espace off the assembly-line, cut out its floor pan to replace it with a carbon body structure harbouring the 820 hp V10, sequential box and automatic attitude control.
With a special front end, ad hoc brakes and aerodynamic appendices to prevent it from flying away, it could get up to 300 kph!
Built by Gigliato Design Co., LTD, the Aerosa is a high end sports car that was designed and conceived in Japan by Nobou Nakamura. They unveiled the car hoping to win over customers with a price tag of $65,000, a simple Mustang V8 platform and a striking design.
In 1997 Gigliato announced a partnership with Lamborghini for deal with engineering, production component supply, delivery and marketing. The plan was to sell the Japanese-designed car from a headquarters in Düsseldorf, Germany. Furthermore, Gigliato announced a motorsports program for 1998, including a stop at Le Mans. At this time the car was changed to include fixed front headlights and gold wheels.
The Aerosa hasn’t been seen recently, so perhaps it will remain a lonely prototype, like so many Lamborghini based dream cars in the past.
The Mosler Consulier GTP and its Intruder and Raptor variants are some of the strangest supercars ever built. Even though it looks like a cheap kit car, it has a carbon kevlar body and handles beautifully.
In 1991, Czech automobile manufacturer Václav Král decided to get in the supercar game with the MTX Tatra V8. With its sleek styling, scissor doors, and pop-up headlights, the Tatra certainly looked the part, but it was more than just a pretty face. The car was powered by an air-cooled V-8 32v DOHC motor that produced 302 bhp and gave it a top speed of 152 mph.
After its debut at a Prague motor show in October 1991, Václav Král began production to fulfill the nearly 200 pre-orders. Fate wasn’t on their side, however; after only four vehicles were produced, a factory fire shut production down for good.
Mega decided to join the small group of manufacturers producing exclusive supercars in 1996. Their acquisition of Monte-Carlo Automobile Ltd included plans to build an exclusive super sports car for both the road and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Much like the Porsche 917s and F1 cars built by Sera CD, the Monte Carlo was both striking and purpose built. The first Monte Carlo was displayed at the 1996 Geneva Motor Show. It showcased proven engineering which included a carbon fiber chassis, carbon fibre brakes and a mid-mounted, Mercedes V12 engine. By 1998 a production version was ready with optional carbon brakes and rear wing.
One of the mysterious supercars of our time is the Isdera Commendatore 112i. This one-of prototype is such a rare sight, that its photos, outside of the shots from the car’s release during the 1993 Frankfurt Auto Show, are hard to come by. Over the last decade, the situation has been particularly frustrating, but now, we finally have photos from one of the the most striking and advanced supercars from the nineties.
The Commendatore is the final product of ex-Porsche designer Eberhard Schulz and his two sons. It was completed as a pre-production prototype which was to be followed by a limited series with a unit cost of $450 000 USD. Unfortunately, before any production Commendatores were made, Isdera went bankrupt and the remainder of the company was sold to Swiss interests. While the Commendatore never reached production, we are lucky that the the sole prototype has survived and has been driven 3000 miles since new.
The same homologation requirements that gave us the GT-One, 911 GT1 and CLK-GTR gave us the totally lovely Nissan R390 GT1. Just two road cars were built, which featured a mid-mounted V8 making around 550 horsepower. The street and race cars were engineered by Tom Walkinshaw racing, which built the superlative Jaguar XJR-9 and XJR-15 road car, and designed by Ian Callum. Nissan kept one of the cars but allegedly, another is owned by a private collector. Consider yourself very lucky if you ever see it on the street.
The Golden Era – Homologation, The Big Mac and the Rise of the Everyday Supercar. Your Ultimate Guide to the Best Supercars from the 1990s
This is our first in a series of posts about the awesome cars of the 1990s. In this post we curate the best supercars from the 1990s, an era stacked with exotic masterpieces. Some of the defining features of the 1990s supercar era includes the amazing McLaren F1 and the revelation that was the Honda NSX as well as the spirit of competition amongst top manufacturers in prototype racing that created some awesome limited run homologation specials for the road.
