Over the decades, how many dreamers have tried to build their own supercars, aiming to rival Ferrari, turn out something more dramatic than a Lamborghini, or one-up the very best of those German creations? It’s a really seductive idea, but in the cut and thrust of the commercial world, reality can often be very punishing. After all, supercars are notoriously tough for engineers to piece together, and history shows us that they’re very hard to build in profitable numbers.
And then, you need to take into account design, tooling, and production logistics before you even think about rigid safety compliance rules and fiddly emissions certifications. Yes, some established giants can shoulder that burden simply because they can realistically expect to sell thousands of cars. However, for a small outfit or a startup that’s often on a shoestring budget, passion and genius alone are far from enough to overcome those economic hurdles.
Supercar dreams often end in financial nightmares despite the fact that their creators are often visionaries. Sadly, these builders often lack the global networks enjoyed by the likes of Porsche, Lamborghini, and Ferrari and those companies also have broad product ranges to subsidize any experimental halo cars.
And perhaps the most challenging element of all is regulatory compliance. Government inspectors expect to destroy expensive prototypes to show that the vehicle is safe, and the associated legislation grows stricter and more comprehensive every year. Small companies also face a mountain of paperwork and need to employ a dedicated team in order to ensure emissions compliance.
Yes, the likes of Pagani and Koenigsegg may have succeeded during their formative years when others failed, but even they had a crafty plan in tow. For example, Horacio Pagani had some significant connections at Mercedes-AMG and Lamborghini and, in the case of that German partner, was able to secure engines and credibility to bolster his company’s chances.
So, the lesson is clear. While there are well-monied enthusiasts out there who love dreamers, dreams alone don’t pay the bills and for every Pagani that makes it, there are dozens of others who fall by the wayside. By way of example, here are five supercars that prove that the cost of ambition can often lead to financial despair.
For this article, we chose five halo cars from obscure manufacturers that – in one way or another – led to financial hardship for the company. We detail the venture's number of cars, including prototypes, and the key specifications for the chosen car.
1993 Isdera Commendatore 112i
Number of Cars Produced: 1 prototype
Eberhard Schulz certainly had a very lofty goal, as the German engineer wanted to build a car that could rival the McLaren F1. He had already founded a company, Isdera, to produce low-volume sports cars, but all along, he really wanted the Commendatore 112i to be its masterpiece.
So, in 1993, the concept car came to life with a long and low body, gullwing doors, periscope-style mirrors, and fine detailing. It had a 6.0-liter Mercedes-Benz V12 at its heart, producing 402 hp and linked to a six-speed manual. Schulz claimed that the 112i could have a top speed of 211 mph, which would have put it in the same league as the Jaguar XJ220 or the Ferrari F40 of that time.
As with the others on this list, Schulz tended to underestimate the financial realities of the program. He didn’t have any wealthy investors waiting in the wings and the development costs associated with the 112i drained his resources quite quickly.
This meant that only one prototype emerged and while it was a runner and theoretically ready for production, bankruptcy intervened. However, the car does survive to this day and when it (rarely) changes hands, it’s typically for millions of dollars. But for Schulz, this one car was simply a dream too far.
1991 Vector W8 Twin Turbo
Number of Cars Produced: 17 plus 2 prototypes
Jerry Weigert founded Vector Aeromotive in California in the 1970s and his aim was to deliver a homegrown Ferrari-slayer. He certainly put a lot of effort into its design and launch and, after years of prototypes, the Vector W8 finally came into production in 1989. This wedge-shaped supercar had a twin turbo 6.0-liter Chevrolet V8 under the rear deck, turning out 625 hp and Weigert felt that he could push this output to 1,200 hp if the car ran on race fuel alone.
Inside, his aerospace background came in handy as the W8 featured an array of aircraft-style switches with LCDs. Car journalists of the time didn’t know what to make of it with its exotic looks and technology stacks, and it certainly symbolized American excess from that era.
