The 25 Greatest Supercars Of The 21st Century

Ok, so the first one on this list is technically from the last century, the 1990s to be exact, but it’s here as a benchmark and baseline for the models that follow. A top speed of 371km/h Back in 1992, no other production car had ever gone that fast. It was mind-blowing. But that’s what the McLaren F1 did; blow minds. With its featherweight carbon-fibre chassis, single-minded focus on shaving weight, and a bespoke 6-litre, 467kW BMW V-12 for power, it could sear to 97km/h in just 3.2 seconds.

Costing nearly $1.4 million at launch, it was also mind-blowingly expensive. Today, however, in the rare chance that one of the 106 examples comes to market, expect to pay around $20 million. The ultimate supercar? Some would say there’s no question.

An American outlier in a world of European trendsetters, Steve Saleen’s S7 debuted in 2000 at the Monterey Historic Races as a track-focused supercar that was far more extreme than most competitors from the other side of the pond. The heart of the mid-engined predator was an aluminium power plant derived from Ford’s venerable 351 ci V-8, which developed 410kW  and shifted through a six-speed manual gearbox.

The subsequent model S7 Twin-Turbo from 2005 made 560kW from a 427 ci big-block V-8, and achieved a claimed top speed of 399km/h, staggering performance then and now. Produced through 2009, the Saleen S7 remains a rare collectible, and while no production figures are officially available, its numbers are estimated to be well below triple digits.

Ferrari’s biggest sensation of the 21st century remains the Enzo, a V-12-powered, mid-engined monster named after the founder of the company, a man whose legacy continues to inspire the latest supercars from Maranello. Designed by then head of design at Pininfarina, Ken Okuyama, the car captivated its audience in 2002 at the Paris Motor Show.

All 399 units were presold, with production spanning 2003 through 2004. A 400th production example was built and donated to the Vatican for charity. While the power output of 485kW and as-new price of approx. $900,000 seem quaintly modest by today’s standards, the Enzo was the benchmark of its era and remains one of the most coveted of this century’s supercars.

With its six-speed manual transmission and wooden cue-ball shift knob, it’s understandable why many call the Carrera GT the last of the analog supercars. Absent the sophisticated safety systems of today’s latest-and-greatest, the mid-engined GT is a thrill-ride offering a taste of what might have been had Porsche set the GT’s sights on the racetrack.

A 5.7-litre V-8 develops 450kW and has a sound like no other Porsche engine ever made. The Carrera GT does not suffer fools, requiring skill when engaging its sensitive clutch and commanding respect when managing the rear-wheel horsepower. Its shape, the handiwork of Porsche’s then head designer Harm Lagaay, seems timeless—and almost understated—today. A total of 1270 units were made between 2004 and 2007.

While never receiving the attention enjoyed by its supercar rivals, the burly SLR was a novel mash-up between Germany’s Mercedes-Benz and Britain’s McLaren, before the latter became a household name. The big GT was co-developed by both companies and manufactured at the McLaren factory in Woking, England.

Its name references Mercedes’ 300 SLR race car from the 1950s. The 2003 coupe, styled by Gordon Wagener, was followed by a roadster in 2007 and, finally, a limited-edition speedster model. The entire run of 2,157 cars came to an end in 2010 when it was superseded by the less rarefied SLS AMG that year. Power came from a 5.4-litre supercharged V-8, developing a then-respectable 460kW, which gave the vehicle a top speed of 338km/h.

In 1966, lightning struck three times when Ford’s GT40 finished 1-2-3 at the daunting 24 Hours of Le Mans. The first consumer grade GT40s came out of homologation rules that dictated equivalent road cars were built alongside the racers. Fast forward to 2004, and Ford produced an homage to its famous competition machines, dubbing the supercharged sports car simply the GT.

Though undeniably sexy, the new creation had no ostensible links to racing. Not until 2016, on the 50th anniversary of the Le Mans photo finish triple victory, did Ford venture down the GT road again, this time building a gorgeous twin-turbocharged game-changer whose race equivalents won their LMGTE Pro class at Le Mans, completing a half-century circle with stunning symmetry.

A kissing cousin of the Ferrari Enzo, Maserati’s MC12 was built for the express purpose of competing in (and winning) the FIA GT Championship. A total of 25 customer cars were made in 2004, with another 25 in 2005, each priced at around the $900,000 mark, and all were presold. A final dozen were produced for racing only.

Frank Stephenson, then-director of Ferrari-Maserati Concept Design and Development penned the MC12, which was built on the Enzo chassis, but was larger in every dimension. Sharing the Ferrari’s same 6.0-litre V-12 engine, the Maserati was deferential to its prancing horse patriarch, making 463kW and hitting 330km/h, versus 485kW and 349km/h. While not street legal, the MC12 shines as one of the most voluptuous supercars of our century.