The high performance supercar market went from niche to mainstream in the 1980s. Supercars like the Lamborghini Countach, Porsche 959 and Ferrari F40 had collectively wowed car fans the world over in the late 1980s and with Wall Street humming and the global economy in good shape, the appetite for exotic cars only grew going into the early 1990s. As the 1990s started, many pundits wondered however whether we had already reached peak car. After the extraordinary supercars of the eighties, many supercar manufacturers entering the nineties asked “how on earth do we follow that?”
It is impossible to talk about the 1990s supercar era and not mention the impact of the mighty McLaren F1. McLaren came along in the mid-90s with the ultimate supercar, the McLaren F1. The F1 did not just beat the other supercars at the time, it blew them away so convincingly that it wasn’t until the Bugatti Veyron came along more than a decade later that its acceleration and top speed records were beaten. It was Gordon Murray, the former F1 engineer and his obsession with weight savings and attention to detail that redefined what a supercar could be. It was like no other supercar before it (or like any other since), a car that redefined what it meant to be a supercar.
At the other end of the spectrum was the Honda NSX. It came along in the 1990s and shook up Lamborghini, Ferrari and Porsche. Here was a major manufacturer known for small compact Honda Civic cars who created a supercar that was easy to drive, was fast and agile and didn’t break down. Anybody could drive it. It forced all the sports car makers to get better and ushered us all into the world of the everyday supercar. Speaking of everyday Supercar, the 1990s saw the 911 Turbo genuinely scare the top players with more than 400 horsepower, all wheel drive and astonishing performance in a daily driver.
On our list of the best 20 cars, no less than six cars raced. In fact, five of the cars on our top supercars of the ‘90s list were expressly built to race and are known as homologation specials. Carmakers had fully embraced the “win on Sunday, sell on Monday” mantra in the early 1990s and channeled vast amounts of money into trying to find racing glory. Racing homologation rules (stipulating that road-going versions of cars had to be manufactured for homologation) inspired automakers to produce these machines. The FIA GT1 class therefore produced some of the best race cars of the mid-1990s and (thanks to those loosely interpreted homologation requirements), some of the wildest street cars too. These included the Porsche GT1, Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR and the insane Dauer 962 LM.
In terms of awesome supercars, the 1990s were the golden age. Fun times indeed. Please read on for our take on the greatest 1990s supercars.
Criteria note:We focused on the first year of manufacture as our criteria for a car making it into the decade. If the car had first been manufactured in the 1980s and was carried over into the 1990s largely unchanged then it belongs in the 1990s (aka Ferrari F40). If it was initially built in the 1980s but was substantially updated or had a sub-model in the 1990s then it could make the 1990s list (aka Ferrari F512 M).
Read on for our ranked list of the greatest supercars of the nineties. We discussed whether to rank the cars versus just have an unranked list and realized it was way more fun to have people argue about rankings than not.
Having raced the Esprit in GT2 and GT3 classes, Lotus began to develop a new version of the car to race in GT1 class racing. Development of the car was entrusted to the newly formed Lotus GT1 Engineering group, which included many staff from the recently dissolved Team Lotus. For us however the more impressive Lotus of the 1990s was the 1999 Lotus Esprit Sport 350.
It was the ultimate incarnation of the Esprit. Only 50 were made. Taking the V8 GT further, the Sport 350 was one of the most exclusive Esprits made. It featured the standard-spec V8 with blue-painted intake manifolds. What set the 350 Sport apart from the VT GT was a number brake, suspension and chassis improvements. Lowering the kerb weight was a primary design focus for Sport 350. Apart from the weight reduction, the other major change to Sport 350 was its braking system. While exclusivity was offered with the Sport 350, it is a shame Lotus never tuned the engine beyond its standard specification. This is strange given the fact that every other aspect of the car was up-rated for track use. It was one of the closest cars to emulate the track experience on the road.
All wheel drive. Twin turbo flat six engine. Over 400hp. Ludicrous performance. Porsche delivers a daily driver that destroys supercars. The ultimate air cooled 911.
Power: 424bhp @ 6250 rpm / Torque: 423 lb-ft @ 4500 rpm / Engine: 3.6 L twin-turbo Flat-6 / Produced: 1997 / Base Price: N/A / Units sold: 183 cars produced / Top Speed: 183 mph / Acceleration (0-60 mph): 4.4 seconds
Considered by many Porsche enthusiasts as the “ultimate 911”, the type 993 represented a unique blend of power and simple elegance. The car had a more streamlined look and was “lower slung” than earlier versions of the 911. The styling was perfect and it is still the best looking 911 series. This was the last of the “air-cooled” Porsche 911s (insert sad face here).
