Sports cars provide some of the best thrills of any vehicle. Engineered to perfection, designed to feel amazing in the corners and provide excellent punch out of them.
From the timeless elegance of the Jaguar E-Type to the cutting-edge performance of the current Nissan GT-R, the world of sports cars offers a diverse range of thrilling options.
This list features the fastest and rarest sports cars in the world. You rarely see these cars out in the wild, but if you do, they will take your breath away.
1960 Ferrari 250 GT California Spider
The Ferrari 250 series of sports cars are some of the rarest in the world, and none more so than the 250 GT California Spider. The Italian manufacturer produced just 106 of these, and one sold at auction in 2023 for a staggering $18,045,000.
Like many Ferraris of the time, the gorgeous 250 California has a body designed by the legendary Pininfarina. Jon Von Neumann and Luigi Chinetti commissioned the 250 GT California, using the same chassis and drivetrain as the 250 GT Tour de France. Under the hood, you would find a 3.0-liter Colombo V12, producing up to 280 hp.
Aston Martin DBS Superleggera
Aston Maritn has had a tricky few years but still knows how to produce a fast and exclusive sports car. The DBS Superleggera is a prime example. It has some of the biggest power and speed numbers ever seen on an Aston Martin sports car.
Under the hood is a 5.2-liter twin-turbocharged V12 producing 715 hp and 663 lb-ft of torque. This gives the DBS Superleggera a top speed of 211 mph, which puts it into supercar territory. Aston Martin has also perfected the Superleggera’s handling, meaning it has the agility to back up those ferocious performance figures.
1957 Jaguar XKSS
Jaguar is no stranger to rare race cars, and the XKSS is one of their finest. The XKSS started as a D-Type racer before Jaguar turned the race car into a road-going sports car. Suprulus D-Types were then converted following a prototype, and Jaguar would sell 25 of them to the public.
Steve McQueen would own an XKSS with a 3.4-liter twin-cam straight-six cylinder XK6 engine under the hood producing up to 200 hp. Sadly, a fire broke out in Jaguar’s Browns Lane factory in 1957. This destroyed several XKSSs’ and reduced the total in existence to just 16.
2009-2012 Aston Martin One-77
One of the rarest Aston Martins is also one of the fastest. As the name suggests, the British manufacturer made 77 One-77s, each with a 7.3-liter Cosworth V12 under the hood producing 750 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque. Each example of the One-77 sold for well over $1 million.
The One-77 is one of Aston Martin’s fastest-ever products, reaching a top speed of 220 mph with a 0-60 mph time of 3.5 seconds. In 2020, Aston Martin took a One-77 chassis and evolved it into the one-off Victor, which evoked the original 1977 Aston Martin V8 Vantage with its design. The V12 was the same as in the One-77 but upgraded to produce 836 hp and 606 lb-ft of torque.
Bugatti Dauer EB110 SS Lightweight
The Bugatti EB110 is one of the best sports cars of the 1990s, even if the project bankrupted the French manufacturer. Multiple versions of the EB110, including the SS, survived bankruptcy after the German company Dauer Racing GmbH bought some unassembled chassis and parts.
The German company tuned the V12 engine to produce 705 hp and 450 lb-ft of torque, and the pure carbon fiber body took around 500 lbs off the weight of the Bugatti. Dauer produced five examples of their EB110 SS Lightweight, each with a top speed of 230 mph.
Koenigsegg CCR
One of Koenigsegg’s earliest products is the exceptional CCR, a distant ancestor of the current Jesko. On its website, Koenigsegg claims that the CCR can beat the McLaren F1’s top speed of 240 mph, with the CCR reaching 241.1 mph. Unlike the McLaren, it does so thanks to supercharging.
The twin-supercharged 4.7-liter V8 produces 795 hp and 678 lb-ft of torque, and each one retailed at $590,000 when new in 2004. Koenigsegg produced 14 CCRs, one of which sold in the UK in 2020 for a massive $1.76 million and another sold in Italy in 2021 for $967,775.
1960 Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato
Zagato is famous for its remarkable coach-built bodies that slot neatly onto the top of some of the most iconic cars in history. Aston Martin has worked with Zagato several times, producing exceptional limited-production vehicles such as the gorgeous DB4 GT Zagato.
