The American auto industry has always been a big player in the global automotive scene. The US is among the largest car manufacturing nations and is also home to one of the world's largest automotive markets, which is not surprising since Americans invented the auto industry as we know it.
Although American automakers are famous for massive production volumes, you'll still find several cases where they produced some cars in limited numbers. Some of these rare models were too expensive to build, others were trim levels that only a few buyers opted for, while others were built by companies that didn't have the capacity to produce more examples. Whatever their reasons for existence are, let's explore ten incredibly rare American cars.
10 1967 Shelby Mustang GT 500 Super Snake - One-Off
The beautiful partnership between Ford and the legendary Carroll Shelby has given us many iconic cars, and the Mustang GT500 Super Snake is arguably the best of them. This incredible muscle car came to be when Goodyear asked Carroll Shelby to build them a special car to test their new high-performance tires.
The car needed to be fast, so Shelby dropped a 7.0-liter V8 from the Ford GT40 race car into a 1967 GT500, resulting in the Super Snake. The Super Snake could hit a top speed of 170 mph, which was unheard-of for a muscle car. Unfortunately, only one GT500 Super Snake was ever built as the cost of production was too high.
9 Oldsmobile F-88 - 4 Units
Back in the '50s, manufacturers would produce several prototypes of cars they were working on and give them to the public for promotional and testing purposes. That's exactly how the Oldsmobile F-88 came to be.
Oldsmobile wanted to build the ultimate roadster, so they took the first-generation Corvette, ditched the lousy V6, and dropped in a Rocket 88 324 V8 engine generating 250 hp. Some experts claim that Oldsmobile built just four F-88s, but only one is known to exist today.
8 1969 Chevrolet Corvette ZL-1 - 2 Units
The 1960s will forever be remembered as the greatest Corvette years ever. This fantastic decade gave us the 1963 Corvette Sting Ray, one of the most beautiful American sports cars ever, the 1967 L88, and the 1969 ZL-1. The ZL-1 is a true unicorn of a car, as only two were ever made.
The ZL-1 was the highest trim one could get for the 1969 Corvette, but it was incredibly expensive. However, it was worth every penny as the two lucky buyers got a fire-breathing aluminum 7.0-liter V8 with 430 hp on tap along with other upgrades like special brakes, an upgraded suspension system, and a transistorized ignition system.
7 Vector W8 - 22 Units
Although Vector Aeromotive Corporation was fairly new to the automotive industry in the '90s, it aimed to build the most advanced supercar. So in 1990, the American company introduced the W8 — a wedge-shaped supercar that looked great and had the power to match.
Under the W8's hood lived a Chevrolet-sourced 6.0-liter small-block V8 paired with twin turbos. An output of 625 hp made the W8 one of the most powerful sports cars of the '90s. Unfortunately, a price tag of $450,000 and several mechanical problems led to poor sales, and only 22 W8s were ever produced.
6 Shelby Cobra Super Snake - 2 Units
Every gearhead knows about the Shelby Cobra — one of the greatest things to come out of a Britain-America partnership. However, as good as the Cobra was, Carroll Shelby didn't think it was good enough to be his personal car. So in 1967, Shelby decided to build the ultimate Cobra for himself, resulting in the Super Snake.
Shelby equipped the Super Snake with a massive 7.0-liter V8 and added a pair of Paxton superchargers, resulting in a crazy 800 hp. The Super Snake had a 0-60 of just over 3 seconds and a top speed of 200 mph. Shelby built only two of these cars, and the only one that survives was recently sold for $5.5 million at a Barrett-Jackson auction.
5 1971 Pontiac GTO Judge Convertible - 17 Units
The Muscle car industry was under attack in the early '70s thanks to tightening government regulations regarding emissions and safety, but that didn't stop Pontiac from building one of its greatest hits — the 1971 GTO Judge Convertible.
Just like the ordinary GTO Judge, the convertible had a big block 455 V8 engine under the hood with 335 hp on tap, crazy graphics, and a massive spoiler on the hood. However, a base price of over $4,000 was just too much for most gearheads in 1971, so Pontiac only sold 17 GTO Judge 455 convertibles.
4 1970-1971 Plymouth Barracuda 426 Hemi Convertible - 21 Units
The 1971 Barracuda 426 Hemi Convertible was special for several reasons. For one, it had a new design that looked much better than its predecessor. Secondly, it was equipped with one of the most powerful engines at the time — a 7.0-liter HEMI V8 pumping out 425 hp.
Third, the convertible was extremely rare, as Plymouth made only 21 examples. The low production was due to the expensive price tag and the fact that many gearheads felt that the HEMI engine was too powerful for a convertible.
3 1970 Ford Torino King Cobra - 2 Units
The 1960s were great for NASCAR, as it saw some of the best muscle cars of the day face off against each other. NASCAR allowed aerodynamic modifications during the 1969 and 1970 seasons, leading to cars like the Plymouth Superbird and the Dodge Charger Daytona.
Gearheads fell in love with these "Aero Specials" thanks to their crazy appearance and racing success, prompting Ford to build its own version in 1970 — the Torino King Cobra. Unfortunately, Ford learned that NASCAR planned to ban Aero Specials from the 1971 season, so it shelved the project after building only two prototypes.
2 Hennessey Venom F5 - 24 Units
Most gearheads have heard of Hennessey Performance, an American tuning company that builds some of the best custom cars. Hennessey now builds its own cars, and the new Venom F5 is an absolute beast.
The Venom F5 is designed to break all possible speed and performance records. It comes with a 6.6-liter twin-turbocharged V8 confirmed to have an output of 1,817 hp and 1,193 lb-ft of torque. Hennessey predicts the Venom F5 will be capable of breaking the current production car speed record. Production is limited to just 24 units, each costing $2.1 million.
1 1969 Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1 - 69 Units
In the late '60s, Chevy engineers went to work and developed the most powerful Camaro ever at the time — the 1969 ZL-1. This was essentially a drag-ready factory car and could only be bought through Chevrolet's COPO Program.
The beating heart of the Camaro ZL-1 was an all-aluminum V8 racing engine rated at 430 hp but capable of generating much more. The ZL-1 also had various race-derived components, including a Harrison four-core radiator, a transistorized ignition, multi-leaf rear springs, and cold-air induction.