Every gearhead dreams of sitting behind the wheel of an insanely fast race car and pushing it to its limits on the track in search of glory. Sadly, this feeling is reserved for a chosen few, as professional racing competitions are too few to accommodate all of us.
Thankfully, many automakers have realized this and are building many track-oriented but road-legal cars to meet the demand. These fantastic cars come with the power, driving dynamics, and technology found in some of the coolest race cars but have few adjustments to ensure they are street-legal – barely. This article explores ten such cars.
10 Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion
The ’90s decade is remembered by many as the golden era of FIA GT1 racing. One of the best FIA GT1 race cars is the Porsche 911 GT1, which was built in 1996. The 911 GT1 was basically a mash-up of the 993-bodied 911’s front end and the 962’s rear end.
To meet homologation requirements, Porsche had to build 25 road-going examples of the race car, and that’s how the 911 GT1 Strassenversion came to be. The 911 GT1 Strassenversion looked almost identical to the race car and had the same engine, albeit slightly detuned – a 3.2-liter twin-turbo flat-six dishing out 536 hp.
9 Ferrari 488 Pista
The 488 was a huge success for Ferrari during its four-year production run from 2015 to 2019. Ferrari built several versions of the 488, and the Pista is arguably the best. ‘Pista’ is the Italian word for ‘track’, which is exactly where this fantastic car is best enjoyed.
The 488 Pista is based on the 488 GTB but has several upgrades that allow it to generate more power from the 3.9-liter twin-turbo V8 – 710 hp and 569 lb-ft of torque.
8 McLaren Senna
If you know a bit of F1 history, you’ve definitely heard of the legendary Ayrton Senna, who won several F1 championships for McLaren back in the day. To honor the iconic driver, McLaren decided to build a special car in 2018, resulting in the Senna.
The Senna uses the mechanical underpinnings of the 720s but has an upgraded 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine dishing out 789 ponies and 590 lb-ft of torque. To boost performance on the road and track, the Senna is equipped with an adjustable rear wing, a Formula-One-Inspired roof scoop, a double-element diffuser, and high-performance Brembo carbon ceramic brakes.
7 Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR
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Like the aforementioned Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion, the Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR was built to dominate the FIA GT1 Championship in the ’90s. The CLK GTR made history when it became the most expensive production car ever sold at the time, as one of the 25 road-legal examples cost $1.5 million.
The CLK GTR had a lot in common with the racing version, including a massive V12 engine developing 604 horses and 572 lb-ft of torque. With a 0-60 of 3.8 seconds and a top speed of 214 mph, the CLK GTR is still one of the fastest German cars ever built.
6 Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus SCG 003
American film producer and entrepreneur James Glickenhaus is an avid car collector with one of the coolest collections we’ve ever covered. However, despite owning so many rare and expensive sports cars, Glickenhaus always wanted to own one he had built himself, which is why he established a sports car manufacturing company known as Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus.
The company’s best creation is the SCG 003S. Unveiled in 2014, the SCG 003S is a track-focused but road-legal supercar with a 4.4-liter twin-turbo BMW V8 making a whopping 750 hp.
5 1969 Dodge Charger Daytona
Dodge had a tough time in the second half of the ’60s decade, as it was getting battered in Nascar. After a terrible 1968 season, Dodge rolled up its sleeves and decided to build the ultimate Nascar racer – the result was the Charger Daytona.
The Charger Daytona was based on the Charger R/T but had an elaborate body kit featuring an 18-inch nose and a huge rear wing to improve aerodynamics. Under the hood, the Charger Daytona had a 7.0-liter Hemi V8 with enough power to push it past the 200 mph mark.
4 Nissan GT-R Nismo
The Nissan GT-R has been one of the most popular Japanese sports cars since it debuted in the late 2000s. This car offers the style and speed you normally find in European sports cars that cost twice the price.
While the standard GT-R is already a capable car, it’s probably not that great on the track, which is why Nissan’s Nismo division built the superb GT-R Nismo. The GT-R Nismo comes with a 3.8-liter twin-turbo V6 dishing out 600 hp, allowing it to hit 60 mph in just 2.5 seconds. It also has cool features like RAYS 20-inch forged alloy wheels, lightweight carbon-ceramic brakes, special Dunlop high-performance tires, and an upgraded suspension system.
3 1969 Chevrolet Camaro ZL-1
In 1969, the official highest-performance Camaro available was the Z28. However, gearheads with deep pockets could order a far more powerful and menacing Camaro exclusively via the Central Office Production Orders program – the ZL-1.
The main difference between the ZL-1 and the Z28 was under the hood, as the ZL-1 was equipped with a special all-aluminum 7.0-liter V8 engine developed for drag racing. The ZL-1 had more than 500 hp to play with, which was plenty at the time. Only 69 examples were ever built, making it one of the rarest GM models.
2 Lamborghini Huracan Performante
The Gallardo was an important car for Lamborghini, as it became the company’s best-selling model of all time during its production run. Its successor had huge shoes to fill, and the Huracan did that perfectly.
The standard Huracan is an awe-inspiring supercar, but the one every gearhead dreams of driving is the Performante. The Huracán Performante comes with a 5.2-liter V10 engine sending 631 ponies and 443 lb-ft of torque to all four wheels, giving it incredible performance on the track.
1 Ariel Atom
When writing about track-focused cars, it’s impossible to leave the Ariel Atom out of the conversation. Just look at it – it looks like a go-cart on steroids.
The Atom has a tube-frame body and an open cockpit, which make for a fun experience at any speed. It’s equipped with a 2.0-liter turbocharged Honda engine making 320 hp, which is a lot for a 1,300-lb car.