The turbo-version of the Type 993 Porsche 911 was also introduced in 1995 and featured a bi-turbo engine that was at the top of the performance pack for the time. For Turbo 993s the 3.6 liter got twin KKK K16 turbos and made 402 hp although you could customize your order (on Turbo S and GT2 models) to up that to 444 hp. The 993 Turbo was the first 911 Turbo with all wheel drive, essentially lifted from the 959 flagship model.
During the second to the last year of production of the 993 (1997), Porsche offered the 993 Turbo S. The X50 power pack had larger turbos, intake and exhaust upgrades, and a new computer. Power upgrade got it to 424 hp and included extras like carbon fiber decoration in the interior as well as very cool yellow brake calipers, a slightly larger rear wing, a quad-pipe exhaust system and air scoops behind the doors. This was the last of the air-cooled 911 Turbos and our favorite.
The ultra-rare Nissan 390R was basically a detuned Le Mans racer offered for sale to the public at a hefty $1,000,000. Only two were made. It was the fastest and most expensive Nissan road car ever developed was created to comply with the Le Mans GT1 Class regulations which required manufacturers to build at least one street-legal version of the race car.
Unlike many others, Nissan built the road car first and built the racing version from it. The R390 GT1 design was the work of Ian Callum at Tom Walkinshaw Racing. Behind the driver sits the heart of this true supercar, the VRH35L twin-turbocharged 3.5-litre double-overhead-camshaft V8 engine with electronic sequential port fuel injection which produces 549.9 bhp @ 6800 rpm while complying with all European market exhaust gas regulations. R390 GT1 performance as one would expect is staggering and includes a sub 4.0 second zero to 60 mph time and top speed north of 220 mph.
Inside are normal road car appliances such as full instrumentation and leather-covered driver and passenger racing seats. The short-throw gear lever for the Xtrac six-speed sequential gearbox and tiny racing steering wheel are reminders of the close alliance between the road car and the vehicle which captured four out of the top-ten spots in the 1998 Le Mans 24-hour race.
Big, bruising and totally nuts. This twin-supercharged V8 Aston was the most powerful car in the world for a while. Handling sucked, quality was iffy, but it was still very cool.
Power: 550.0 bhp @ 6500 rpm / Torque: 550.0 ft lbs @ 4000 rpm / Engine: Twin Supercharged V8 / Produced: 1993 – 2000 / Top Speed: 186 mph / Acceleration (0-60 mph): 4.5 seconds / Base Price: NA / Units sold: 281 cars made
Bullish, aggressive and in many ways a tad ham-fisted when compared to today’s lithe, delicate yet calmly aggressive Astons, the Vantage battered its way to 186mph with the help of its 5.3-litre supercharged V8 mounted ahead of the driver and sending power to the rear.
The Vantage was one of the cars that emerged during the era of Aston Martin’s ownership by Ford Motor Company, and featured harsher edges to its styling than had been seen on many Aston Martins previously. This styling was taken a step further in 1999, with the release of the Aston Martin Vantage Le Mans. The special edition’s looks came somewhere between that of a bull and a shark, which fit the 600bhp machine’s personality quite well.
Last production mid-engine flat-12 model and the final iteration of the famed Testarossa. Updated chassis and engine massively improved performance and driving experience.
Power: 440 bhp @ 6750 rpm / Torque: 368.8 lb/ft @ 5500 rpm / Engine: 4.9 L Tipo F113 G Flat-12 / Produced: 1995–1996 / Base Price: N/A / Units sold: 501 produced / Top Speed: 196 mph / Acceleration (0-60 mph): 4.6 seconds
We chose the F512 M over the 512 TR as our favorite Ferrari Testarossa. The result of constant evolution, the 512M shared almost all of its engineering from the 512 TR that came before it. The F512 M was the last version of the Testarossa.
