Supercars that no one remembers

Lamborghini's and Ferrari's are supercars that everyone remember, but do you remember these?

by Richard Dredge

21 June 2018

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Over the years there have been very few successful supercar brands.

But many dozens more have tried and failed. Some never got off the drawing board while others didn’t progress beyond a full-size mock-up – most are now long forgotten. We’ve collected 25 such glorious failures here, some of which you’ll have forgotten about but most you’ve probably never heard of. If they’re all on your radar you’re an anorak of the highest order, and we salute you.
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Argyll GT

When Bob Henderson set out to create a Scottish 200mph supercar in 1974, he didn’t bank on the oil crisis. The first customer cars weren’t ready for another decade by which point the planned twin-turbo V8 had been downgraded to a turbocharged V6 and interest had evaporated.
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Aston Martin Bulldog

Aston Martin talked of building up to 25 Williams Towns-designed Bulldogs. With a 700bhp twin-turbo V8 200mph was in reach, making this the world’s fastest production road car. Then Aston changed hands and the new owners canned the project, but the sole Bulldog built still survives.
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Barabus TKR

Not to be confused with Brabus, this Manchester-built confection featured a carbon fibre body and chassis and a 1005bhp twin-turbo 7-litre V8 for a claimed 270mph. The project disappeared – only to be revived as the Keating TKR which was later tested at around 260mph.
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Bitter Tasco

Bitter is best known for his rebodied Opels, but he also conjured up the Tasco in conjunction with MGA Developments. Designed to take a V8 or V12 – although the Viper’s V10 was favourite – the Tasco never progressed beyond the full-sized mock-up stage.
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Cizeta V16

With its 560bhp 5995cc transversely mounted V16 engine, the V16T could supposedly top 204mph, but this was never officially verified. The prototype emerged in 1989 but it was 1992 before the first cars were ready; in the meantime, financier Giorgio Moroder walked away.
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Dome Zero

Launched at the 1978 Geneva motor show, the Japanese Dome Zero was crazier than a Countach, but its maker couldn’t afford to put it through home-market homologation tests. It wouldn’t have been that quick; the 2.8-litre straight-six offered just 145bhp – but what a shape!
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Gigliato Aerosa

Japanese company Gigliato aimed to base itself in the UK and to rival the established Italian design houses. Its first design was the Aerosa of 1994, powered by a Ford-sourced 300bhp 3.0-litre V6. But by 1995 the project was history.
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Isdera Commendatore 112i

After four years of development, in 1993 the first Isdera Commendaore 112i was shown then all went quiet. Then in 1999 the car resurfaced again – only to disappear just as quickly. Priced at £500,000, the 112i packed a 414bhp 6-litre Merc V12 to give 210mph.
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Jaguar XJR-15

With a 450bhp V12 to give 191mph, just 50 XJR-15s were built, for a one-model race series called the Jaguar Sport Intercontinental Challenge; some road cars were made too. In 2004 the XJR-15 was to be revived by JaguarSport, with an AJ-V8 engine; nothing came of this though.
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Jiotto Caspita

When Jiotto unveiled the Caspita in 1989, it featured a detuned formula one V12 powerplant, but in 1990 a Judd V10 unit was fitted instead, either unit supposedly capable of giving over 200mph. But no customer cars were ever delivered.
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Kodiak F1

In 1987, Mladen Mitrovic unveiled a supercar to take on the world. With its 320bhp 5.4-litre Chevrolet V8, the F1 was inspired by Mercedes’ C-111 and was claimed to be capable of sitting at 170mph all day. Later cars would get a 5.6-litre Merc V8 – but there weren’t any later cars.
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Laraki Fulgura

First seen at the 2002 Geneva motor show, Laraki showed a new supercar each year until it gave up in 2005. The Fulgura packed a 680bhp Mercedes-sourced 6-litre V12 with four turbochargers, enough to give a claimed 219mph top speed – but at €500,000, there were no takers.
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Maserati Chubasco

Unveiled in December 1990, the Chubasco was to be the new face of Maserati. Power came from a longitudinally mounted Shamal-sourced twin-turbo 3.2-litre V8, good for 430bhp. Maserati claimed no more than 450 cars would be built but the project was canned just six months later.
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MCA Centenaire

It looked like a kit car, yet the 1992 Centenaire was priced at $500,000. Powered by a mid-mounted Lamborghini V12, it’s claimed that six were built, but the project was sold to microcar manufacturer Aixam-Mega, which disastrously relaunched it as the Monte Carlo (shown here).
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Monteverdi Hai

Just two of these were built, or four depending on who you listen to. Power came from a 7.0-litre Chrysler Hemi V8, tuned to give 450bhp and 180mph. With air-con and power everything, this was one luxurious supercar – but build quality wasn’t up to scratch and the car disappeared.
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Nissan Mid-4

Nissan produced a trio of mid-engined four-wheel drive supercar proposals, starting in 1985 with a 300ZX-powered machine. The final Mid-4 was shown in 1990; Nissan proposed taking the car upmarket with a 4.5-litre V8, but the global economy went into meltdown and the project stalled.
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Panther Six

With its six-wheel layout and twin-turbo 8.2-litre Cadillac V8 hung out the back, the Panther Six was one crazy monster of a car. Two were built, supposedly capable of 200mph, although nobody ever got to verify this of course. Both cars survive, one of which is up and running.
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Qvale Mangusta

The MG started out as the De Tomaso Bigua, before becoming the Qvale Mangusta and then the MG X80. So that’s three names, three companies, and double-digit production figures. All cars featured a Ford-sourced 320bhp 4.6-litre quad-cam V8, to give a top speed of 150mph.
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Spectre R42

Just one R42 prototype was built before GT Developments went belly up. The project was sold to US company Spectre and with a few sales under its belt, Spectre talked of 200 cars being built each year. Production stalled at 23 cars though, at which point Spectre went bust.
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Spiess TC522

Spiess unveiled a 500bhp twin-turbo 5.7-litre V8 hypercar in 1992. There was a carbon-fibre bodyshell, a six-speed transmission and a cab-forward design, but Spiess couldn’t get punters to part with their readies – not helped by the TC522 being priced at £362,000.
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TVR Speed 12

This bonkers TVR was intended to become the world’s fastest road car with its 7.7-litre V12 pushing out up to 880bhp. However, TVR boss Peter Wheeler reckoned the car was simply too fast for the road; he didn’t want to sell such a beast to drivers who couldn’t handle the power.
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Vector W8

The Vector Aeromotive W2 made its debut in 1977 but didn’t go on sale until 1991, priced at $450,000 and renamed the W8. A turbocharged 600bhp 6.0-litre V8 gave a claimed 200mph and despite the price tag, 14 were sold before the car was superseded by the WX-3 in 1992.
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VW W12

When VW unveiled its 5.6-litre W12 coupé concept in 1997, it said the car would go into production if the reaction was favourable. Everyone raved about it, VW responded with a roadster edition, then the project was canned thanks to a glut of supercars under development within the VW Group.
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Yamaha OX99-11

The OX99-11 appeared in 1992, with a 420bhp 3.5-litre V12 in the middle of the car, a detuned version of the powerplant fitted to the Brabhams and Jordans of the early 1990s. The price was an eye-watering $1m, but where else could you get anything like it? Just three were built.

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