Arguably the home of the most desirable sports cars in the world, Italy has a long history of exotic machinery that fulfills every gearheads dream car wishes. It's not very often Italian carmakers mess up and make an ugly car.

Famous the world over, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, and more recent additions have seen ownership numbers grow, becoming a slightly more common sight on public roads. However, those craving that extra exclusivity can always rely on the Italian car industry to produce a small number of highly desirable and ultra-rare dream cars... for a price, of course.

9 DeTomaso P72 (72 Planned)

DeTomaso P72 - Front View
DeTomaso

Once again under new ownership, the famous De Tomaso name returns with a new supercar design, paying homage to the famous P70 prototype racer. De Tomaso was rescued from the brink of obscurity by Hong Kong-based Ideal Ventures, a company already heavily involved with niche sports carmaker Gumpert.

Autocar

Although De Tomaso shares its underpinnings with Apollo's Intensa LMP racer, the P72 is aimed at a different market. It has grand touring aspirations, rather than being a no-compromise supercar. However, the P72 isn't exactly slow, powered by a Ford Coyote V8 engine producing 700 HP and hints at a top speed of 221mph.

8 Mazzvanti Evantara - (25 Restricted)

Mazzvanti Automobili

In 2011 Mazzvanti Automobili achieved their goal of designing and producing their own cars. The once-successful restoration business has joined the ranks of fully-fledged supercar makers, even if production is limited to 25 cars.

Mazzvanti Automobili

While other supercars make use of exotic materials, the Evantara use a more conventional box steel structure combined with a tubular cage to support the bodywork. Similarly, the designers eschewing forced induction opted for a normally aspirated Chevrolet LS7 mated to a 6-speed automatic transmission promising a top speed of 217mph.

RELATED: 9 Greatest V8 Cars To Come From Italy (1 Everyone Regrets)

7 Iso Grifo A3C (22 Built)

Radical Mag

Looking at the A3C, there is more than a hint of Ferrari about this rare Italian racer. In fact, it would be a desire to challenge Ferrari's GTO that would lead to a collaboration project between Renzo Rivolta and designer Bizzarrini.

Radical Mag

Designed for competition-use, the A3C used a shortened chassis fitted with a modified version of Chevrolet's 5.3-liter engine producing around 400 HP. Despite its design, the A3C was only produced in a small run of 22 cars before internal differences resulted in a split between Bizzarrini and the Italian carmaker.

6 Pagani Zonda Revolucion (5 Built)

Caricos

The ultimate Zonda, at least until Pagani finds another reason to build a more extreme, quicker, and powerful model. The Revolucion arrived in 2014, with production limited to just 5 road-legal examples.

Caricos

Despite sharing the same body shape, the Revolucion is 90% new from the previous models and can easily be identified by the larger rear wing, larger diffuser, and roof-mounted air intake. Under the hood, a more powerful version of AMG's V12 engine produces 800 HP, and given enough space, the Revolucion will hit a top speed of 217mph.

5 Maserati Tipo 151 (3 Built)

Wikipedia

Privateer racing in the 1960s was a much simpler process, the very real possibility of competing at Le Mans only required owners to "buy" their race-ready car from any one of a number of automakers.

Supercars.net

Competing in the 1962 race series, two private owners ran factory-built and maintained Maserati Tipo 151's, the successor to the famous Bird Cage models. Unlike earlier cars, Maserati returned to a more conventional tubular chassis arrangement, making the Tipo 151 stronger and easier to maintain. Of the three chassis completed, just one survives in the original specification, the other two cars having previously been written off in racing incidents.

RELATED: These 10 Cars Prove The Italians Make The Most Beautiful Sports Cars

4 Lamborghini Veneno Coupe (3 Built)

Car Revs Daily

Any Lamborghini is sure to grab gearheads' attention from the outrageously sculpted wedge-shaped bodywork to the visceral scream of the most powerful naturally aspirated V12 engine, leaving little wonder why the Italian carmaker is the king of the supercars.

Car Revs Daily

The Veneno was launched in 2013 to celebrate the brand's 50th anniversary. It's a more extreme version of the Aventador, packing 740 HP under the hood. Adorned in carbon-fiber aerodynamic additions with the sole intention of improving drag, this then is Lamborghini's interpretation of a racing prototype for the road.

3 Alfa Romeo 750 Competizione (2 Built)

Auto Motor Und Sport

Racing is said to improve the breed, but in order for this to be true, Alfa Romeo's 750 Competizione would have to be tested in anger, but this was never to be the case with only 2 examples built.

Auto Motor Und Sport

History is a little vague on why Alfa Romeo never went racing with the 750 Competizione, leaving many to speculate technical issues during testing were too complex to overcome. Unlike rival designs, the Alfa 750 used a stressed steel construction process, the additional weight offset by the Abarth tuned 1.5-liter in-line four-cylinder producing 145 HP.

RELATED: 10 Coolest Alfa Romeos Every Gearhead Should Drive

2 Ferrari 365 P Tre Posti (2 Built)

Mind Over Matter

There are dozens of classic mid-engine Ferrari's that are both rare and command huge price tags, but only one model boasts a three-seat cabin configuration, and just two of these 365 P specials were ever built.

Mind Over Matter

Ferrari's 365 P, with its racing car-inspired central driving position, launched in 1966, almost thirty years before McLaren's famous three-seater F1 road car, but this rare Italian thoroughbred is deeply flawed. At the time, it was the only mid-engine V12 powered Ferrari, and the 365P's unique cabin layout lacked creature comforts. The driving experience was also severely dampened by a lack of air-con and huge amounts of engine heat entering the cabin.

1 Lamborghini Miura Jota (1 Built)

WSupercars

Perhaps the most beautiful Italian supercar ever produced, Lamborghini's Miura famously never saw the inside of a wind tunnel, instead, the sleek design by Gandini came about the traditional way of pen on paper.

Wsupercars

First produced in 1966, the Miura would be produced in ever more powerful versions, culminating in the one-off race-inspired Jota. Easily identified by the addition of enclosed headlamps and chin spoiler to reduce lift and improve downforce. Very much a prototype development project, the Jota, with a 440 HP V12, would later be sold to a private owner who subsequently crashed the iconic supercar.

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