Back in the 1990s, some historic moments took place we'll never forget to this day, all the way from Friends' first episode airing, to the first Harry Potter book hitting the stores, but we as gearheads remember the remarkable war that took place, the supercar war.
Supercars all over, such as Jaguar's XJ220, Ferrari's F40, Honda's NSX, and countless others tried to be the fastest and most powerful—a title that was claimed by the McLaren F1 at the time—and this war had car produced one cool performance monster one after another. There were so many different supercar warriors that fought in the war that some fell into obscurity, never receiving the praise they truly deserve.
And those unsung heroes we salute, therefore we have added them to this list in the hopes they receive the love they so desperately deserve.
10 Mercedes-Benz SL73 AMG
If the R129 Mercedes SL was not brilliant enough of a car, they created one of the rarest Benz models ever manufactured, one that was even more ludicrous than the SL63—the SL73. In 1995 the German carmakers dropped an elephantine 525-hp 7.3-liter V12 into their sleek sports car.
So, apart from looking like one of the most sophisticated drivers on the road with that prominent three-star badge on the SL's grille, you'd also be hearing a raucous V12 grumble from under the hood.
9 Lotus Elise GT1
Like the other previously mentioned road-legal racecars, the Elise GT1 was built by Lotus to abide by homologation regulations, and also like the other entries, we're so glad those rules exist. Lotus used the 3.5-liter twin-turbo V8 from the Esprit, enhanced it to a beserk 542 hp, thus creating one of the most vigorous motors yet, and popped it into an enlarged Elise S1.
Regardless of weighing just over a ton and various aerodynamic components, the GT1's performance numbers were a tad disappointing. A 0-60-mph sprint of around 4 seconds and a max speed of a subpar 200 mph did not deem the Elise a slow car by any means, but it struggled to compete against its rivals. The final nail in the coffin, however, was Lotus's unreliability, which made fanboys second guess its $645,000 price tag.
8 Nissan R390
Nissan has been responsible for some truly amazing cars all the way from their Z-series of sports cars to the legendary Godzilla GT-R Skylines, so to participate in the supercar frenzy, Nissan birthed its supercar, the R390. The road-legal Japanese racecar was powered by a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V8 called the VHR35Z, and it produced around 650 hp 521 lb-ft of torque.
Power is sent to the rear wheels via a six-speed sequential gearbox, and because of its featherlight one-ton curb weight, the R390 was able to reach 60 mph in as fast as 3.3 seconds, and top out at 221 mph. It breaks our heart that this JDM rocketship was so undervalued.
7 Jaguar XJR-15
Thomas Walkinshaw Racing, who also developed the aforementioned Nissan R390, created another mid-engined supercar in the ‘90s for Jaguar and called it the XJR-15. Their wild cat was based on the Jaguar XJR-9 racecar and also inhabited its 6.0-liter naturally-aspirated 450 hp V12, alongside 420 lb-ft of torque.
The Jag might have been a tad higher, narrower, and longer than the R390, but there was one distinct feature that set it apart from all its competition, and that was the fact that it was the first supercar to have a carbon-fiber body.
6 Porsche 911 GT1 Straßenversion
You've seen a few Porsche GT3s, maybe even a few GT2s, but we can almost guarantee you've never seen a 911 quite like the GT1 Straßenversion up close and personal. Porsche's race car, the GT1, might not have been road-legal, so to fit the FIA's criteria they chopped and changed a few things to adapt the hardcore GT1 into what they called a more "tame" 911 called the Straßenversion.
Only twenty-five were made to meet homologation requirements, and strapped to each one of the 2,755-lb Porsches was a twin-turbocharged 3.6-liter flat-six screaming out 544 hp to make a 0-60 time of 3.9 seconds possible.
5 Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR
Refinement, and whispering "I'm better than you," is the epitome of what Mercedes-Benz symbolizes, but throw all of those preconceived notions out of the window when it comes to this CLK on steroids, the GTR. The mid-engined 604-hp CLK (the name is where all resemblance ends) was a race-oriented low, wide, light, and blisteringly fast Merc meant to crush the McLaren F1 and Porsche 911 GT1.
Unexpectedly, the GTR's cockpit was not stripped-down entirely, it actually had a working air conditioning system, and a slot for a radio. The potent V12 which empowers the Merc had a displacement of 6.9-liters came in other road-going Germans like the S600 and SL600 and it shot the CLK GTR to over 200 mph via a six-speed paddle-shift Xtrac sequential transmission. One remarkable piece of history was when the Merc went flying during one of its Le Mans races in 1999.
4 Ferrari F50 GT
The Ferrari F50 needs no introduction, but just in case you live under a rock, it was one of the best high-revving V12 supercars Ferrari ever built, and the GT version makes it even lighter, more powerful, and overall a more maniacal horse than it was before.
The F50 GT did not just get spoiled by some aerodynamic upgrades on the exterior, but its interior went on a diet becoming even more basic than it was before. The F1-designed 4.7-liter V12, which now generated 680 hp to the rear wheels lead to absolutely bonkers performance numbers since the new brain-tickling 10,500 rpm redline allowed for a 0-60 time in 2.9 seconds, and the six-speed sequential gearbox could rocket the 'Rari to 236 mph.
3 De Tomaso Pantera
It didn't just have an exotic name, but Carrozzeria Ghia's design made the Pantera appear extremely flamboyant and somewhat resemble a bulky Countach. Inside of the De Tomaso supercar was an American 5.8-liter Ford V8 that made the Pantera drive and sound as exuberant as it looked.
The Italian-American brainchild's power was conducted via a five-speed ZF gated manual gearbox, and that made handling the 326 hp, which was sent to the rear axle, much more manageable and ultimately make the exotic act almost like an overpowered muscle car.
2 Vector W8
Hands down one of the coolest cars to roam the streets, the Vector W8 did not only look like an intergalactic performance machine on the outside but on the inside as well. Alas, not a lot of people know of Vector Motors's marvelous creations, or perhaps even their existence at all. The W8 stands out for quite a few reasons: The space-age interior, gorgeous bulky proportions, and above all its unique twin-turbo 625-hp Corvette-derived 6.0-liter V8.
Weirdly, this surplus of power was yielded by a heavily modified GM-sourced three-speed automatic, which could reach 60 mph from a standstill in under 4 seconds, and only run out of juice when hitting the 242 mph mark (this is not verified, though). It saddens us to say that the Vector W8 is a rather scarce sight with only 20 ever built.
1 RUF CTR2
It might look like a Porsche, but this is not quite a factory-specced German 911, the CTR2 is something a little rougher around the edges. RUF is a tuning company that specializes in modifying Porsches to reach their fullest potential when it comes to reaching eye-denting speeds and record-breaking lap times. What once was a 993 Porsche is now a RUF CTR2 that falls short of no hypercar from its time, except the quintessential McLaren F1.
According to RUF, this creation came from the factory with 469 hp, but as many German carmakers do, they tend to be slightly conservative when it comes to its spec sheet, hence some owners recorded a power output far above 500 hp. And to make things even better, the barebones double-winged stickshift Porche's 3.6-liter flat-six could hurl itself up to speeds of 220 mph.