The F512 M sports had the same 4.9-litre Tipo F113 G longitudinally mid mounted flat-12 engine with 440.0 hp at 6,750 rpm. Most of the changes were limited to slight body upgrades that many consider ruin the lines of the original design. In our eyes it looks better so it got the nod over the 512 TR. The front and rear lamps received a design change. The pop-up headlamps were replaced by two fixed square units. The rear tail lamps were round and the bumpers had been restyled to yield a more unified look as well as the addition of cool twin NACA ducts.
This is where the GT3 legend begins. Porsche wanted to go racing in the GT3 endurance category and developed this 3.6 liter Mezger engined masterpiece. Thank you Porsche.
Power: 360 @ 7200 rpm / Torque: 273 lb/ft @ 5000 rpm / Engine: 3.6L Water Cooled Flat-6 / Produced: 1999–2001 / Base Price: $90,000 / Units sold: ~1,868 cars produced / Top Speed: 187.7 mph / Acceleration (0-60 mph): 4.5 seconds
The GT3 we love today all started in 1999 with the 996 model GT3 and it all started because Porsche wanted to enter the GT3 class of the FIA. Porsche began investing in developing both the race car and the road-going version which was required by GT class homologation rules and the GT3 was the result. The GT3 became the 996’s range-topping model until a new GT2 was launched.
Based on the 996 Carrera, the 996 GT3 was a really a track focused sports car that was lighter, sharper and more potent than its everyday sports model siblings. To help in the performance stakes, the GT3 the water-cooled flat six was loosely based on the GT1 and got a dry-sump crankcase with an external oil tank making it more powerful and higher revving. Gone were the rear seats, sunroof, air conditioning, radio and a boatload of sound deadening.
Major design changes included a more aggressive front end with larger headlamps shared with the Boxster, a sleeker body, and a more raked windshield. Design and aerodynamic features exclusive to the GT3 included slimmer air vents for the front bumper, a front splitter, new side skirts, a revised rear bumper, new wheels, and massive rear wing.
The GT3 quickly became the choice for drivers because of its remarkably sharp throttle response, better steering, steady balance, and amazing engine. While a Turbo had it beat for outright speed, this was the ultimate drivers Porsche. Its lighter body and race tuned suspension tuning also made it a perfect machine for attacking weekend drivers who wanted a track car.
If you are in the U.S you may at this point wonder why you can’t find any GT3s from the era for sale. Porsche did not bring the GT3 to the United States until 2004 (see the 996.2 model just below).
My favorite car debuted in 1999. Most people think the Zonda was a car from the early 2000s. While it was the 2002 Zonda with the upgraded 7.3-liter V12 that people remember, Pagani had already been successfully marketing the Zonda for three years up till that point. It was originally launched as the C12-S in 1999.
Power: 415.0 bhp @ 5200 rpm / Torque: 488.0 ft lbs @ 3600 rpm / Engine: Naturally aspirated 8 liter V10 / Produced: 1996-2002 / Base Price: US$58,500 / Units sold: NA / Top Speed: 170.0 mph (273.6 kph) / Acceleration (0-60 mph): 4.7 seconds
Some might not consider the original Dodge Viper a supercar, but at the time of its release it was a revelation with its aggressive looks and insane 8-liter V10 engine. The 1996 RT/10 could be referred to as a second generation Viper and it featured a host of upgrades over earlier Vipers produced from 1992 to 1995. It was a much better car. Outwardly the main difference to the 1996 Viper was the absence of side exhausts which were replaced with two standard exhausts exiting the rear. The three spoke wheels were also gone and replaced with 5-spoke counterparts. Inside, the cabin remained largely unchanged, but a removable roof was standard as was sliding plastic panels for the windows. Underneath, the chassis was stiffened, suspension geometry revised and a more robust rear differential was installed.
Our pick of the 1990s Viper’s was the GTS which was launched in 1996. It was a more powerful version of the RT/10 with 450 hp and a new double bubble coupe body. Beyond more power though, the GTS had over 90% new parts compared to the RT/10. In 1997 and 1998 model years the Viper would continue to receive minor updates and the GTS would get second-generation airbags, revised exhaust manifolds, and a revised camshaft for 1997, and the RT/10 would gain a power increase up to 450 hp (336 kW; 456 PS) for 1998.
A pure-bred Le Mans car, created specifically to contest the world’s most famous 24-hour race with no compromise in terms of design or engineering. Road version equally nuts.
