If there's anything all the exotic sports cars produced in the past century have taught us, it's that great performance comes with sleek and aggressive looks. In fact, it's the reason sports car designers are now working overtime to one-up other brands and give their cars the coolest exteriors that communicate competence and power.

All that said, exotic-looking, mid-engine cars aren't all inherently fast, and that was proven with numerous examples over the years. Not counting mid-mounted minivans like the Toyota Previa, mid-engine designs did offer superior handling but without power to back it up, the cars suffered from lackluster acceleration.

In this list, we take a look at some aggressive-looking sports cars that famously failed to deliver on the performance front and rank them according to their unflattering 0-60 mph times.

10 Mazda RX-8 - 6.3 Seconds

Blue Maxda RX-8 on the road - front
Via: Mazda

A recent application of the Wankel Rotary engine in a production car belongs to the Mazda RX-8. This iteration was 1.3 liters, but unlike the 160 horsepower naturally-aspirated RX-7, Mazda managed to squeeze a staggering 232 horsepower out of it.

Mazda RX8 (Blue) -  rear
Via: Mazda

It's noted for being extremely balanced through corners, lightweight, and easy to drift. Unfortunately, it was not unanimously well-received, possibly because of its less than impressive acceleration and its unquenchable thirst for oil and gasoline.

9 Panther Solo - 6.8 Seconds

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Via: Wikimedia

The Solo was a sports car built by Panther in the late 1980s. It was originally intended to release in 1986, but following the successful debut of the Toyota MR2, the Solo had to undergo a severe design overhaul.

panther-solo
Via: Goodwood

Instead of a maximum of 130 horsepower from a turbocharged engine, the Solo got sharper with a 204 horsepower 2.0-liter turbo inline-four. With this and a new AWD system, the Solo topped out at 144 mph but took 6.8 seconds to reach 60 mph. The Solo lacked the speed to compete against other cars in its price point, namely the Lotus Esprit Turbo and 911.

RELATED: 5 Mid-Engined Concept Sports Cars We Wish They'd Make (5 Mid-Engined Cars That Are Best Forgotten)

8 DC Avanti - 7.5 Seconds

dc-avanti
Via: Pinterest

The DC Avanti was the first loosely defined supercar to come from India. Powered by a 2.0-liter turbocharged four-cylinder from Renault Sport, its 250 horsepower gets it to 60 mph in 7.5 seconds, though that could be due to its scale-breaking curb weight of 3,443 pounds.

dc-avanti
Via: Pinterest

Unfortunately, the car was only made for a few years. The company made news in 2020, as DC's founder, Dilip Chhabria, was arrested by Mumbai police for inducing a scam in which he sold his cars to his own company, taking out multiple loans on each car before selling them to third parties.

7 Toyota MR2 AW11 - 8.2 Seconds

The front of a black AW11 MR2
wikipedia.org

It's well known that the first-generation Toyota MR2 had its fair share of problems, to say nothing of gears popping out of position and rust showing up in inconvenient places. Speed was certainly not its ally either, as it was cursed with just 112 horsepower for the US market from its 1.6-liter inline-four.

Toyota MR2 AW11
via Pinterest

All generations of the MR2 are renowned for their kart-like handling, but even forced induction was no match for the car's heftier curb weight. With a supercharger, the first generation MR2 weighed over 2,400 pounds.

6 NA Miata 1.6 - 9 Seconds

miata-na
Via: Wikimedia

Mazda released the first generation Miata in 1989. It had a 116 horsepower 1.6-liter inline-four, weighed just 2,100 pounds, and came equipped with independent suspension on all four corners.

miata-na
Via: Miata Club

Its weight is distributed evenly across the car, and its short wheelbase allowed it to carve mountain roads with exemplary precision. Speed was never Mazda's goal with this car, and it shows with its sluggish 9-second 0-60 mph time. Fortunately, it excelled at what it was originally intended as, which was a driver's car.

RELATED: 5 Greatest American Mid-Engined Sports Cars (5 European That Are Faster)

5 Lancia Scorpion - 9.8 Seconds

lancia-montecarlo
Via: Wikimedia

The tale of the Lancia Montecarlo and its mangled state upon reaching U.S. shores is a tragic one. It started as an Alfa project but was eventually developed under Lancia. Because of emissions, the USDM car received a 1.8-liter, 81 horsepower engine.

lancia-montecarlo
Via: Wikimedia

U.S. models were all convertibles, and safety equipment like big metal bumpers was required and thus made the car much heavier than intended. All this severely hurt the Lancia, making it yet another pathetic victim of the USDM.

4 2004 Smart Roadster Finale - 10.3 Seconds

Smart Roadster
Via Pinterest

U.S. motorists have witnessed little boxes on four wheels bobbing down the street to the tune of Alvin and the Chipmunks called Smart Cars, but something they likely won't ever witness is a Smart Roadster.

en.wikipedia.org

It's a convertible smart car that had its front end stretched out a few feet, and because of emissions equipment requirements does not qualify to run on U.S. roads. Its powertrain is small but impressive, as a 700cc turbocharged inline-three, making 60 or 80 horsepower. At 1,851 pounds curb weight it's slower than even a shifter kart.

3 Fiat X1/9 - 10.4 Seconds

fiat-x1-9
Via Flickr

Despite its abysmal lack of speed, the Fiat X1/9 looked great on paper. Its style was sporty, reminiscent of later Pontiac Fieros, it had a four-speed manual transmission and four-wheel disc brakes. Although it had a 67-horsepower 1.3-liter inline-four in the U.S., its weight likely had more to do with its sluggish acceleration.

fiat-x1-9
Via Pinterest

At 2,200 pounds some outlets reported having the throttle pegged for up to 15 seconds before the car would hit 60 mph. Thanks to an upgraded suspension it handled brilliantly, lending the car some bragging rights.

RELATED: 5 Cheap Mid-Engined Sports Cars We'd Love To Own (5 That Are Best Avoided)

2 Matra Bagheera - 11.8 Seconds

matra-bagheera
Via: Wikimedia

Production of this French travesty dragged on for seven long years. Its exterior was a sitcom of wedge-designed front meets Ford Pinto rear, but owners could choose between a couple of displacements. Either 1.3-liters or 1.4-liters got the car 83 or 89 horsepower, respectively.

matra-bagheera
Via: Wikimedia

Either one didn't help its cause, because as its fastest version the Bagheera had 89 horsepower from its 1.4-liter engine, and hit 60 mph in 11.8 seconds. Fortunately, its reign of terror ended in 1980.

1 1970 Porsche 914 - 13.9 Seconds

porsche-914
Via: Hemmings

Unfortunately, a Porsche does make this list, and it’s one of the slowest. At its slowest, the car came with a 1.6-liter flat-four producing 80 horsepower to the rear wheels, mated to a manual transmission, and the car weighed just over 2,000 pounds. Stepping into the Porsche demands some accountability from the spine, and once inside it feels as if there's but an inch of clearance from the ground, including the floor of the car.

porsche-914
Via: Hemmings

There's not much around where feet land—it's practically empty space—and while 80 horsepower doesn't sound like enough to make an impression, the sheer possibility of any sort of wreck, whether it be with a curb or a Smart Roadster, is terrifying.

NEXT: Everyone Forgot About These Mid-Engined Sports Cars