7 Supercars Of The 2000s That Deserve More Recognition

The noughties were possibly the peak of the supercar age, and there are certainly plenty performance cars from that period that deserve a bit more respect
7 Supercars Of The 2000s That Deserve More Recognition

The noughties gave us Mean Girls, the Lord of the Rings trilogy and Shrek, but it wasn’t just on the silver screen that the decade flourished. Supercars were being produced left, right and centre in the early 2000s with the new prosperity that the Millennium brought. After all this was a time when the big three assembled the original holy trinity, made up of the Ferrari Enzo, McLaren-Mercedes SLR and the Porsche Carrera GT. But in tandem with the those legendary motors were a bunch of lesser-known supercars produced by numerous small-time firms that weren’t afraid to put their necks and wallets on the line by producing niche performance cars.

So here’s a list of a few noughties supercars that deserve a bit more respect, many of which have been forgotten about or have been consigned to garaged car collections, gathering dust.

Ascari A10

7 Supercars Of The 2000s That Deserve More Recognition

Based in Banbury, UK, smalltime manufacturer Ascari managed to concoct this track-biased supercar to take on anything else that decided to cross its path. With a thumping 625bhp V8 slapped in a mid-mounted position, the A10 was a development of the previous KZ1 roadcar but unfortunately did not make production and was only realised in prototype form.

Named to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the company, the Ascari was one of the quickest cars of the noughties, getting to 60mph in just 2.8 seconds before pulling to a stratospheric 215mph. If only Ascari had kept producing road cars, the company probably could have been a serious contender to even the big supercar names. Shame that it just manages its own private race track in Spain instead…

Koenigsegg CC8S

7 Supercars Of The 2000s That Deserve More Recognition

Now renowned for stupendously powerful hypercars that are generally hidden away from any journalistic group tests, Koenigsegg produced its first road car back in 2002; the CC8S. Derived from a Ford V8, the CC8S’s powertrain pumped out around 650bhp, just over a third of the output from the company’s modern halo hybrid hypercar, the 1800bhp Regera.

Producing a car capable of 240mph straight off the bat however was a monumental feat by the Swedish hypercar maker, but unfortunately the CC8S quickly gained a reputation for ferociously twitchy handling at speed. Despite this, Koenigsegg’s first supercar paved the way for its CCX and Agera successors.

Morgan Aero 8

7 Supercars Of The 2000s That Deserve More Recognition

Famed for being completely cross-eyed, the Morgan Aero 8 was part of a theme of BMW-powered performance machinery in the 2000s. Using the 4.4-litre N62 V8, the Morgan was the first ‘new’ design by the famous British car maker since 1948. In reply to the ridicule gained over its front-end looks, Morgan replaced the Aero 8’s VW Beetle headlights with some from a BMW Mini which made the English supercar a much meaner-looking beast after its midlife redevelopment.

And there was nothing funny about the performance on tap: 0-62mph in 4.5 seconds and a top speed of 170mph confirmed the Aero 8 as a class act from a company that only really had a reputation for cars stuck in the past.

9ff GT9

7 Supercars Of The 2000s That Deserve More Recognition

9ff is to Porsche what Brabus is to Mercedes-AMG, and then some. Loosely based upon a 911, its GT9-R Frankenstein car is one of the massively unsung heroes of the 2000s, with 1120bhp from a 4.0-litre flat-six engine and the front end from a 997 GT3.

9ff moved the engine between the axles for improved weight distribution and created a hypercar capable of 254mph - this made it quicker than the Veyron of the time but just slower than the crazy SSC Ultimate Aero. Costing upwards of £500,000, the GT9-R was a twin-turbocharged hypercar that not many modern supercars can even get close to.

Gumpert Apollo

7 Supercars Of The 2000s That Deserve More Recognition

It may have aesthetics that only its engineers could love, but the Gumpert Apollo was a rare alternative to the more generic noughties hypercars. A twin-turbocharged 4.2-litre Audi V8 was capable of getting the 1200kg package to 62mph in 3.1 seconds and on to a top speed of 224mph, making it one of the quickest cars of the decade.