The Toyota TS020, better-known in Europe as the Toyota GT-One, is a pure-bred Le Mans car, created specifically to contest the world’s most famous 24-hour race with no compromise in terms of design or engineering. The engine had its heritage in the twin-turbo V8 which powered Toyota’s Group C cars in the late 1980s.
In accordance with the FIA rules of the day, the GT-One had also to be developed as a legal road car. In fact the differences between the race and road versions were small: in road-going mode, the rear wing was set lower and the suspension ride height was raised. A smaller fuel tank was fitted and the addition of catalytic converters ensured the vehicle complied with emissions regulations. Toyota says the engineers at Toyota Motorsport GmbH created just two ‘production’ TS020 GT-Ones – one is on display in its museum, the other in Japan.
Porsche wants race. Takes 993-based 911 and grafts it to the rear-end of a 962. Adds twin-turbo 3.2-liter water-cooled flat-six engine capable of developing 600 hp. Done.
Porsche management wanted to compete in factory-based GT racing programs. It developed a brand new car. Basically it was 993-based 911 and essentially grafted it to the rear-end of a 962. dropped a twin-turbocharged 3.2-liter water-cooled flat-six engine capable of developing 600 hp. A futuristic 911-inspired carbon fiber shell finished the exterior packaging.
In order for Porsche to enter the highly competitive GT1 category back in 1996, a total of 23 road going-machines had to be built. To be specific there were two 1996 cars, 20 1997 cars and only one variant was built in 1998. The Strassenversion (road going) uses a 3.2-litre twin-turbo flat-six engine which puts out 536bhp and 443lb ft of torque. Now these might not seem like big numbers compared to modern supercars like the Porsche 918, but considering the GT1 only weighed 1120kg, the GT1 could get to 62mph in around 3.4 seconds. Unfortunately the GT1 was routinely beaten on track by Mercedes’ ferocious CLK-GTR. As a result, Porsche – along with a number of other manufacturers – pulled out of the GT1 class for 1999, effectively killing the championship class.
Might be based on a Porsche 911, but the Ruf CTR2 is far from a typical German sports car. Almost 520 hp from a Le Mans-derived twin-turbo engine. Straight line monster.
Power: 520 bhp @ 5800 rpm / Torque: 505.2 ft lbs @ 4800 rpm / Engine: 3.6 liter air-cooled twin-turbo flat-6 / Produced: 1995-1997 / Base Price: US$315,000 / Units sold: 16 standard CTR2, 12 CTR2 “Sport” / Top Speed: 220 mph (354 km/h) / Acceleration (0-60 mph): 3.5 seconds
Based on the 993-chassis 911 Turbo the CTR2 featured either the standard rear-wheel drive or an optional all-wheel-drive. It had a totally upgraded and custom suspension system, uprated brakes and integrated roll-cage as well as a very custom and cool wing. The body was made out of kevlar to save weight. The heart of the CTR2 was the race derived air-cooled Porsche 3.6 litre. It had twin-turbos and was based on the engine used in the Porsche 962 Le Mans Group C car. The team at RUF tuned it to produce 520 hp 505 ft lbs of torque.
In addition to the “regular” CTR2 was the CTR2 Sport. Built up from a Porsche 911 Turbo body-in-white, RUF manufactured the CTR-2 Sport for ultimate outright performance. The specially built engine was tuned to produce almost 600 hp depending on boost. Options included a roll-cage, a clutchless RUF EKS transmission, adjustable torque bias, adjustable boost control. This is the ultimate in straight line insanity, able to accelerate to sixty in 3.5 seconds (in 1995) and onto a top speed north of 220 mph. Crazy.
The CLK GTR was born out of Mercedes-Benz desire to duke it out against Ferrari and Porsche in the FIA GT Championship. Essentially taking elements of a CLK racer and some road car trimmings and mashing them together, they produced the prototype in time for the 1997 season.
Although the 1999 GT1 class was cancelled, Mercedes-Benz had already promised 25 road-going homologation versions to customers and was obliged to produce these. Customer cars featured a 6.9-litre V12 which produced 604bhp, bestowing the GTR with ballistic performance – 0-60mph took 3.8 seconds, on the way to a top speed of 214mph.