However, the W8 may have looked good on the outside, but the build quality was inconsistent, and it was a bit of a nightmare to live with. It tended to overheat in traffic and break down far too often, while all along, Weigert struggled to meet federal emissions regulations within the company’s budget.
Sadly, each W8 cost more than $450,000 and Weigert was not able to sell them for a significant profit. This meant his Vector dream bled money and only 17 production cars made it to the real world.
In the mid-1990s, Weigert sold a controlling interest in the company to an Indonesian conglomerate, but that certainly wasn’t a marriage made in heaven. There were many disagreements and eventually Weigert left, shortly before the company collapsed into administration.
1988 Cizeta-Moroder V16T
Number of Cars Produced: ~11 plus 1 prototype
Italian engineer Claudio Zampolli worked for Lamborghini through the 70s, but he also harbored great ambitions. Secretly, he believed he could outdo his former employer with a supercar creation of his own and managed to get some financial help from famous record producer Giorgio Moroder. Zampolli also teamed up with Marcello Gandini, who is the man responsible for designing the Lamborghini Countach and, altogether, the team turned out the Cizeta-Maroda V16T in 1988.
This supercar had a bespoke 6.0-liter V16 engine mounted transversely behind the seats, and effectively two Lamborghini V8s bolted together. The car was meant to do almost 200 mph courtesy of its 540 hp engine and this would have made it one of the fastest road cars of that time. It certainly looked outrageous and had a glorious soundtrack to accompany its presence, but the numbers never added up.
Sadly, the car cost more than $600,000 at launch –which was astronomical in the early 90s – and the investing Moroder got cold feet. This meant that only a small number of cars came out of the Modena-based factory in the early 90s before the company had to file for bankruptcy.
Zampolli did try to revive the brand in California years later – even completing a few collector cars here and there – but his dream was over. Less than a dozen Cizetas survived, making them some of the rarest exotics in history.
2004 Bristol Fighter
Number of Cars Produced: 13 (base model)
Over in Britain, Bristol Cars was an eccentric carmaker born out of an aircraft company. It already sold some hand-built luxury coupes out of its tiny London showroom and typically to old-money traditionalists who wanted something charming but quirky.
But in 2004, Bristol went up several notches with its gullwing Fighter GT, which had an 8.0-liter Dodge Viper V10 beneath. This produced 525 hp in its base form, later rising to 628 hp in the S model and an incredible 1,012 hp in the ultimate Fighter T. This latter car was a twin turbo version with a claimed 270 mph top speed and if that had indeed been the case, it would have been the fastest production car on Earth.
However, Bristol certainly didn’t have the resources or the global marketing heft to pull off such a big project. In the end, only 13 Fighters emerged, and the twin-turbo T never advanced beyond a prototype. Today, the Fighter is a very rare British supercar, and collectors love it for its eccentricity.
But sadly, Bristol Cars has long since dissolved into administration in 2011 and perhaps its attempt to go head-to-head with the likes of Bugatti and Koenigsegg was altogether far too ambitious.
1995 DeTomaso Guara
Number of Cars Produced: ~52
De Tomaso was already quite an established niche manufacturer before pushing forward with its supercar aspirations. After all, Alejandro de Tomaso already had the successful Pantera model complete with its mid-engine Ford powerplant, and which he sold through an association with Lincoln/Mercury dealers in the 1970s.
De Tomaso was well known for tinkering and trying to develop oddball luxury sedans on the one hand or racing cars on the other, but in the end, his ambition got the better of him. In the 1990s, he came out with the ambitious Guara, sitting on a bespoke chassis with either a BMW or a Ford V8.
It certainly represented an unconventional approach, but few people actually liked it and only around 50 were made before the company sank into bankruptcy in the early 2000s. As it turns out, De Tomaso’s downfall wasn’t just due to a single car model but rather linked to a pattern of overreach. This meant that the company wasn’t in the best financial shape to help launch the Guara, and with growing debt, De Tomaso had to sell off the brand to new owners.
Sources:RM Sothebys, Bring a Trailer, Wikipedia.
