What is the Most Underrated Supercar?

1986 Aston Martin V-8 Zagato


In keeping with the theme of cars deserving more credit than they have received with "What is the Most Underrated Classic Car?" (http://nextautos.com/forums/classics/what-most-underrated-classic-car), let's discuss what supercar hasn't gotten its due. We all know the McLaren F1, Ferrari F40, Porsche Carrera GT, and Bugatti Veyron, but what supercar do you remember fondly and feel is neglected?

The illustration above is the Aston Martin V-8 Zagato, which premiered in Geneva in 1986. Only eighty-nine examples were built. Aston was inspired to tackle the flegdling supercar market after seeing the astonishing praise and attention Ferrari had from its 288 GTO. The Aston approach was conservative by engineering standards. The high-powered GT came equipped with typical Aston interior accoutrements, a carburetted 5.3 L V-8, and a hefty curb weight of 3,500 lbs. The Aston has more in common with the Porsche 959 and Mercedes SLR than it does with the McLaren or the Ferrari F40, in that it's more about comfortable power than raw speed. But that's not such a bad thing.

As the name suggests, the body was handbuilt by Italy's Zagato studio. The design harkened back to the Zagato/Aston works of the late 1950s and early '60s. While there wasn't anything of technological achievement to make it state-of-the-art, Astonites could proudly boast of having one of the fastest cars on a road in the 1980s. The top speed was 186 mph thanks to the 432 hp made from the GT's V-8. The limited production run, the fact that Asto Martin wasn't a household name, and the firm's lack of publicity kept the Zagato within the sphere of enthusiast circles--pretty much just British ones, at that.

Any other choices?

by Ducati Minor on July 05, 2008 - 11:03 p.m.
  • Redshark

    Any Aston stirs my cockles, but it is difficult� to come up with another "underrated" supercar unless we consider the various TVRs supercars?

    John

  • Ducati Minor
    I wouldn't, but you can.
  • jbsc5@optonline.net

    the repair and service system for cars like the aston martin is ridulous.

     

    There is no technical support. Its basically flatbed the car in to the dealer and watch them guess as they just replace very expensive parts to try and find a solution.

     

    That alone is reason to bypass the aston martin brand...(no matter how beautiful they are)

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  • donut luva
    Acura NSX. Before it came along, overpriced, unreliable, and difficult to drive were considered positive traits of 'supercars'.
  • donut makes a good point.
  • My vote goes to the Ford GT. Its launch was effectively the zenith of the "retro" era, and it packs all the performance a sane person needs into an envelope that is relatively faithful to its GT40 lineage. It's gorgeous, relatively cheap, and rare enough to have a chance of maintaining its value over time.
  • Boiler
    The term "supercar" didn't even exist back then; but, in the late '70s while living in Germany I owned a '68 Ferrari 365GT2+2. This car was BIG, easily seating 4 people, but also very elegant. What impressed most though, was getting it up to in excess of 100mph on the autobahn. At typical US speeds, it drove like the large car it was. But once it got over about 80mph on the autobahn, it just seemed to settle down a bit, get smaller, and say "ok, lets really get going now". I've always supposed a racehorse is something like that. At 150 it was more stable, comfortable, and controlled than the Pontiac GrandAm I also owned then was at 80. While no Ferrari is really a sleeper, in the context of the rest of the marque that big old 2+2 might be considered something of one. What a grand car though.
  • Jaguar XJ-220. I remember back when the car was new there was so much hype. The worlds fastest car, and yet once the McLaren F1 got past its top speed it seemed to fade into history. While F1's, F40's, F50's are still selling at their "new" MSRP or more the XJ220 can be had for under $200,000 versus the new cost of over $600,000.

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  • jeff d
    Corvette ZR1
  • Sorry, that thing could have all the performance in the world, and l still wouldn't want one. lt breaks one of the unwritten rules of AM, it must be enticing to look at. That makes me want to kook the other way, it is downright ugly.
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  • coolou
    My choice would be the Nissan 3000 GT which could be had with a AWD coupe or a converta hardtop, 4 wheel steering, 3.0 L V6 that put out 325 HP with a manual or Auto trans.and it was a beautiful car to look at but unfortunately production was discontinued several years ago. The Dodge Stealth was the American version and shared most of the engine and transmission parts and I believe was discontinued before the Nissan model was.
  • Lotus Esprit - Particularly the 1987 Peter Stephens redesign and the later S4.
  • RagnarDanneskjöld
    I believe you are referring to the Mitsubishi 3000GT (the Nissan was 300ZX), both were part of the push by Japanese car makers to build fast modern inexpensive reliable 'true' sports cars from their frumpy boxy 80's versions... Mitsubishi 3000GT Nissan 300ZX Mazda RX7 and the one to rule them all... Toyota Supra Good times...
  • Aksimel
    If you want to talk about "supercar" Japanese imports, there are only a couple options that can even be considered: Acura's NSX Nissan's GT-R Toyota's Supra Subaru's 22B Anything else is just a "sports car" The 3000GT was a pig - those numbers you recite sound respectable, but you conveniently left out the weight. The RX7 was decent, same w/ the 300zx, and the current STi/EVO, but none of these qualify for "supercar" status. -Aks
  • Aksimel
    PS if I had to pick one underrated supercar, I'd go with the Saleen S7 Twin Turbo.
  • Flak
    Jag XJ220. Got left by the wayside and production units fell considerably as it was released during an economic downturn, but performance was supercar sick. I'm not really a jag fan, but for it's performance AND price, it really didn't get the attention it deserved.
  • Patrick
    I feel like there is a significant difference between what I believe to be sports cars, super cars, and exotics. For example, I consider a Porsche 911 a sports car, a 930 a super car, and a 959 an exotic.
  • BoostGear.com
    Vector W8 Twin Turbo... The car was super bad ass but only 19 were produced and Andre Agassi demanded they refund his money after he picked his car up early and rushed them along as they built it. One of the W8's in existence has over 100,000 miles on it. That is pretty serious when you think about it.
  • KC
    I agree, almost totally ignored but it is hard to get the big props with a 6 banger.