This came at a steep price; despite comforts being kept to a minimum in an effort to save both weight and cost, the production CLK GTR was listed at the time as the most expensive production car ever built in the Guinness Book of World Records, costing $1,547,620.
In 1999, Mercedes-Benz were due to race a CLR – a track-focused version of the CLK GTR – at Le Mans, until in qualifying on the back straight of the Circuit du Sarthe Mark Webber’s car took off, flipping several times as it tumbled into the bushes. In the race itself, a second similar incident took place while Peter Dumbreck was at the wheel, leading Mercedes to withdraw from the event and move away from sports car racing.
Jaguar’s first production supercar, the XJ220 was a bold step. Crappy sounding engine and huge turbo lag. Held top speed record till McLaren F1 came along.
Power: 542.0 bhp @ 7000 rpm / Torque: 475.0 ft lbs @ 4500 rpm / Engine: TWR 6R4 V6 (twin turbo) / Produced: 1992 – 1994 / Top Speed: 217 mph (349.2 kph) / Acceleration (0-60 mph): 3.9 sec / Base Price: US$700,000 / Units sold: 281 cars made
The XJ220 started life as a mid-engine, four-wheel-drive concept car developed by Jaguar employees in their spare time. That initial concept was planned around a V12 powerplant. By the time the first customer cars were delivered in 1992, a twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6 sat mid ship, delivering 542bhp. The basic shape and aims of the car remained the same however.
With a top speed of 212mph, the XJ220 was the fastest production car from its launch through to 1993, when it was topped by another British-built speed machine. This peaked initial interest in the car, but between the 1990s financial recession and the car’s retail price of £470,000, few took up the offer of ownership and only 281 cars were produced throughout its run.
It was handy on the track too; it went straight to the top of the Nurburgring time sheets in 1991, recording a lap of 7:46:36; Hardly surprising, considering it was built with help from Tom Walkinshaw racing.
Lighter, faster and better handling than all other Diablos. Race car modifications finally made the outrageous Diablo a serious road racing supercar.
Power: 575.0 bhp @ 7300 rpm / Torque: 465.0 ft lbs @ 5500 rpm / Engine: 6.0 liter 60 Degree V12 / Produced: 1999-2000 (Diablo GT) / Top Speed: 215 mph / Acceleration (0-60 mph): 3.6 seconds / Base Price: US$309,000 / Units sold: 83 cars made
Lamborghini were never ones for making their own job any easier. This is the manufacturer that built the Miura then gave itself the task of following it; they managed that – in terms of impact if not necessarily driving experience – with the incredible Countach. Entering the nineties, they had to do it again.
Enter Diablo, the name literally translating as Devil (check). At launch it was fitted with a 5.7-litre V12 producing 485bhp, enough to launch its sleek and flash, yet still muscular body from 0-60 in 4.5 seconds and on to a top speed of 196bhp.
The Diablo, despite its nefarious name, was somewhat tamer than the car that came before it. It featured carbon fibre in the cockpit, but this was surrounded with luxurious leather trim.
That’s not to say it wasn’t without its evil side, most potent in later iterations the 510bhp SV and the rear-wheel-drive SE30 Jota – featuring that 5.7-litre V12 bumped up to 595bhp and various racing-focused changes that revealed the Diablo’s darker side. Only 15 Jotas were delivered from the factory, though 28 kits were produced, making this one of the rarest Lambos of the era.
Our pick of the litter is the Diablo GT. Lamborghini introduced the Diablo GT in 1998 based on the formula of the SE30 and the SE30 Jota. It combined the modifications of the GT2 race car with the outrageousness of the Diablo to offer serious road racing performance. So much so, it remains as the fastest road-going Diablo ever made by the factory. At the time of delivery in September 1999, the Diablo GT was also one of the fastest supercars as well, reaching a top speed of 215 mph (346 kph). It was easily the best Diablo made.
For the detailed oriented, about is a picture of the GTR. It took the GT and made it even crazier. Interior was stripped bare, it got a full roll cage and things like the stereo, soundproofing, and air conditioning were all removed. Add some Plexiglass windows, a fire suppression system, and single seat with a six-point harness. Hardcore.
Ferrari’s most undeservedly underrated supercar. Superb.
