When talking about supercars, everybody knows that those cars are basically legendary. Everybody has heard of the brands such as Pagani, Lamborghini, Porsche, Jaguar, McLaren, etc., but you would be surprised how many great yet pretty unknown brands there are out there with some pretty impressive supercars of their own. Through the years many people have founded companies with the goal of building the perfect car, and many came close before running out of time or money and folding.
Updated June 2022: With only the fastest, most expensive, and those with strong marketing behind them attracting all the attention, dozens of cool low-production supercars go unnoticed. We've updated this list to bring to light even more cool supercars from unknown brands.
So first things first. What is a supercar? A supercar is a car known for its extravagant design and high performance. When talking about supercars, we usually talk about sports cars or grand tourers and some of the brands we mentioned above are the crème de la crème of the sports cars on the market. However, that does not mean that there aren’t some less famous brands that have surprised us pleasantly with their cool designs and amazing vehicles. What makes the whole thing even more interesting is the fact that most people have never heard of some of these brands even though they have done a pretty great job in building their own supercars.
So let’s look at some supercars from brands nobody has ever heard of. Hopefully, you will be pleasantly surprised by some of these amazing vehicles, their beautiful design, and even better performance.
17 Zenvo ST1
Let's start this list off with the most well-known unknown supercar, the Zenvo ST1. The only reason people might recall the sight of this Denmark-built supercar is that it caught on fire while being tested on Top Gear. That instance alone was more thane enough to doom the ST1's sales, but that doesn't mean it isn't a great car when not ablaze. Its twin-turbo V8 engine generated nearly 1,100 hp, and with that ludicrous amount of power comes equally as impressive downforce, so the team at Zenvo added a huge rear wing that adjusts on the fly depending on speed and braking.
16 W Motors Lykan Hypersport
All the way from Denmark, we're going to Lebanon for this one, the Lykan Hypersport. Only 7 of these supercars were ever made, and when looking a bit closer you'll see why it's actually worth $3.4 million. Apart from the impressive 3.7-liter twin-turbocharged flat-six engine that makes 1,650 hp, it has quirks that only after to the richest in the world. For example, its headlights aren't ordinary LEDs, its LED lights were embedded with real diamonds, yellow diamonds, rubies, or sapphires, depending on the color of choice.
15 Cizeta V16T
No, this isn't a Lamborghini Diablo with some added lights, it's actually a completely different vehicle built by an Italian car manufacturer called Cizeta. They called it the V16T, and it's pretty self-explanatory when looking at what heart it has. The V16T is powered by a 6.0-liter V16 based on the Lamborghini Urraco's V8 engine, and it musters out 540 hp and 400 lb-ft of torque to its rear wheels, and to harness the gargantuan 16-cylinder engine's output you were forced to use a 5-speed manual gearstick, which we think just adds to its extravagant personality.
14 Dome Zero
Back in 1978 when this car was first presented at the Geneva Motor Show, it was kind of a big deal. It had all that every cool ‘70s car had to have; from funky design to pretty good performance.
However, people soon forgot about its existence because it was never mass-produced.
The Dome Zero couldn't meet all the necessities required to be road legal, especially in correspondence with those conditions implemented by Japan. The second reason was funding, or well, a lack thereof. Unfortunately, the Dome's money ran out, and the rest is history.
13 Ascari KZ1
Look at this beast! With a design and performance like this, it is pretty strange that most people have never heard of this supercar. The KZ1 was powered by a naturally-aspirated 4.9-liter BMW-derived V8 engine that put out a whopping 500 hp. In addition to being designed to perfection, and having performance figures comparable to that of modern-day supercars like its sub-4-second 0-60 time, only 50 of these cars were created.
12 Lotec Sirius
If you aren’t an avid race car fan, you have probably never heard of Lotec – a German automaker best known for building race cars. However, Lotec Sirius is a supercar worth knowing about.
The Sirius’ twin-turbo 6.0-liter V12 produced around 1,200 hp, and it had a maniacal 249 mph top speed.
With numbers like that, it is pretty unbelievable how few people know this car even exists. Theoretically, it seems to be a picture-perfect supercar, and with only one built, it obviously has become a very rare collector's item.
11 Keating TKR
Powered by a twin-turbocharged 2000-hp 7.0-liter V8 engine that goes from 0 to 60 in 2 seconds, however, that doesn’t change the fact that most people have never heard of this vehicle or even this brand. The Keating TKR has parts borrowed from other big-name supercars like the Pagani Zonda and Saleen S7, so it's no wonder this marvel of a supercar was able to exceed everyone's expectations when it released.
