The Ten Scariest Cars Ever Built
Don't mess with any of these cars.
10.) Reliant Robin
It's amazing to me that this thing was sold legally, and that people actually bought them. And doesn't it make more sense to have a single wheel in the back because, you know, turning?
9.) Whatever The Hell This Thing Is
Our friends at Hemmings uncovered this picture from the Library of Congress, and even if I'm not sure exactly what it is, I'm still terrified. They think the V8 is a Hispano-Suiza aircraft motor, but as for the rest of the car, who knows?
8.) Toyota TS010
All Group C cars are scary, but the TS010 seems like one of the scariest of them all, thanks to its extraordinary downforce. It had so much downforce, the drivers couldn't even reach the limits of grip.
Just watch this video of it going through the first corner at Sydney Motorsports Park at nearly 200 MPH to see what I'm talking about.
Just watch this video of it going through the first corner at Sydney Motorsports Park at nearly 200 MPH to see what I'm talking about.
7.) Caparo T1
The T1 is terrifyingly fast, and horribly screwed together. When filming for 5th Gear Jason Plato's test car caught on fire, and it didn't fare a whole lot better on Top Gear.
Like a real race car, the faster you're going, the more downforce it generates, so it really only works well if you have balls of steel. Oh, and you can get a license plate on one in the UK.
6.) Lancia Delta S4
It's a mid-engined car that weighs under one ton, has over 500 hp from its twin-charged (turboand supercharged) four-cylinder, and is designed to race on dirt, snow, and ice. Group B rally cars are certifiably insane, and the Delta S4 embodies that insanity perfectly.
5.) TVR Cerbera Speed 12
When Ferrari, Porsche, or McLaren put around 900 or so HP in one their cars, you know they're going to be able to handle that sort of power.
When TVR did that in a car that weighed under 2,500 lbs, you know it's going to be insane. It broke the dyno, and scared the daylights out of TVR boss Peter Wheeler. Only one prototype survives.
4.) White/Triplex Special
Reader Snuze: The New Slobalt has the story about why you should be afraid of this pre-war land speed record car:
"It's called the Triplex because it's powered by THREE 27 liter V-12 Liberty Aero engines. Yes, you read that right, 81 liters total, and they claimed 1500HP. On Keeches first run, the radiator burst and scalded him. On the second run he was severely burned by the exhaust.But on April 22, 1928 Keech set the land speed record of 207.55 MPH on the beaches of Daytona. The following year the record had been raised to over 230MPH. White approached Keech to drive again, but he smartly declined. White hired a new driver, Lee Bible (who had virtually no racing experience) to drive. On his second attempt, at 202 MPH, he lost control of the car and flipped it, killing himself and a news reporter nearby."
3.) AC Cobra Super Snake
All AC Cobra's are scary cars, but the Super Snake takes that scary to a whole new level. Shelby added twin superchargers to the already-powerful 427 V8 to produce 800 HP. That's, uh, a hell of a lot of power for a tiny British roadster.
Two were made. One was driven of a cliff, the other just sold for $5.1 Million
2.) Fiat S76
This Fiat earned the nickname "The Beast Of Turin," and it's easy to see why. 300 HP out of a 28.5 Liter (!) inline-four in a car made in 1910. Just listen to it fire up. That's what fear sounds like.
1.) Porsche 917/30
Some people think the Porsche 917 is scary. Others think the 930 is scary. What happens when you combine the two? You get the 917/30 – an opened top, Can-Am race car that made over 1,500 hp out of a turbocharged, air-cooled flat-12, and weighed under one ton.
Oh, and when you drove it, your feet were ahead of the front axle. This is the scariest, most batshit car in the world.