Power: 513.1 bhp @ 8500 rpm / Torque: 347 lb/ft @ 6500 rpm / Engine: 4.7 L DOHC 65 degree Tipo F130B V12 / Produced: 1995 – 1997 / Top Speed: 202 mph / Acceleration (0-60 mph): 3.7 seconds / Base Price: $480,000 / Units sold: 349
So far in this countdown, we’ve had a lot of homologation-special racing cars repurposed for the road to meet the entry requirements for their respective championships. The F50 was different in that it featured components of an actual racing car, toned down only slightly for the road.
The Ferrari F50 began life with a tough act to follow. Its predecessor, the F40, had blown the motoring world away through the eighties and well into the nineties. Ferrari had to pull something very special out of their hats to follow Enzo’s final sign off for the company.
Their starting point was one of their old racing engines; the 3.5-litre V12 from the company’s 1990 F1 car. This was bored out to 4.7-litres before being mounted mid-ship in a carbon fibre monocoque chassis.
The resulting machine produced 513bhp, sent to the rear wheels in a car that weighed just 1320kg. The result? 0-60 in 3.8 seconds, a claimed top speed of 202mph and a deafening driving experience that shook owners to their cores. For those seeking an even more visceral experience, the roof could be removed.
Sadly the F50 could never live up to its legendary predecessor. In tests, its top speed came up far short of the F40’s 201mph, and the more bloated F50 was never as pure an experience as the car that went before it. Still, we feel it deserves a place on the list of the greatest supercars of the nineties.
Dauer showed up to Le Mans with road and race versions and promptly won. FIA changed the rules to make sure the 962 wouldn’t be back in 1995. Now that is badass.
One of the weirder footnotes in Le Mans history is the Dauer 962, which won the race in 1994 thanks to some creative rulebook interpretation.
From 1983 forward, the Porsche 956 and its 962 IMSA spec version dominated for a decade. Porsche manufactured nearly 150 956/962s and sold many of the cars to private teams. Dauer took a handful of these Porsche 962s and modified them for street use. It is one of the most extraordinary cars to be sold for the streets, but that’s what allowed Porsche to enter the 962 in the GT category at Le Mans in 1994.
Of the companies that have produced a 962 road car, the most successful has been Dauer. After displaying their first 962 at the 1993 Frankfurt Show, Dauer partnered with Porsche to manufacture a contender for the 1994 24 Hours of LeMans. At the 24 hour race, Dauer showed up with both a road version and race version of the Porsches 962, a design which had already won Le Mans six times. After winning the race, the FIA declared it would be creating rules to make sure the 962 wouldn’t be back in 1995. However, with a Le Mans win under their belt, and with support from Porsche, Dauer continued to build their road-going 962.
Power: 444 bhp @ 6000 rpm / Torque: 431.5 lb/ft @ 4500 rpm / Engine: 3.6 L twin-turbo Flat-6 / Produced: 1995–1996 / Base Price: NA / Units sold: 57 cars produced / Top Speed: 187 mph / Acceleration (0-60 mph): 3.7 seconds
I dread to think what the nineties supercar scene would have been like had it not been for homologation requirements. The track-focused, road-going 911 GT2 was introduced in 1993, initially to meet the requirements for GT2 regulations.
The formula of ultra-light, high-power and track credentials seemed to strike a chord with Porsche’s customer base, as the German marque kept the twin-turbo track rocket on its order sheets all the way through to 2012.
424bhp came courtesy of the rear-mounted 3.6-litre power plant, fed air through neatly-positioned intakes at either end of the GT2’s colossal rear wing. Other contemporary road-going 911s of the day also had four-wheel-drive, though this was scrapped in the GT2 in favour of racier rear-wheel-drive.
This made the 993-generation GT2 quite the handful on track or on the road, and a certain level of driving prowess is required to keep one pointing in the right direction over a “spirited” series of bends. You know is good when it gets a top 20 finish in our best Porsche’s ever list.
With a quad turbo, 3.5-litre V-12 the Bugatti EB110 GT seemingly defined the term “supercar”. It was one of the most technologically advanced cars of the 1990s.
