The United States has one of the largest automotive markets in the world and is also among the largest car manufacturing countries. However, while mostly known for mass-produced cars rather than handbuilt exotics, not all the cars produced there is a common sight.
Some of these models are very rare because they were expensive to build, others are rare because of the options the buyers would spec them with, and some were concept cars that never made it to production due to various reasons. However, rare vehicles have gained a staggering amount of value on the market and car lovers who are able to are always prepared to buy these rare classic cars at exorbitant prices.
10 1967 Shelby Mustang GT 500 Super Snake
It's been more than 50 years since this one-off Shelby Mustang was built. Carroll Shelby was a distributor of Goodyear tires; so it wasn't strange when the company asked him to build them a unique car for high-speed testing of their product, the new Thunderbolt tire.
The Super Snake had taller gearing for maximum top speed with super-sized front disc brakes. It was fitted with a 427 FE racing engine from the GT40 model producing 520 horsepower, which translated into a top speed of 170 mph.
9 Oldsmobile F-88
The 1954 Oldsmobile only saw 4 units built before the project was canceled, but only one car still exists today. With a 250 horsepower Rocket 88 324 V8 engine and a fiberglass lightweight exterior, this could've been a very exciting sports car.
The Oldsmobile F-88 was made on a Corvette chassis. At that time, Corvette only had 6 cylinder motors so Oldsmobile used their own 324 V8 engine.
8 Gaylord Gladiator
In the early 50s, a new company in the automotive industry came to be after the Gaylord Brothers from Chicago inherited a lot of money. Contracting a German engineering company to build the Gaylord Gladiator excited royalty, the rich, and the famous alike. Despite the anticipation from potential buyers, only two known cars were ever built.
There is talk of having been a third, but there is no proof to support that claim. Fitted with a V8 engine producing 305 horsepower, the Gladiator was capable of accelerating from 0-60 in 8 seconds.
7 Dodge Coronet 426 Hemi Convertible
In 1967, Dodge introduced the Road and Track line for the Coronet. Sporting the new 7.0-liter Hemi V8 engine at the time, these convertibles are a rare commodity. Only two convertibles were made, one in 1967 and another in 1970.
That’s right, only two, one with a four-speed and one with the Torqueflite automatic. Both cars are still around today. The 4-speed car was recently restored on Velocity’s Graveyard Carz TV show, and the automatic was sold by Mecum auctions in 2008.
6 Ford Torino King Cobra
Designed to compete in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the Ford King Cobra was a prototype vehicle. Due to rule changes, the King Cobra was unable to compete. Only three prototypes were ever produced before Ford discontinued production of the King Cobra.
With a 429 Semi-Hemi V8 engine producing nearly 400 horsepower, the King was really very fast for its time moving from 0-60 in 5 seconds.
5 Packard Panther
The Panther was a concept car built in 1954 to showcase the company's ideas. Because of the shortage of steel at that time, it was built with a fiberglass body. Only four prototypes were ever made and are now privately owned, fetching huge sums at auction if you're lucky to find one.
This 2-speed automatic transmission had a 5.9-liter V8 engine and was producing 275 horsepower. The Panther had a 359-cubic inch straight eight the biggest engine available at the time.
4 Chevrolet Corvette ZL-1
Only two Chevrolet Corvette ZL-1 are known to have been built in 1969 and are still in existence to this day. The ZL 1 was very fast and lightweight capable of sprinting from 0-60 in 4 seconds. Very impressive at that time and even today it's faster than most cars. These were the most powerful Corvettes to be produced.
The Chevrolet Corvette ZL-1 had an aluminum L88 engine producing 430 horsepower. Urban legend has it that the real horsepower figure was over 500, which might be true seeing as carmakers were notorious for understating the performance figures, but no one seems to really know for sure if that's actually true.
3 Shelby Cobra Super Snake
One of the greatest American sports cars to have been built, the Shelby Cobra Super Snake came on the scene in 1962. There have only been two Super Snakes to ever be produced; one was for Carroll Shelby himself and the other for actor-comedian Bill Cosby a close friend of Shelby. The car's performance scared Cosby, so he returned the car after driving it once and the next owner drove it off a cliff and into the Pacific Ocean, leaving only one car in existence.
This Super Snake had a 427 twin-supercharged Ford V-8 engine mated to a three-speed automatic transmission. This combination sent 800 horsepower and 462 ft-lbs of torque to the rear wheels, enough to accelerate from 0 to 60 in 4.5 seconds, making it as fast as modern sports cars.
2 Plymouth Barracuda 426 Hemi Convertible
One of the rarest and most desirable muscle cars is the Plymouth Hemi Barracuda. Only 21 Hemi Cuda Convertibles were produced in total for the US market, 14 in 1970 and another 7 in 1971. This muscle car had a power-folding black canvas top, and the dual headlamps highlighting the new front end was a popular feature on the models.
The Cuda had a 426 Hemi V8 engine under the hood making 425 horsepower and was capable of moving from 0-60 in 6 seconds. That's impressive. With an upgraded suspension and a reinforced chassis, this Cuda was hardcore.
1 Pontiac GTO Judge Convertible
This 1971 GTO Judge Convertible is one of the rarest muscle cars produced in the US. Only 17 were ever produced, and only two were finished in Tropical Lime metallic paint and featured a 455 big-block V8 engine producing 335 horsepower, heavy-duty suspension, and Goodyear Polyglas G70-14 tires on Honeycomb wheels.
The Judge Convertible was capable of a 0 to 60 time of just 6.1 seconds. A car this rare and with great performance, which car enthusiast wouldn't want this beast parked in their garage?