A long time ago, performance cars were rather crazy. They had tons of power, but little in the way of assists or help. They were one with the driver, and the experience was entirely dependent on the driver's skill and their ability to correct mistakes. Even though some of them were beyond terrifying, others actually didn't require all that much skill.
Over the years, automakers have invented and found various ingenious ways to counteract the danger, and to help even the most hesitant driver feel like a hero behind the wheel. That's a good thing, as sports cars are getting more and more powerful. But, there were also a few manufacturers that didn't bother, leaving us with cars that were absolutely terrifying to drive.
10 Porsche Carrera GT
Launched in 2005, the Carrera GT was Porsche's second ever proper supercar. It was a totally bespoke car, on a bespoke chassis, bespoke bodywork, and a totally different engine when compared to its other Porsche contemporaries. It is undeniably the best analog supercar ever made.
Behind the passenger compartment was the Carrera GT's crown jewel, a 5.7 liter V10 developing 612 hp, and one of the most incredible exhaust notes in history. The Carrera GT is most notable for its total lack of forgiveness if the driver makes a mistake, mostly thanks to the lack of stability control. The Carrera GT's driving experience led to the loss of one of the most famous names in the car community.
9 Dodge Challenger Demon
There can be no disputing that the Challenger Demon is a difficult car to drive, but even looking at the figures might make a driver freak out at the prospect of hopping into the driver's seat. 840 hp, 9.65 second 1/4 mile time, and little in the way of handling upgrades.
Obviously, the Demon was designed with one goal in mind; to annihilate the drag strip. To this day, it holds the record for fastest 1/4 mile time ever achieved by a production car. The way the Demon gathers speed and the fact that its handling is on par with most other Challengers when it's time to go into a corner is terrifying even to think about.
8 2013 Shelby GT500
American tuning and racing legend Carroll Shelby sadly passed away in 2012. But, before he did, he was involved in one final project that would cement his reputation and heritage for the rest of time. The 2013 Shelby GT500.
Designed as both a send-off to Shelby himself, and a send-off to the S197-II Mustang, the Shelby GT500 was the most powerful production Ford ever made when it launched. Squeezing 662 hp from a supercharged 5.8 liter V8, the GT500 could do almost 200 mph. Unfortunately, not much was done to fix the Mustang's archaic driving dynamics, resulting in a car that felt like it actively wanted to kill the driver.
7 Koenigsegg CCX
When the CCX launched in 2006, it represented somewhat of a turning point for boutique automaker Koenigsegg. The design language had slowly evolved and there were some more bespoke components. The biggest change was to be found under the engine cover.
The CCX shoehorned the old Ford Modular V8 under the engine cover in favor of Koenigsegg's own 4.7-liter V8 with two superchargers thwacked on it. Total system output was 806 hp, with 900 possible on the biofuel-tuned version. The drag coefficient of the body combined with the lack of a rear wing on the prototypes made this the first car to spin out of control when driven by The Stig on Top Gear. Even with a wing added, it was still very scary.
6 Caterham Seven 620R
The original Lotus Seven was a bare-bones, stripped out, no-frills sports car that was simply designed to obliterate a racetrack and not much else. After it disappeared in 1973, Caterham bought the license to build it, and they still do to this day. The crown jewel of the Seven lineup is the 620.
Like most other Caterham models, the 620 has a Ford Duratec 4-cylinder engine under the hood. But, the 620 adds a supercharger to give a colossal 310 hp. That's almost the same amount of power as a Honda Civic Type R in a car that weighs 1,200 lbs. It was absolutely terrifying to drive, and going around corners required a lot of concentration and finesse.
5 Lotus Carlton/Omega
When it comes to cars that were infamously and notoriously fast, the Lotus Omega ranks quite high. Based on the Opel Omega, or the Vauxhall Carlton in the UK, the Lotus badge took the humble family sedan and turned it up to the max.
The V6 engine under the hood was stroked to 3.6 liters, and then two turbochargers were added for good measure. The end result was 377 hp, sent to the rear axle through a 6-speed manual transmission. The Lotus Omega could reportedly do almost 180 mph, and it's infamous for being possibly the first car that the UK government wanted to ban outright, after one was involved in some high profile crimes.
4 Ferrari F50
Following the success of the 288 GTO and the iconic F40, Ferrari built the third car in the family, intended to commemorate their 50th anniversary. With the anniversary and the fact that this is a Ferrari, the automaker wasn't ready to make compromises.
The engine in the F50 was lifted out of an actual F1 car, the 1990 Ferrari 641, specifically. It was stroked out to 4.7 liters, giving it 512 hp and a top speed of a claimed 202 mph. The F50 also thought that driver aids were for weaklings, as it featured no ABS or traction control at all. That, combined with how much they're worth and the infamous engine-bolted-to-your-spine feeling when you're driving it makes it quite a scary car.
3 Aston Martin Vantage LeMans V600
Even though this rather infamous Aston was called the Vantage V600, it was actually based on the older Virage. The Virage was primarily tuned for comfort, so when customers saw that they could spec it up with a performance package, it sounded great on paper.
The V600 package took everything up to 11. The 5.3-liter twin-supercharged V8 now made 600 hp, making it the most powerful car in the world at the time. The engineers also locked a gear from the transmission, and even with only 5, this thing could theoretically do 200 mph. Sadly, it was terrifying to drive and had quite the smoking habit, leaving Aston to ax it a few years later with only a few hundred units sold.
2 Opel Vectra OPC/Vauxhall Vectra VXR
Opel and Vauxhall models from the 2000s were never highly regarded among journalists and consumers alike, but that didn't stop Opel from making a slew of performance versions during the decade. The Vectra OPC/VXR was their response to the fast sedan craze.
This Vectra was placed right in the firing line of the Ford Mondeo ST220 and the Mazda 6 MPS (Mazdaspeed6). On paper, it could run rings around them, thanks to a turbocharged 2.8 liter V6 and a top speed of 167 mph. Unfortunately, the Vectra OPC remained FWD, and Opel didn't do much to counteract the downfalls. Tons of understeer and tons of torque steer were afoot as a result.
1 TVR Speed 12
This car was so absolutely insane, that TVR themselves canceled the project after the CEO took it for a spin... once. The Speed 12 project was conceptualized as a fast road car and the foundation for a world-dominating GT1 race car all in one.
The massive 7.7 liter V12 under the hood made around 800 hp in the highest state of tune. 800 hp in a car that weighed 2,400 lbs. Needless to say, it was absolutely terrifying. While the Speed 12 did eventually make it to the racetrack, the road car was canceled after it literally broke a dyno and was deemed by the company's owner as being unusable on the road.