Koenigsegg Automotive is the brainchild of Christian von Koenigsegg, whose Swedish atelier has been building wildly imaginative hypercars for the last quarter-century. While early iterations were only street legal in limited markets (and built-in extremely limited numbers), 2006’s CCX marked the carmaker’s first attempt to meet global standards for safety and emissions.

Though only 29 examples of the CCX were produced over four years, the 800+ hp cars introduced the boutique brand to the word, stoking an appetite for these wildly innovative, carbon-fibre creations.

Debuting at the 2007 Frankfurt Motor Show and built from 2007 through 2009, the Reventón—named after a fighting bull—was not a series-production car, but a limited run of special Lamborghini supercars whose styling was inspired, according to the factory press release, by “the fastest aeroplanes.”

The mechanical underpinnings beneath its carbon-fibre skin were derived from the Italian marque’s then-state-of-the-art Murciélago LP640, which featured a mid-rear-mounted 6.5-litre V-12 developing 477kW and achieving a very respectable top speed of 340km/h. a mere 20 examples were made, with one additional for the factory museum. A roadster version, unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show, followed the stealthy coupe.

Achingly gorgeous. Aston Martin’s super-exclusive ONE-77 hypercar is a true art form. Just 77 of these potent projectiles were built, each costing roughly $2.5 million. At its launch in 2009, this was the fastest, most technically-advanced, most radical Aston ever built. And, arguably, the most beautiful.

With a carbon-fibre chassis and hand-formed aluminium body, it was also light yet extremely rigid. And lightning-quick, courtesy of its 559kW, 7.3-litre V-12. How quick? Think zero to 97km/h in 3.5 seconds and a 320km/h top speed. It’s the car Bond should be driving, but never has.

Bugatti stormed back to the modern age from the pages of automotive history with the 2005 Veyron, which announced its intentions with quad-turbo twin-V8s that made an astonishing 894kW. Fast forward a half-decade, and the Super Sport version of the Veyron promptly claimed the Guinness Book of Records title in 2010 as world’s fastest production car with a 418km/h run at Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg test track.

The Veyron Super Sport has been eclipsed by the 1118kW Bugatti Chiron which, driven by Andy Wallace, recently hit 489km/h in testing. However, nobody is apt to forget the Veyron—the machine that made the modern version of Bugatti what it is today.

2013 was an auspicious year for supercars, with no fewer than three major releases debuting from McLaren, Porsche, and Ferrari and earning the “Holy Trinity” nickname. Though fiercely individual, each of the trio claimed a hybrid power-train layout.

Of the three, only the Ferrari LaFerrari boasted a V-12 engine— and a raucous, naturally aspirated one, at that. The LaFerrari also happened to be the most powerful (and, unofficially at least) the most charismatic of the wild bunch. Eponymously named to suggest it was the quintessence of the Ferrari nameplate, the 708kW hypercar may go down in history not only as the pinnacle of its era, but also as one of the greatest prancing horses of all time.

Of the three renowned hybrid hypercars that debuted in 2013, two (the Ferrari LaFerrari and Porsche 918 Spyder) hailed from long-established carmakers, while the other—the McLaren P1—was a relative newbie on the scene. Not that the British manufacturer hadn’t earned itself a spot in the hypercar pantheon with the 1990s-era legendary F1, but the lengthy absence made building this flagship like starting from scratch.

McLaren used advanced carbon-fibre construction based on their lesser, more approachable (relatively) offerings, but the top dog P1 claimed a screaming 673kW and a remarkably lightweight chassis, which made it a more than worthy contender against the supercar establishment of the time.

The 918 Spyder was a true game-changer, demonstrating the potential of plug-in hybrid technology in the supercar stratosphere. A naturally aspirated, 4.6-litre V-8 with 446kW got added power from two electric motors, for a total output of 653kW and 1280Nm of near instant-on torque.

Penned by Porsche’s chief designer, Michael Mauer, the 918 was first shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 2010 as a concept to gauge market interest, going into production in late 2013 with a base price of near $1,150,000. The entire allocation of—surprise—918 units, sold out by the end of 2014, so eager were VIP Porschephiles to acquire the most powerful street-going Porsche ever made. Production ended by mid-2015, and the 918 remains a highly desirable collector car today.

The Bugatti Chiron is all about the sum of its glorious parts. Sure, one can marvel at the 1118kW W-16 engine, or coo over the Art Deco inspired exterior, or rave about the jewel-like interior. But to separate out these ingredients is to miss the majesty of the meal.

The Chiron, named after the famed Monegasque driver Louis Chiron, is at once a vehicle from the future and a modern reincarnation of the 1930s Bugatti Type 57 SC Atlantic. To pull up somewhere in a Chiron is the unequivocal calling card that says you’ve arrived—not just to your destination, but in life.

