Since the invention of the wheel, there have been some remarkable automotive creations that very few people know of, like the unassuming Lamborghini-powered Audi S6 saloon, BMW’s saving grace, the Isetta, some underloved supercars like the Aston Martin One-77, and even an Audi Q7 with a diesel V12 under its hood.
All of these are exemplary examples of what automakers are capable of, but for this list, we’ll be focussing on cars that virtually every single person forgot existed. This list will include some freakishly fuel-efficient supercars, humungous off-roaders, and of course some of the worlds’ lesser-known sports cars (this list won’t contain any concept cars, all of these were real-life production versions).
So, let’s jump right into it, let’s see how many of these vehicular masterpieces you recollect.
10 Toyota Mega Cruiser
You’ve heard of the legendary Land Cruiser name, but have you ever heard of the Mega Cruiser? Essentially, the Mega Cruiser was the spawn of a Toyota Land Cruiser and Hummer H1, and it was every bit as scary and capable as it looked.
A total of 3,000 Mega Cruisers were ever built, but only 133 units were ever sold to the public because if this behemoth were to land in the wrong owner’s hands, we’d be looking at a real-life indestructible super villain vehicle that weighed more than 6,000 lbs… and the BXD10 model variant actually came with a missile launcher strapped to the back of it.
9 Autozam AZ-1
Compared to the Mega Cruiser, the Autozam AZ-1 is like a teensy weensy pebble, it weighed less than 1,600 lbs, was powered by a 3-cylinder turbocharged 657cc Suzuki engine that spat out just 64 hp, but to this day it’s one of the coolest Kei cars ever produced!
It had Gullwing-like doors, a cute little face, and a redline of 9,000 rpm, which meant despite the pitiful power figures, it could still reach 60 mph from a standstill in 10 seconds. The AZ-1 might not have been the most powerful sports car to ever leave Japan, but it is undeniably one of the most awesome.
8 Volkswagen XL1
Ah, here we are, the diesel-powered German supercar from 2013 with a real-world MPG rating of 240, and it looked like it came right out of the year 2090. Now we won’t get too technical, but they’re an unending amount of reasons why the XL1 managed such an extraordinary fuel-efficiency figure like its 0.159 drag coefficient (normal cars range between 0.30 and 0.40), flush wheel covers, a weight of just over 600 lbs, and its 800cc turbocharged TDI engine that pumped out only 47 hp, but an electric motor-assisted with another 27 hp.
Yes, it was slow, agonizingly slow, with a top speed of 99 mph (159 kph) and a 0-60 time of near 13 seconds, which didn’t fit the exterior style at all, but the XL1 still is one of the coolest Volkswagens to date.
7 Vector W8
The W8 isn’t just a cool car, but one of the most extravagant supercars any carmaker has ever built and it wasn’t built in Italy as its design might have you fooled, no, it was bred in the United States of America. In proper American fashion, the Vector W8 was powered by a 6.0-liter V8 straight out of a Chevy Corvette, but Vector went ahead and strapped on two turbochargers which resulted in a maniacal 625 hp output – keep in mind, this was the early ’90s when most hypercars struggled to reach those numbers.
The interior was no snooze fest either, it had a cockpit that made you feel like an interdimensional crime-fighter who could launch straight into hyperspace with the push of its accelerator – and with its sub-4 second 0-60 time, it felt like it too.
6 Spyker C8
Now this, the Spyker C8, has to be the most beautiful car on our list. Not many enthusiasts are familiar with the Spyker brand name, so let’s sum them in a single word: Dutch. In English that roughly translates to beautiful design accompanied by the equally impressive build quality and hefty price tag, Spyker actually manufactured the C8 from the year 2000 and still continued to build modernized ones today.
The customization on these gorgeous sports cars was endless, but all were powered by the same mighty 4.2-liter Audi V8 with the most potent first-generation model producing near 400 hp.
5 Qvale Mangusta
The ’90s was meant to be a fun time for automakers to experiment with bodacious styling, charismatic engines, and wacky colors, and the Qvale Mangusta lived up to most of these requirements – it just failed in the looks department.
But just because it had an awkward face doesn’t mean that the Mangusta wasn’t a cool car; it came from the factory with a gnarly 4.6-liter Ford Modular V8 that pumped out 320 hp and 341 lb-ft of torque. Sadly, only 284 of these freakish Italian monsters were ever made, meaning the chances of seeing one in real life is super slim.
4 Lister Storm
Ah, the Storm, another homologation special car, but this one only has 3 of its kind left on the road. Basically, the Lister Storm was a hardcore racecar that had to be “watered down” (we use that phrase very lightly) to allow Lister to compete in various races.
See, the Storm wasn’t tame at all, it was still powered by a freak of nature, one of the largest V12 engines ever fitted to a car to be more specific, with a displacement of 7.0 liters and it struck a total of 545 hp to the Storm’s rear wheels which made a 0-60 time of 4 seconds possible
3 Isuzu VehiCROSS
Quintessential ’90s, that’s the VehiCROSS’s entire persona in a nutshell. It was a 2-door little SUV with chunky tires, factory-standard Recaro sports seats, a nifty old V6 engine that made more than 200 hp, and sported a type of cartoon design style, but damn, was it one of the coolest-looking off-roaders ever built.
Unfortunately, the Isuzu’s lifespan was cut short with only 6,000 units being built, and we can’t help but wonder what if today’s SUV market would have looked like if the VehiCROSS was more of a success.
2 DC Avanti
The DC Avanti might have looked like a record-shattering Italian-design hypercar, but in reality, it was much, much different. See, the Avanti was produced in India with had a production span of just 4 years, and it also didn’t inhabit a muscular V8 or an exotic V12, but rather a turbocharged four-banger sourced from Renault.
Oh, so what makes this car cool you might ask? The eensy turbo-four made 250 hp and was accompanied by a slick six-speed manual gearbox and a set of wonderous ergonomics. For India’s first attempt at a sports car, we’d say they did rather an excellent job.
1 The Amphicar
You read that right, the Amphicar was the world’s first mass-produced amphibious vehicle that could manage to tackle tarmac and sail through waters, and it was released all the way back in 1961. There were only 3,046 Amphicars ever imported into the US, which might sound like a low number, but when it’s compared to some of the other cars on this list, it’s shockingly high, and one of these boat-like cars set you back an average of $3,000.
The only reason we could see the Amphicar not being more of a success than it should have been was its small target audience and gutless 43 hp Triumph motor.
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