10 Panoz Abruzzi
When it comes to Panoz Abruzzi’s design, we can all agree that we are looking at a pretty interesting and unique vehicle here. One could say it is one of those designs you either fall in love with immediately or you just hate. Not only does the Abruzzi have a one-of-a-kind look and name, but it also is constructed out of a unique material that Panoz calls 'Recyclable Energy Absorbing Matrix System.' It's expected to be as strong as carbon fiber but somehow weigh less, and deal better with impact absorption - it's even more environmentally friendly. Sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?
9 Beck LM 800
While this car looks more like a toy or some cartoonish design at a first glance, once you dive deeper into the car’s specs, you can see that it is actually a pretty impressive supercar. The Beck LM 800 inhabits a twin-turbocharged 4.2-liter V8 engine that produces 650 bhp and 663lb-ft of torque that is driven via a seven-speed sequential gearbox.
Beck says that the engine powers the LM 800 to a top speed of 219 mph and 0-60 mph in three seconds flat.
They also say it will turn in an average of 17.6 mpg. No matter, it sounds like a car we would love to take for a spin around town.
8 Arash AF10
If you have never heard of Arash AF10, don’t worry, there is absolutely nothing wrong with you. Almost nobody has heard of this car because only 1 was ever made. The AF10 is one of the most over-engineered cars to ever be built. It had something called a warp drive system; this is the title Arash gave it since it consists of one petrol engine, four electric motors, and five gearboxes - one for each source of power basically. This resulted in a combined power output of more than 2,000 hp and when it was put to work, the AF10 could reach 60 mph from a stationary position in just 2.8 seconds.
7 Vencer Sarthe
Vencer Sarthe is one of the coolest supercars nobody has ever heard of and the thing that immediately catches our attention with this one is its unbelievably cool design.
However, one of the main reasons why this car is not as well-known as it deserves to be is the fact that very few examples have actually been made.
Thus far, just over 100 of these Dutch supercars have been made, but we think their sales should have been better, especially considering they only cost £250,000, which is a fraction of other supercars' prices like the Aston Martin Valkyrie.
6 Trident Iceni Magna
The first glance at the Trident Iceni Magna is enough to know that this car looks unbelievably cool. However, it's not powered by a V12 petrol engine as you might assume, rather, it has a 6.6-liter turbo diesel engine with 430 hp and 950 lb-ft of torque. It can hit 190mph and go 2,000 miles on a single tank, all thanks to its robust diesel engine. This technology was patented by Trident, and it seems like something that might yet gain them recognition worldwide that the brand doesn’t have at the moment.
5 Aixam Mega Track
If you have never heard of the supercar by the name Mega Track, don’t worry. The Mega Track was something no one expected to see come to life, a supercar that is equally good on-road as it is off-road. Only five examples were ever built; each coming with all-wheel-drive and a Mercedes V12 with 394 hp. Because it has such a radical adjustable ride height, it was impossible to scrape its nose on any speed bumps, or even sand dunes if you were brave enough.
4 Devon GTX
If you have never heard of Devon Motorworks, it is probably because even though the company had some pretty cool ideas, they eventually ran out of money, so only a few prototypes were created and eventually sold at auction.
It seems like a shame because the car did have a few cool things going for it.
The same 8.4-liter V10 found in the Viper was used in the GTX, but it was bumped up to 650 hp, and it had a much lighter carbon body and a completely reimagined interior as opposed to the Viper.
3 Trion Nemesis RR
What do you usually want from a supercar? If great design and even better performance are what you are looking for, you should take a glance at a supercar you have probably never heard of – the Trion Nemesis RR. Powering this sleek-looking American-built supercar is a 2,000-hp twin-turbo V8, and the RR is claimed to go beyond 270 mph and achieve a 0-60 time in just 2.8 seconds. On top of all of that, Trion says it'll be able to accommodate drivers and passengers of all lengths, so now more teeny cockpits for this brand!
2 Hulme Can Am Spyder
One look at this unusual supercar is enough to figure out why it is called Spyder – because it kind of looks like one, but in a good way. The downside to this unbelievably cool-looking design is the fact that the car has no windshield (no, that piece of plastic isn't big enough to be dubbed a windshield), no roof, no airbags, no traction control, and no ABS.
It is safer to just look at this one than to actually drive it.
Safety aside, the Can Am Spyder is one hell of a machine. It features a mid-mounted 600-hp LS7 Chevrolet V8 engine, so you can bet it's just as exuberant to drive as an Ariel Atom, if not more.
1 Tramontana XTR
No one can deny the uniqueness of this vehicle that only a few people have heard of. It looks different from anything we usually see on the roads and the specs show some pretty promising features. The Tramontana received its might from an AMG-derived 5.5-liter bi-turbocharged V12 engine that spits out more than 700 hp to just the rear wheels. Just looking at this car knowing it wasn't appreciated by more people makes us disheartened, but at least they're still being produced today.