Supercars are, well, super in a number of ways. Most often they're measured by one major key metric, outright performance. That's not all that matters though, a killer top speed can be overshadowed when the car is dull to the senses otherwise. Put a drab body on a quick car and all of a sudden the whole thing becomes an exercise in numbers, brutish power shoving an otherwise snoozy shell to unreasonable speeds simply to test capability. What really gets us going are those few cars that blend seductive beauty with animalistic performance to balance it out.
That can be a dangerous proposition though because while the beauty goads drivers into a deeply flawed sense of security, the carnal nature of the beast can come out and bite hard. That's been the case with the cars on our list today. For one reason or another, experiencing them at full speed is something of a tiger by the tail sort of situation. Let's talk about why that is.
9 Pagani Zonda S
Lewis Hamilton once famously said that while the Zonda he owned was the best sounding car in his stable, that it handled worse than all the rest. That makes for a dangerous combination considering the monstrous Mercedes V12 powerplant in the back of the car.
Pagani is to be forgiven though, while the Zonda is well known for snap oversteer and unpredictable understeer, Huayra is well known for exceptional handling and braking, so they've learned.
8 TVR Cerbera Speed 12
The Cerbera Speed 12 is based on the already batty Cerbera but in the midst of production, the big boss at TVR, Peter Wheeler, said they simply couldn't sell it to the public. The problem was that the Speed 12 was far too powerful and didn't have any aids for drivers. So the whole thing was scrapped.
7 Ferrari Testarossa
Today the Testarossa is a pretty sedate supercar. The trouble with them, beyond a general lack of good handling manners, is the unrefined way in which you control the thing. Steering and pedal input is notoriously difficult and no matter how long your trip is you'll get out feeling like you've done a workout.
6 Koenigsegg CCX
Perhaps in one of the most famous crashes ever, the CCX was so hard to drive that it managed to best even the Stig from Top Gear causing the car to end up in a field with a half-eaten tire sticking out of the front facia. Thanks to that experience though Koenigsegg realized they needed more downforce and made adjustments to provide it.
5 RUF Yellowbird
If you want to know what it looks like when someone has ice water running in their veins because they're just that cool under pressure go take a look at a super famous video on youtube of a guy named Stefan Roser driving this car around the Nürburgring.
No aids, no wild safety gear, just one exceptional driver in a super-fast RUF making it look easy. Of course, you'll notice him sawing at the wheel the entire time bearing witness at how tough it is to pilot this bird.
4 Shelby Cobra
Perhaps a precursor to the Yellowbird in some ways, the Shelby Cobra was also known for ungodly power and no aids to help you get it to the ground. Of course, while the layout is dramatically different, it doesn't change the fact that the Cobra is one of the most touchy supercars ever built.
3 McLaren P1
I know what you're thinking, the P1 is a modern masterpiece capable of making even the worst driver look good. That's only partially true. Remember that this thing is entirely rear-wheel-drive and while it does have a slew of onboard nannies to help the most doltish drivers, even they can't totally save those drivers in some situations.
Once those aids are off, the P1 becomes even more difficult to control as numerous drivers have reported. It's amazing, but if you want to drive it at its best, you better be just as amazing behind the wheel.
2 Porsche Carrera GT
This car needs no introduction, so I won't mention the more famous bits of its story. What I will mention are things like the very strange and tough to get right clutch actuation and the 605 horsepower that pumped out of it in 2005. That's tough for anyone to control, let alone in a car that was made long before companies were producing that kind of power on a regular basis.
1 Lamborghini Diablo
No car here seems to have such a reputation for attempting to kill its owners like the Diablo. Perhaps that's poetic beauty for a car that was named for a Bull that's viciously fighting for its own life.
The Diablo came long before Lamborghini put a major emphasis on track-capable handling and it showed. The historic V12 behind the driver could propel it to over 210 mph in 1990. Devilish enough for you?