The Zagato DB4 is lighter and shorter than the regular DB4, and the vast majority were then sold to gentleman racers who drive them daily from Monday to Friday before racing them on the weekend. Each had a 3.7-liver double-overhead-cam straight-six engine under the hood producing 310 hp. Aston Martin and Zagato produced 19 units, and they are extremely valuable, with one selling for $9,520,000 in 2021.
1956 Aston Martin DBR1
One of Aston Martin’s other rarest sports cars is the DBR1. This car was pivotal to the life and career of Carroll Shelby, as it gave the American legend his first victory at Le Mans, which would ultimately lead to Ford approaching him to help build the exceptional GT40.
Aston Martin produced five DBR1s, each on a tubular frame chassis, and they were 50 lbs lighter than their predecessor, the DB3S. In 1959, the DBR1 scored Aston Martin’s first and so far only outright Le Mans win. Under the hood, it had either a 2.5-liter or 3.0-liter straight-six-cylinder engine producing 250 hp. The DBR1 is extremely valuable, with the only one to go on sale fetching $22,550,000 in 2017.
Tesla Roadster
The first Tesla Roadster launched the electric car brand worldwide, but a new, all-electric version of the sports car is now on the way. Tesla first revealed the concept in 2017, but production has yet to start. It hopes to do so in 2024.
What we know of the Roadster 2.0 so far is that it will have a tri-motor e-AWD setup under the hood, starting at around $200,000. Tesla has not revealed how much power the Roadster will have, but it has said the torque is a vast 7,376 lb-ft with a 0-60 time of 1.9 seconds and a top speed of 250 mph. It will also have a 200 kWh battery pack providing up to 620 miles of range.
Hennessey Venom GT
Before the Venom F5, American tuning company Hennessey developed the Venom GT. This sports car was based on the Lotus Elise and Exige. The $1.2 million GT had a 7.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine under the hood, which produced a whopping 1,244 hp and 1,155 lb-ft of torque.
Testing showed that the Venom GT could reach a top speed of 270 mph, and it remains one of the fastest production cars in the world. They are also rare, with Hennessey producing 13 units, each costing $1.2 million. The GT laid the foundations for the bespoke Venom F5 hypercar that Hennessey recently launched.
Pagani Zonda S 7.3
Early versions of the Pagani Zonda remain some of the most excellent sports cars in the world and hold a special place in the hearts of many. What makes it so unique is the 7.3-liter naturally-aspirated Mercedes-AMG V12 under the hood, the same engine found in the earlier Zonda C12-S.
That V12 produces 555 hp and 553 lb-ft of torque, and in 2003, the starting price for the Zonda S 7.3 was $457,000. It remains one of the rarest versions of the Zonda, with Pagani producing just 17 units of the sports car, which had a top speed of 220 mph, making it one of the fastest.
1986 Ferrari Testarossa Spider
On its own, the Ferrari Testarossa is one of the best sports cars in the world. However, one truly special Testarossa is the 1986 Spider. Ferrari produced just a single version for Giovanni Agnelli, who at the time was the Chairman of Fiat, which owned Ferrari and Lancia.
The Testarossa Spider celebrated the 20th anniversary of Agnelli leading Fiat. It would lead to a few more Spiders built by Pininfarina and Straman. But this silver Testarossa Spider is the only example Ferrari ever produced, and it is in Argento Nürburgring and decorated with a “Cavalino Rampante” Ferrari logo.
1955 Porsche 550 Spyder
The Porsche 550 Spyder is the German manufacturer’s first purpose-built production sports car. It was a race car from day one, but it proved popular enough to become a road-going sports car.
Under the hood of the 550 Spyder was a 1.5-liter Fuhrmann four-cam flat-four cylinder engine, which was air-cooled and produced 110 hp. The 550 Spyder won the first-ever race it participated in, the 1953 Nürburgring Eifel Race, and it showcased that more significant displacement and more powerful engines did not equal success. When it raced, the 550 Spyder took 95 overall victories and 75 class wins.
