Top 10 supercar stalwarts

Big names in the supercar game

To judge by how often it happens, creating a supercar isn’t too difficult if you have enough resources.

The tricky bit is to sell it, then create another, and keep going until your company’s name is spoken in hushed tones around the world.

Here, we check out 10 manufacturers which have been in the supercar business not just for years but for decades (including Maserati, whose A6GCS Berlinetta – pictured above – we'll be looking at shortly), showing early and recent models for comparison and contrast.

There are, of course, many definitions of the word ‘supercar’, and we’ve chosen quite a loose one. We’re sure you’ll disagree with some of our selection, but however we picked them, that would be the case… And we’ve not ranked them, these are listed in alphabetical order. Enjoy!

1. Aston Martin

Aston Martin DB4

The DB4 was a major step forward for Aston Martin, and is perhaps the earliest car many people would immediately recognise as a classic Aston.

The car was on sale only from 1958 until 1963, but many versions were made available in that time. The engine was a powerful 3.7-litre ‘six’, and the most commonly used shape was by Touring of Milan, though a smoother lightweight body was also created by Zagato.

Aston Martin (cont.)

Aston Martin DBS Superleggera

While we’re waiting for the extremely fast Valkyrie to go into production, the DBS Superleggera is currently Aston Martin’s most powerful car. Its specification, unimaginable in the days of the DB4, includes a 5.2-litre twin-turbo V12 which produces 715bhp and gives the car a 0-62mph time of 3.4 secs.

Aerodynamic aids including a double diffuser and the brilliant Aeroblade system first seen on the DB11 mean the DBS Superleggera has up to 180kg of downforce at its maximum speed of 211mph.

2. Bentley

Bentley 3 Litre

Bentley’s first production car, named simply after the size of its four-cylinder engine, was a sporting model by the standards of its time, though its less-than-subtle engineering meant it was also uncommonly robust.

Perhaps partly for that reason, it was successful in long-distance motorsport. 3 Litres gave Bentley the first two of the five Le Mans 24 Hour race victories it achieved between 1924 and 1930.

Bentley (cont.)

Bentley Continental GT

The Continental GT has been available from its launch in 2003 with a 6.0-litre twin-turbo W12, and more recently with a 4.0-litre V8. Both provide tremendous performance, but the W12 is inevitably the stronger of the two.

In its current form, the W12 produces 632bhp, giving the car a 0-62mph time of 3.7 secs and a top speed of 207mph.

However, an even stronger 700bhp version was used for the short-lived Continental Supersports of 2017. This remains the most powerful production car in Bentley’s history.

3. Bugatti

Bugatti Type 35

Introduced in 1924, the Bugatti Type 35 would have felt to drivers of its time like a supercar on the road since it was designed almost entirely as a racing car.

Earlier Bugattis had competed with success, and later ones would, too, but the Type 35 was in a different league.

The combined efforts of many talented drivers (including the brilliant Eliška Junková-Khásová, or Elisabeth Junek as she was known in western Europe) helped the car build up an extraordinary competition record which reputedly included over a thousand victories.

Bugatti (cont.)

Bugatti Chiron

Today’s Bugatti, part of the Volkswagen Group, is not directly related to the original company, but the general spirit is similar, and both have been based in Molsheim, in north-east France.

The new Bugatti’s first car was the Veyron, which had an 8.0-litre quad-turbo W16 engine originally producing around 1000bhp and driving all four wheels.

Its successor, the Chiron, is similar in concept, but the power output is considerably greater at just under 1500bhp.

4. Dodge

Dodge Charger Daytona

Along with the Plymouth Superbird, the Daytona was one of two Winged Warriors, a subset of the streamlined Aero Warriors which raced in NASCAR events in 1969 and ’70. All were notable for their dramatically improved straight-line speed and handling which led to them being declawed in 1971.

From a marketing point of view, this wasn’t such a bad thing. Manufacturers entered NASCAR in the hope of persuading thousands of customers to buy road cars which looked essentially identical to the racers. That could never have worked for the Daytona, of which Dodge built only a few hundred.

Dodge (cont.)

Dodge Challenger SRT Demon

While the Charger Daytona’s most notable feature was its aerodynamic design, the much more recent Challenger SRT Demon is all about standing-start acceleration.

In an effort to improve this as far as possible, Dodge removed all unnecessary weight from the car and fitted a 6.2-litre supercharged V8, which produces over 800bhp on regular fuel and 840bhp on 100-octane.

By both Dodge’s own claim and independent testing, the 0-60mph time is well under 3 secs, and the car can cover a standing quarter-mile on a drag strip in less than 10.

5. Ferrari

Ferrari 125S

Designed at a time when the distinction between road and competition vehicles was not as clear as it is now, the 125S was not the the first Ferrari ever built, but it was the first car to wear a Ferrari badge.

Produced extremely briefly in 1947, and followed by the similar 159S the same year, it also marked the debut of the Colombo engine. Originally just 1.5 litres, this famous V12 was gradually enlarged to 4.9 litres, and was still being fitted to roadgoing Ferraris as late as 1989.

Ferrari (cont.)

Ferrari 812

Seventy years after creating the 125S, Ferrari announced its most powerful car yet. Like its distant predecessor, the 812 Superfast has a front-mounted V12, but this one measures 6.5 litres and can produce up to 789bhp without the benefit of turbocharging or supercharging.