Sweden may be known largely as the home of proletarian transportation king Volvo, but sports car enthusiasts also know it as the land of Koenigsegg. And one of the mightiest models to leave that factory is the Regera, brainchild of company founder Christian von Koenigsegg who was, reportedly, inspired after a few sprints in a Tesla Model S P95.

The Regera, however, runs on hybrid power combining three electric motors with a 5-litre V-8. The power-train configuration, in total, produces a staggering 1268kW —all of which completely and wonderfully upends the image of Swedes being models of self-restraint.

Lamborghini’s Huracán was no slouch, a flying wedge of a car powered by a 10-cylinder engine producing a touch over 447kW. But four years after the model’s debuted in 2014 debut, it was decided that this Italian raging bull needed a track-focused makeover. Carbon-fibre bumpers, skirts and an adjustable wing removed weight and added downforce, while an engine massage bumped horsepower up 5 per cent and took the coupe’s zero-to-97km/h  time down to just less than 3 seconds.

The interior was just as race oriented, with sports seats and digital speedometer off the Aventador. All that added up to a brief but celebrated 2016 track record at Germany’s haloed Nürburgring, not bad at all for a company whose roots were in tractors.

Follow-ups to massive debuts are tough nuts to crack. But Argentine engineer Horatio Pagani did just that with the Huayra, the successor to his stop-the-presses Zonda. Back in the engine bay is a monstrous AMG-tuned power plant, this time a 6-litre twin-turbo V-12 producing 550kW.

Wrapped around the driver and passenger of this roofless wonder is a tub made from a combination of carbon fibre and titanium for greater stiffness and lighter weight. But those are just the raw specs for a vehicle perhaps best known for being as meticulously refined as a Swiss watch, a true tastemaker’s triumph.

Taking everything the brand had become known for—carbon-fibre construction and an ambitiously complex hydraulic suspension system—the 720S stunned the competition with its breathtaking speed and incredible breadth of abilities. Tomorrow’s top supercars may be anyone’s guess, but the McLaren 720S maintains its positions as one of the finest offerings of the decade.

Ruf’s 340km/h Yellowbird may have looked like a slightly tweaked Porsche 911, but the heavily modified creation was nothing short of groundbreaking, vanquishing titans like the Ferrari F40 and Lamborghini Countach in a 1987 Road & Track magazine cover story. Its legend became cemented with a Nürburgring-shredding session in the “Faszination” video.

The latest CTR, marking its 30th anniversary, once again appears approachable at first glance, but this time around it boasts an entirely bespoke carbon-fibre chassis hiding a cornucopia of exotic hardware, from inboard suspension to a quick-revving 522kW power plant. At once classic and futuristic, the CTR marks a momentous milestone against the original Yellowbird, offering a wildly capable supercar that hides in a discreetly familiar body.

To make a 2450kg, big-bodied two-door coupe go fast, really fast, you need a big engine. Which is what made Bentley’s last-generation Continental Supersports arguably the greatest production Bentley ever.

Technical wizardry managed to up the horsepower of the Supersports’ turbine-smooth 6-litre twin-turbo W-12 to a nice, round 520kW. The result: zero-to-97km/h acceleration in a hard-to-comprehend 3.4 seconds, and a top speed boosted to a blistering 336km/h. It was simply the fastest four-seater you could buy. Just 710 examples were built during 2017 making them a collector’s dream.

The Miura, Countach, Diablo, Espada and Veneno. All great Lamborghinis. But the greatest Lamborghini of all? To us, that accolade goes to the raging, snorting bull that’s the Aventador SuperVeloce Jota, SVJ for short.

With a 6.5-litre naturally aspirated V-12 channelling 566kW to all four wheels, it can catapult this blunt instrument from Sant’Agata to 100km/h in a mere 2.5 seconds. Around the Nürburgring, there’s no production car that’s faster. And it comes with all the theatre and howling soundtrack you expect of any modern-day Lamborghini—only with the volume turned up to 11.

Production has already kicked off with the goal to build 100 examples, each priced at $2.2 million. SSC isn’t new to the high-speed business. In 2007, its Ultimate Aero clocked 412km/h. The record stood for three years before Bugatti’s Veyron Super Sports came along.

Supercar greatness is on its way. When Aston Martin’s Valkyrie hypercar comes off the line early next year, it will set a towering new benchmark for street-legal production car performance. It’s what happens when you bolt a 745kW, 6.5-litre V-12, along with a 112kW Rimac-developed hybrid-electric system, into a lightweight, super-strong carbon monocoque.

And if that wasn’t impressive enough, remember the car has been designed by Adrian Newey, Formula 1 design rock star and current chief technical officer for Red Bull Racing. Production will be limited to 150 examples, each costing $4.4 million.

Its combination of exceptional hybrid power-train performance and dramatic looks pull from the best of existing aft-engined models. Note the nod to the 488’s flank scoops as well as to the marque’s racing pedigree—the nose simply screams motorsport, which this car salutes by name: Scuderia Ferrari, 90 years.