With gullwing doors and no ground-clearance to speak of, the Gumpert Apollo was a true supercar legend, spending many seasons on top of the Top Gear ‘Power Lap Board’ before being surpassed by the Veyron Super Sport. The company has since been re-branded to Apollo Automobil, but the Gumpert will forever be remembered as the ugliest way to tear up a lap record.

Wiesmann MF5

7 Supercars Of The 2000s That Deserve More Recognition

I was always a massive fan of the Wiesmann’s design. It effectively took the aesthetic of the Jaguar XK120 and somehow made it look even more attractive; a seemingly impossible feat. Using a BMW-sourced twin-scroll turbocharged V8, the retro-inspired supercar could reach 193mph. It was rare too - only 55 examples of the MF5 were ever produced.

It was extremely expensive - almost three times as much as Wiesmann’s previous sports cars - but 547bhp was a huge jump over the basic M3 powertrains used in the company’s earlier cars.

Spyker C12 Zagato

7 Supercars Of The 2000s That Deserve More Recognition

Most petrolheads will have heard of the striking C8, but Spyker’s second supercar upped the company’s game with one hell of an engine. Using VW’s 6.0-litre W12 brute of a powertrain, the C12 was co-designed by the metal-forming masters that are Zagato, based in Milan.

The C12 saw Spyker switch from manual to automatic transmissions to channel the 493bhp and 450lb ft of torque to the rear wheels. Production finished in 2008 with only 24 cars being manufactured. In more recent years, the Dutch car-maker has arguably become better known for its financial troubles than its striking products.

7 Supercars Of The 2000s That Deserve More Recognition

Any noughties supercars you think deserve a bit more of the limelight? Comment below with any suggestions that we may have missed!

Sponsored Posts

Comments

The_Import_Kid

Where’s Flux?
I mean S7.

09/20/2016 - 21:18 |
2 | 0

5 months later, still no S7.

fuk

03/03/2017 - 19:08 |
0 | 0
Matthew Benson

Noughties. Never heard that term, probably becuase im Murican

09/20/2016 - 22:10 |
4 | 0
Anonymous

Anybody?

09/20/2016 - 22:16 |
2 | 2
AudiHelpLine

Okay, I’ve driven a 550-600HP Honda SI 8th gen, and that was stupid fast. To fast to be on the street. That being said, i couldn’t imagine a 1120 HP Porsche, fast enough to bend time probably.

09/21/2016 - 03:06 |
0 | 0
quit CT

The 2010’s have been just as good in my opinion
The fast 15 years in general has been fantastic for sports cars

09/21/2016 - 04:01 |
0 | 0
quit CT

Saleen S7 is number one for me

09/21/2016 - 04:02 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

The Bristol Fighter S (and the planned, but not built, Fighter T).

09/21/2016 - 11:00 |
0 | 0
Max Schröder

Didn’t a friend of Jan Fatthauer (the 9ff-boss) crash the 9ff GT9?

09/21/2016 - 13:29 |
0 | 0
Anonymous

Where’s the Chrysler ME Four-Twelve? That thing could have literally murdered the SLR Mclaren, but sadly reached only the Prototype stage before a bunch of incensed DaimlerChrysler (Germany) Execs demanded the programme be terminated, because of how much time, effort and money had been spent on the SLR , while a small group of SRT engineers managed to get a working pre-production prototype ready in less than half the time which was taken for the SLR Mclaren, and the cost it would have been to further develop the ME412.

09/21/2016 - 13:55 |
2 | 0
Auto_Kevin97

In reply to by Anonymous (not verified)

I wish the ME Four-Twelve was made.

09/22/2016 - 02:08 |
0 | 0
Haertnerismo

Is it “opposite day” like in the Spongebob episode? The Apollo is called ugly, while the Wiesmann is called “beautiful” wtf… I know there are different tastes, but the Apollo just looks mean, fast and aggressive like it should be… The Wiesmann looks like a irritated Wombat

09/21/2016 - 13:56 |
0 | 0