Power: 650.0 hp @ 8000 rpm / Torque: 477 lb/ft @ 4200 rpm / Engine: 60 Degree quad-turbo V12 / Produced: 1992 – 1995 / Top Speed: 217 mph / Acceleration (0-60 mph): 3.35 seconds / Base Price: US$380,000 / Units sold: 31 cars made
Initially revealed on the company’s founder, Ettore Bugatti’s 110th birthday in 1991, the EB110 came to be the last Italian-produced Bugatti before VAG took over the troubled automaker.
These days the Bugatti name stands purely for all-out speed and refinement, and though the EB110 was never a record breaker at the top end of the speed stakes, topping out at 216mph in the era of the McLaren F1, it was capable of reaching 62mph in just 3.2 seconds in 1992 Supersport trim – one of the fastest cars of its era over that dash.
That rapid acceleration was mostly thanks to the Bugatti’s 3.5-litre, quad-turbo V12, which transferred 604bhp to the road through all four wheels.
There’s something really appealing about all of the little design details on the EB110 which could be easily overlooked; from the cluster of circular air intakes just behind the doors, to the elegantly simple interior, all the way down to the gearshift layout positioned on the transmission tunnel, keeping the gear knob uncluttered.
The car that shook the supercar world. A supercar that could be driven every day, didn’t break down and anybody could drive. Thank this car for today’s supercars being usable.
1991 saw the launch of a supercar that caused a shock across the whole automotive scene. With the NSX project, Honda set out to build a true supercar that had none of the ergonomic issues or reliability problems that plagued exotica at the time.
Sold under the Acura brand in the States, and the Honda brand across the rest of the world, the NSX featured a 3.0-litre V6 with Honda’s trademark VTEC technology supplying the power, mounted mid-ship with extra consideration to the positioning of the seats and fuel tank for optimal weight distribution.
Honda’s pedantic construction of the car paid off; famous fans of the NSX included none other than Ayrton Senna himself, and the handling was enough to take the fight to the supercar elite of the day and cement the NSX’s place in supercar history – even becoming the reference point for a certain McLaren still to come on our nineties list.
Our pick of the range is the 1997 NSX-T. Acura increased the DOHC 24-valve VTEC V-6’s displacement from 3.0 liters to 3.2 and replaced the five-speed manual with a six-speed box for 1997. That meant 290 horsepower and 224 pound-feet of torque from the normally aspirated, 8000-rpm-redline engine. The immediacy of the NSX’s reflexes is matched with elegance and phenomenal precision and the engine’s flyweight reciprocating assembly loves to rev.
The best ever. Period. The end. Obsessive focus leads to the creation of the greatest supercar of all time.
Our Pick:McLaren F1 LM / Power: 671 bhp @ 7800 rpm (F1 LM) / Torque: 520 lb/ft @ 4500 rpm (F1 LM) / Engine: 6.1 L (6,064 cc) BMW S70/2 V12 / Produced: 1993–1998 / Top Speed: 240.1 mph (386.4 km/h) / Acceleration (0-60 mph): 3.2 seconds / Base Price: ~US$650,000 / Units sold: 106 cars
If cars like the Ferrari F40 and Porsche 959 began the chase for something beyond the supercar, then McLaren birthed it with the F1. Gordon Murray’s masterpiece was for a long time the fastest production car ever made. Its top speed of 240 mph puts much of even today’s supercar crowd to shame, and ergonomic features like the driver-centered, three-seat cockpit have rarely been seen since.
The technical challenge of getting a road car to such incredible speeds was one unlike any other manufacturer had undertaken. McLaren, after initially seeking out Honda power given the two company’s success together in Formula One racing, eventually settled on a 6.1-litre BMW V12. This was mounted in the middle of the car, and put 618bhp through the rear wheels.
The F1 was also the first production car to use a carbon fibre monocoque chassis, and gold famously lined the engine bay to aid with heat dispersal. This effort paid off, granting the F1 a staggering 0-60 time of 3.2 seconds and that all-important 240 mph top speed.
After delivering 100 customer cars McLaren stopped production after seven prototypes, 64 road cars, 5 special F1 LMs (built to commemorate victory at Le Mans in 1995), three F1 GTs (road going versions of the long tail 1997 F1 GTR race car) and 28 F1 GTR road cars. Of these, the Sultan of Brunei owns the most, and has two very special black F1 LMs with striking Pininfarina graphics as well as an exact replica of the F1 GTR that won LeMans.
