Race car drivers are some of the luckiest people in the world. The feeling and adrenaline rush one gets when pushing some of the coolest race cars to their limits in the name of glory is incomparable to anything. Unfortunately, this feeling is reserved for just a few gearheads, as there aren’t enough racing competitions to accommodate all of us.
Thankfully, automakers have realized this and built track-oriented but street-legal cars to meet the demand. Although they are often super expensive and exclusive, these cars come with similar power, technology and driving feel to the best race cars, but have a few adjustments to make them road-legal. Let’s explore ten such cars.
10/10 Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR
When the FIA revived the GT1 Championship in the ’90s, every top European automaker wanted to be part of it. Winning such a competition required a really special car, which is why Mercedes-Benz built the CLK GTR.
The CLK GTR was built to win, which is why Mercedes-Benz equipped it with a carbon-fiber monocoque and aluminum honeycomb frame to save as much weight as possible, and a massive V12 under the hood. To meet homologation requirements, Mercedes-Benz built 25 road-legal CLK GTRs and sold each for $1.5 million, making it one of the most expensive production cars of the ’90s.
9/10 Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus SCG 003
We’ve covered American entrepreneur James Glickenhaus and his amazing car collection before. After years of collecting some of the most exclusive supercars, Glickenhaus decided to build a car for himself, which is why he founded Scuderia Cameron Glickenhaus.
The best vehicle built by the company is the SCG 003, which debuted in 2014. The SCG 003 looks like a proper supercar, as it was designed by ex-Pininfarina designer Paolo Garella. It also has the performance to match, as it’s powered by a 4.4-liter twin-turbocharged BMW V8 dishing out 750 hp.
8/10 McLaren F1 LM
When the legendary McLaren F1 debuted in the early ’90s, it was so good that McLaren soon entered it into the 24 Hours of Le Mans competition as the F1 GTR. The F1 GTR was so successful that McLaren decided to honor it with a limited run of track-focused but road-legal versions known as the F1 LM.
The F1 LM is as close as anyone can get to driving a Le Mans race car, as it used the same engine as the F1 GTR race car without the race-mandated restrictors. Only five examples were built, making it extremely rare and expensive.
7/10 KTM X-Bow
KTM needs no introduction, as it has built some of the best sport bikes in the world. However, the Austrian motorcycle manufacturer has been trying to expand its lineup to include cars, which is why it built the X-Bow.
The X-Bow debuted in the late 2000s to rival the likes of the Ariel Atom in the track day car market and has been a huge hit since, forcing KTM to increase production from 500 per year to 1,000. The X-Bow weighs 1,740 lbs and is powered by a turbocharged four-cylinder making 237 hp, allowing it to blast past 60 mph in under 4 seconds.
6/10 McLaren Senna
If you’re an avid Formula One racing fan, you’ve probably heard of legendary driver Ayrton Senna. Notably, Senna won several world championships for McLaren back in the day, which is why the British marque decided to honor him with a limited edition track-focused supercar named after him.
The McLaren Senna is based on the 720S, but it’s equipped with various upgrades to ensure it can achieve faster lap times than any other McLaren. It comes with an upgraded 4.0-liter twin-turbo V8 blurting out 789 hp, an adjustable rear wing, a double-element diffuser, Brembo carbon-ceramic brakes, and Pirelli P-Zero Trofeo R tires.
5/10 Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion
The 911 GT1 was an important car for Porsche, as it marked the marque’s return to the highest levels of racing. However, Porsche wanted the 911 GT1 to be much better than previous race cars, so instead of modifying a production car to turn it into a race car, Porsche essentially created a purpose-built sports prototype and then built 25 road-legal examples to meet homologation requirements.
The road-legal 911 GT1 – the Strassenversion – looked a lot like the race car and even had the same engine, although slightly detuned to make it a bit safer on public roads.
4/10 Maserati MC12
Maserati has always lived in Ferrari’s shadow. In the early 2000s, Maserati felt that the best way to make a name for itself was by building a race car that could participate in the FIA GT Championship, which is how the MC12 came to be.
The MC12 was built using the mechanical underpinnings of the Ferrari Enzo, but had a unique design and slightly less power from the same 6.0-liter V12.
3/10 Ariel Atom
When it comes to open-top track day cars, it doesn’t get better than the Ariel Atom. The Atom debuted in 2000 and quickly set the standards for how a road-legal track car should look and perform, and it has been in production since.
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The Atom has been built in multiple iterations over the years, with one of the best being the 2018 Atom 4. Equipped with a 316-hp Honda Type-R turbo engine, a new chassis, suspension, brakes, steering, and aerodynamic features, the Atom 4 is a joy to drive.
2/10 BAC Mono
Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) is a small British automaker best known for creating the Mono – a track-oriented road-legal sports car with just one seat. The Briggs Brothers – who founded BAC – were previously design and engineering consults for the likes of Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, and Bentley until they decided to build their own car from scratch.
The result was the Mono, which immediately became the best track day car. The initial version of the Mono was powered by a Cosworth-tuned Ford Duratec engine making 276 hp, giving it a 0-60 mph of just 2.8 seconds and a top speed of 170 mph.
1/10 Radical Rapture
Radical Motorsport is a British automaker that specializes in building road-legal, track-ready cars. One of the best cars Radical has ever built is the Rapture – an open-top sports car that’s sure to leave you smiling from ear to ear.
The Rapture stuck to the same formula that made the Ariel Atom and BAC Mono so successful – an ultralight design and a decent powerplant. It comes with a 2.3-liter Ford Ecoboost engine tuned to produce 345 hp, enough to make the 1,600-lb car a joy to drive.