In 2019, Ferrari launched the 812GTS variant, its first open-top front-engined V12 car since the 365GTS/4 (better known as the Daytona Spider) introduced half a century earlier.

6. Ford

Ford GT40

Ford had already celebrated its 60th anniversary before it created its first supercar. The GT40 was developed with the specific intention of beating Ferrari in sports-car racing, and particularly in the annual Le Mans 24 Hours.

The project was enormously successful. GT40s fitted with 7.0-litre V8s won at Le Mans in 1966 and 1967. In response to a change in regulations, Ford switched to a 4.9-litre version of the Windsor V8, and won again in 1968 and 1969.

Ford (cont.)

Ford GT

The first-generation GT was Ford’s homage to its own GT40, launched in 2005. A successor reached the market in 2017.

The current GT is the first of the series not to be fitted with a V8. Instead, it uses the 3.5-litre twin-turbo EcoBoost V6 which, despite its modest size in this context, produces 647bhp, rising to 700bhp for the track-only GT MkII (pictured).

7. Lamborghini

Lamborghini Miura

Only someone with a very narrow definition of the word ‘supercar’ could claim that all modern examples have mid-mounted engines, but the layout has certainly become very common in the sector.

The first model of this type (unless you count the slightly earlier Matra Djet, which we won’t because it wasn’t nearly powerful enough) was the Lamborghini Miura of 1966, developed only three years after the company was founded.

Its 3.9-litre V12 was mounted behind the seats and slightly forward of the rear wheels. Its transverse position and the fact that it was integral with the transmission made the whole drivetrain exceptionally compact, even by today’s standards.

Lamborghini (cont.)

Lamborghini Sian

The Aventador is the fastest of what we might optimistically call the regular production Lamborghinis, but the limited-edition Sian is faster still.

Lamborghini’s first hybrid model is powered by a 6.5-litre V12 and an electric motor (fed by a supercapacitor rather than a conventional battery), with a combined output of 807bhp.

8. Maserati

Maserati A6GCS Berlinetta

The Maserati A6 was a family of single-seater, sports and touring cars of the late 1940s and early ’50s. Customers who hadn’t enjoyed becoming soaked during the very wet 1952 Mille Miglia road race in open-top A6s asked for a version with a solid roof.

For political reasons, a Maserati dealer rather than the company itself commissioned Pininfarina to create berlinetta bodies for four A6GCS chassis. Designer Aldo Brovarone, who had only just joined Pininfarina, did such a good job that the A6GCS Berlinetta, among the fastest sports cars of its day, was also one of the most beautiful.

Maserati (cont.)

Maserati MC20

The MC20, due to be launched in September 2020, may not be quite as elegant as the A6GCS Berlinetta, but the difference in specification between the two cars reflects nearly seven decades of development.

A successor to the MC12 of 2004, the MC20 has a mid-mounted 3.0-litre twin-turbo V6 which revs to 8000rpm and produces 630bhp. Like the MC12, it will be available in both road-legal and competition forms.

One of the MC20 prototypes was dedicated to former Maserati racer Sir Stirling Moss, who died in April 2020 at the age of 90.

9. Mercedes-Benz

Mercedes 35hp

The first Mercedes was also arguably the world’s first supercar. It was designed by Wilhelm Maybach of Daimler on behalf of Nice-based racing driver and Daimler dealer Emil Jellinek, who named it after his daughter.

Unlike other cars of its time, the 35hp could in no way be mistaken for a horseless carriage. Several of its features seem ordinary enough now but were revolutionary when it was built.

Jellinek took delivery of the first example in late 1900, and was formidably successful in the 1901 motorsport season. Daimler was inspired to develop further sports cars, a process which has never stopped.

Mercedes-Benz (cont.)

Mercedes-AMG GT

The only thing common to the 35hp and the Mercedes-AMG GT is that their engines are mounted ahead of the driver. The most extreme example of the GT is the Black Series (pictured), which was announced in August 2020.

Its 4.0-litre twin-turbo V8 has been heavily modified to produce a maximum of 720bhp. Mercedes claims a top speed of 201mph and a 0-62mph time of 3.2 secs.

The even more outlandish Mercedes-AMG Project One is a petrol-electric hybrid prototype whose combined power output, though not yet officially confirmed, is forecast to be over 1000bhp.

10. Porsche

Porsche 959

We could argue for hours about which versions of the Porsche 911 count as supercars. The GT1 Strassenversion of the mid 1990s certainly does, but it came after an equally remarkable 911 variant called the 959.

Introduced in 1986, the 959 had a 444bhp 2.8-litre twin-turbo six-cylinder engine, four-wheel drive, adaptive suspension and Kevlar composite body panels – a remarkable combination for a road car of the ’80s.

The 959 was briefly hailed as the world’s fastest production car, with a top speed of around 200mph. Competition versions finished first and second in the 1986 Paris-Dakar Rally.

Porsche (cont.)

Porsche 918 Spyder

In production from 2013 to 2015, the 918 Spyder was a plug-in hybrid with a 4.6-litre V8 and two electric motors, giving a combined power output of 875bhp.

Customers could specify the optional Weissach package, whose main purpose was to make the car lighter. In this form, the Spyder was driven round the Nürburgring in September 2013 in 6 mins 57 secs, and therefore became the first road-legal production car to complete a lap in under 7 mins.