Europe may have produced tons of lackluster cars over the years, but no one can deny the fact that it's home to most of the world's greatest sports cars. Some of them, such as the McLaren F1 are virtually flawless, while the current Alpine A110 and the Porsche 718 Boxster really do come close. These vehicles are really great in terms of performance, handling, power, and style. However, sometimes, car brands can manage to build a pretty brilliant car only to mess up in one important aspect.
This list will explore the relevant European sports cars that were almost perfect, but sadly one thing just let them down. Vehicles like the Mercedes SL65 and the original Aston Martin Vanquish are good examples of this, where one thing just went wrong, and this ruined (at some points) the entire concept of cars like such aforementioned vehicles.
10 Smart Coupe (Roof Leaks)
The Smart Coupe was a part of the Smart model lineup, and the car sold well. The car looked small and compact and had great handling on the road. The Coupe was a great product because it looked fun and was very fashionable.
However, there were issues with the roof leaking on the Coupe. The warranty repairs ended up being so expensive that the car became uneconomical for Mercedes. Sadly, this meant the car was never replaced, despite being popular. The vehicle was simply too costly to be run by the brand.
9 Alfa Romeo Brera (Bad Handling)
The Alfa Romeo Brera was launched in 2005 and was generally received as a good looking vehicle that was capable of great speed. The Q4 'Busso' V6 engine equipped by Alfa Romeo was a great addition and was fun to use.
Yet, there was one main issue with the car. The issue was with the bad handling dynamics. It was too nose-heavy and understeered at any given opportunity. The tuned ProDrive edition did fix this, but the car is rare as hen's teeth.
8 Jaguar XJS (V12 Unreliable Engine)
The XJS was not one of the worst cars built by Jaguar. The car was luxurious and had a lot of space. It was fairly good to drive and the six-cylinder version of the car is highly renowned. Many enthusiasts are keen to drive the XJS nowadays too, showing its longevity as an interesting and now-classic car.
On the other side of this, however, was the XJS that was equipped with the V12 engine was incredibly bad. The V12 version of the XJS was renowned for being unreliable. Practically everything went wrong with the V12 engine that could have been imagined and to repair it cost a real lot.
7 Maserati Coupe (Bad Gearbox)
The Maserati Coupe, launched in 2001, was an early attempt at a paddle-shift gear box. And generally, without taking the gearbox into account, the Coupe was actually not that bad of a car. The engine and the car both looked good and many enjoyed the car.
However, the gearbox itself had a mind of its own. The gearbox was very laggy and was disappointing. The paddle-shift gearbox was new technology and Maserati definitely had some teething issues with it. Thankfully later models did have better units.
6 BMW Z8 (Extremely Overpriced)
The BMW Z8 was created in order to be an homage to the legendary 507 created in the 1950s. The one problem with the car was mainly that it was too soft to be a sports car yet carried around an insanely high price tag. Even today, these can easily fetch over $200,000 on the used market, which is insane for a 395-horsepower cruiser. In fact, the car did better as a cruiser rather than being a true sports car. Despite this, the retro appearance of the car was a definite win for BMW.
Simply put, BMW could not make the Z8 live up to the 507. The handling of the car wasn't great and the suspension was too soft. It definitely was suited to working as a cruiser and may have been more successful if BMW hadn't marketed it as a sporty car.
5 Lancia Gamma Coupe (Faulty Water Pump)
The Lancia Gamma Coupe was launched in 1976. The car was roomy for a sports car and it was fairly fast too. The Coupe's handling was great and was an example of Lancia giving a genuinely exotic car at a fairly normal budget.
However, there were problems with reliability. One key issue was with the water pump ripping off if the driver went full lock and the engine was cold. This in turn lead to a fair few Gammas having their engines blow up as the cooling failed. Not a great characteristic.
4 Porsche 911 996 (Intermediate Shaft Problems)
Launched in 1997, the Porsche 996 was generally on point with its driving and reflects the manufacturing capabilities of the Porsche brand. But there were some real letdowns with the 996 and the problems are really what the car is renowned for rather than for the manufacturing.
One key problem was with the intermediate shaft. This could easily lead to engine problems as well as a full break in the engine. The costs associated with an engine rebuild are extremely high and this is unattractive for enthusiasts and prospective buyers.
3 Audi TT MK1 8N (Unreliable At High Speeds)
When the Audi TT was launched as a concept, it was so well received that it was almost unchanged when it came to the release of the car. This was a great entry-level sports car while also being very popular. However, problems arose when the car was driven at high speeds.
The car became unstable on the roads, meaning that Audi had to take the Audi back and recall it. Thankfully, a small spoiler fixed this issue. The car managed to come back and was a great car, but still, the initial problems are still noted nowadays.
2 MG SV (Cheaply Made)
The MG SV was launched in 2003 and was looking like a great sports car. The V8 engine was borrowed from Ford and was a great addition to the car. With big expectations, enthusiasts looked forward to the production of the car.
Despite this, MG was not in a brilliant financial position. If the company had enough resources and money to make more than 82 then the SV would have been likely to help push funds into the company. The fall of MG was more relevant than the SV and as such the car was not very successful.
1 Lotus Elan M100 (FWD Implementation Didn't Work)
When the Lotus Elan M100 was launched in 1989, there were big expectations for the success of the car. Truly, it could have been a really great car. The implementation of an FWD in the Elan was new and very different for a company known for RWD sports cars.
Sadly it had to compete with the RWD Mazda MX-5 at launch. The Elan did not and it was the worst time possible for the Lotus company to produce a FWD vehicle. The Miata really cemented the relationship in the modern era of RWD sports cars. If the Elan had used RWD, the car could have been just as successful as the Elise. It is a real shame that the Elan M100 did not feature FWD, and its success was compromised due to this.