The Europeans had no equal when it came to the production of high-performance vehicles in the 1990s. All of the major carmakers, and a few of the smaller ones, had at least one supercar on the market that offered pretty impressive performance figures, especially when it came to acceleration and top speed. Cars like the legendary McLaren F1 or the F50 really stretched the boundaries of automotive technology.

Design engineers experimented with various concepts and engine configurations to squeeze out as much power as possible for the driver to harness on the open roads. There was no shortage of such supercars at the time, and here are a few that really stood out with their top speed capabilities.

10 Jaguar XJR-15 – 191MPH

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via roadandtrack

Not many people have heard about the exclusive Jaguar XJR-15 but this was one of the most unique vehicles at the time. It was the world’s first fully carbon-fiber bodied car and this kept its weight down to just over 1,000kg.

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via thesun

Consequently, the 6.0-liter V12 powerplant could easily propel the car to 60mph in 3.2 seconds and an impressive 191mph maximum speed. 53 units of the car were produced before Jaguar ended that project and focused on the development of its next supercar, the XJ220.

9 Porsche 911 GTI Strassenversion – 191MPH

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via motorauthority

Porsche had a lot of success in the mid-1990s with its 911 GTI race car, a car that boasted some pretty impressive handling and performance stats. By 1998, they built a ‘street legal’ version that carried over most of the characteristics of the race version.

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via steemit

The car looked pretty wild and had the performance to back its extreme looks. It could rocket to 60mph in under 4 seconds and had no problems reaching a top speed of about 191mph. Porsche kept the car exclusive by restricting the production run to just 25 units with each one priced at $912,000.

8 Mercedes Benz CLK GTR – 199MPH

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Mercedesblog

With a price tag of about $1.5million, the CLK GTR earned itself a place in the record books as the most expensive production car when it launched in 1998. However, that was not the only notable thing about this extreme supercar.

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via supercars.net

It was also very quick and had few rivals who could match it for pace. The CLK GTR packed a 6.9-liter V12 that produced about 600hp. It could accelerate to 60mph in as little as 3.2 seconds. The quarter-mile happened at 11.3 seconds on the way to the car’s top speed of 199mph.

7 Lamborghini Diablo SV – 202MPH

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via mecum

The Lamborghini ‘SV’ badge is an acronym that literally means ‘Super Fast’ in English. It connotes a car built primarily for speed and the Diablo SV was no exception when it was introduced in 1995 to continue the Diablo model line. The powerplant was the customary naturally-aspirated V12 that had become synonymous with Lamborghini flagships.

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via amazon

In the Diablo SV, that engine produced all of 510hp and 428 pound-feet of torque. That’s an increase of 25hp over the first Diablo version. The Diablo SV was able to translate its power output to a 4-second sprint to 60mph and a top speed north of 200mph.

Related: Ranking The Fastest Manual Transmission Sports Cars In The World

6 Ferrari F50 – 202MPH

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via ferrarisonline

The Ferrari F50 had very big shoes to fill when it was announced as the replacement for the legendary Ferrari F40, a car that represented the peak of Ferrari at the time. The F50 may lack all the drama of the F40 but it is still a special car in its own right.

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via motorward

It incorporated a lot of technology from Ferrari’s racing program including its 4.7-liter V12 engine that generated 512hp at a screaming 8,500rpm.

5 Lister Storm – 208MPH

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via naumanfarooq.wordpress

Lister auto company started out tuning Jaguar cars before they evolved into building their own cars. The Lister Storm was the first product of that evolution and was known as the fastest 4-seat supercar for many years.

1994-lister-storm
via thetruthaboutcars

The supercar drew its power from a Jaguar-derived V12 that generated 546bhp at 6,100rpm. That power was fed to the rear wheels by a 6-speed manual transmission setup. The Lister Storm weighed in at 1,664kg but could still get going pretty briskly; able to hit 60mph in about 4 seconds.

Related: Ranking The Fastest Front-Engined Supercars

4 Jaguar XJ220 – 212.3MPH

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via britishgq

The ‘220’ in this car’s name was supposed to reference a top speed of 220mph. It did not quite manage to reach that mark but a real-world top speed of 212mph is still pretty impressive. The Jaguar XJ220 was powered by a twin-turbocharged V6 engine that churned out 542hp and 475 pound-feet of torque.

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via autocar

It was not the V12 that had been promised to prospective customers and this problem, coupled with a host of other company issues, ultimately prevented the XJ220 from reaching its true potential as a first-rate supercar. Today, it remains the last supercar built by the company.

3 RUF CTR 2 Sport – 217MPH

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via petrolicious

RUF is a German car manufacturer that builds cars mostly using unmarked Porsche chassis. They are well known for their extreme creations and the RUF CTR 2 was about as extreme as it got. The car debuted in 1995 as a feisty yellow-painted machine that boasted a top speed well north of the 200mph mark.

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via opumo

It was hailed as the fastest production car in the world, edging out other powerhouses like the Ferrari F50 and the Jaguar XJ220. To power the car, RUF used a 3.6 twin-turbocharged flat-6 engine that put out as much as 589bhp, setting the foundation for that remarkable on-road speed performance.

Related: 15 Quickest Muscle Cars Americans Have Ever Made

2 Bugatti EB110 SS – 220.6MPH

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via supercars.net

Bugatti was going through some of the most difficult times in their history when they launched the EB110 in 1991. However, the supercar showed no signs of the company’s problems and became quite the legend.

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via autoclassics

The power in the standard EB110 was rated at 553hp but the Super Sport version had received some tweaks and the quad-turbocharged V12 engine now put out 603hp. The EB110 SS was also lighter and could hit 60mph in a just 3.1 seconds and the speedo needle would continue climbing until it reached 220mph.

1 McLaren F1 – 231MPH

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via tomhartleyjnr

Even today, more than 2 decades after it first launched, the legendary McLaren F1 is still revered as a halo supercar and it was not just about that unique driver’s position. This car featured a host of revolutionary technology and rewrote the rulebooks for supercar handling and performance.

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via topgear

In experienced hands, the car could reach a top speed of about 231mph. The McLaren F1 overtook the Jaguar XJ220 as the fastest production car in the world and remains one of the fastest naturally-aspirated cars today. Moreover, thanks to its groundbreaking performance and top speed, many consider this car to be the first hypercar, as opposed to the 2004 Bugatti Veyron.

Next: These Were The World's Fastest Cars...In The '80s