Supercar Manufacturers

Ferrari 

Ferrari is a name synonymous with history and prestige. The famous Prancing horse is probably the most recognisable mascot and badge in the world and produces the most sought after super cars. Ferrari was founded in 1929 by Enzo Ferrari and epitomises the height of fashion and exclusivity which is something other prestige brands from Italy have tried to recreate such as Gucci, Prada, Bottega Veneta and of course Georgio Armani. Ferrari’s success was born out of its racing wins and the good times returned in 1999 when Michael Schumacher took the helm. The most collectable cars of all the road cars are: 250GTO, 365GTB 4 also known as the Daytona, 288GTO, 250LM, Testarossa, F40, F50 and of course the Enzo and FXX. Performance of the new base model car (if you can call it that! ) is astonishing : the F430 coupe can out accelerate the 1989 F40. 





Aston Martin

Aston Martin was created in 1913 by Lionell Martin and Robert Bamford. This company has endured a rocky road in the last 20 years with more than its fair share of ups and downs such as when in the 1980s nearly going bankrupt. The future looks bright now that the company has been sold by Ford to a consortium that run Prodrive Racing. It will be interesting to see what the new models cars to come out of the Factory in Newport Pagnell. Aston Martin has produced more cars in the last 5 years than in its entire production history up until that time, the sales success is solely attributable to the DB7. 



Bugatti

Ettore Bugatti founded the company and Bugatti has also shared its successes and hardships (like all the other super car manufacturers) and the factory closed its doors for many years only to reopen for a short period from 1990 up until 1995 with the introduction of the stunning quad turbo EB110 super car but now thanks to Volkswagen with German precision engineering the company has built the ultimate supercar of all, the Veyron. This is a car fit only for Billionaires… and only 300 will ever be made and every car makes the company £700,000 loss as the car was so over engineered! 



Lamborghini

Automobili-Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly referred to as Lamborghini was a tractor manufacturer founded in 1963 by Ferruccio Lamborghini and came about because his personal Ferrari road car couldn’t be fixed properly by Enzo Ferrari so as a result he decided to show them how its done… The Italian manufacturer of high performance sports cars is based in the small Italian village of Sant'Agata Bolognese, near Bologna. Lamborghini was bought by Audi AG [1], which is in turn a subsidiary of Volkswagen. The Countach was every boys dream in the mid 1980s but was as bad to drive as it looks now when parked next to a modern supercar. However the Diablo was the car that returned Lamborghini to success and there is no doubt this is the brand of the London Playboys. 



Porsche

Professor Ferdinand Porsche built the first car in 1948 which makes it one of the oldest companies in this list. In the 1980s Porsche threatened to do away with the 911 model… what were they thinking? They quickly came to their senses though and realised that Porsche and 911 were actually the same brand and when the 964 model hit the streets it was the car to be seen in… the stockbrokers toy which usually came in a colour to match his braces… The 993 model followed and will probably be remembered as the prettiest 911 shape of all although in our opinion the best of all was the 1989 Speedster wide body. London has about 40% of the UK’s 911s and literally there is one on every street in certain postcodes!





McLaren

McLaren unlike other small supercar manufacturers like Cizetta which were “one hit wonders” McLaren has managed to create two of the most stunning and enviable production supercars ever seen. The F1 road car is one of the few modern cars that has actually appreciated in value and now change hands at in excess of £750,000. McLaren thanks to the funding from Mercedes has produced the SLR and now the slightly reworked version SLR 722 which can crack 0-60mph in 3.5 seconds. Ohh and its Paris Hiltons favourite car! 



Cizeta

The Morodor V16 was the baby of Claudio Zampolli an Italian ofcourse and was designed by Marcello Gandini with the finished product driving out the gates in 1995. Only 10 cars were ever made and the Sultan of Brunei owns most of them. 



Jaguar 

There are really only two modern day cars that are worth mentioning from this classic stable, the XJR15 and the XJ220. Unfortunately neither car was particularly good to drive however both are stunning to look at. 



Pagani 

We thought it wasn’t possible to create a new brand name from scratch but another Italian fashion house has managed to produce a car that is totally desirable and still underestimated – The Zonda. This totally hand made super car is one of the best handling cars ever made and one of the most beautiful – possibly it has the best sounding engine which is a 7.3l V12 made by AMG Mercedes. 



Koenisegg

Sweden is not an obvious place for the construction of the most brutish super car of all: The Koenigsegg CCX. It is probably the widest of all and the loudest and until the Veyron hit the streets, it was the fastest at 243mph flat out. 



Bristol

The Fighter is the new 200mph super car from this very quiet and rare hand made car manufacturer. Finally Bristol has produced a car that doesn’t look like it is in the 1970s! The company began in 1946 after World War 2 and was bourn from Aero engineering. 210mph and 525BHP from the V10 engine… who would have thought this was the description of a Bristol car?! This is a super car with class, a more exotic blend than Aston Martin and Bentley.



Ford 

The only Ford worth mentioning is the GT40 and its modern day remake the GT… A super rare site in its original form the new car is not much different. No doubt it is a stunning machine to look at, its flash but some how it still retains elegance and class. 



Shelby AC Cobra

The car that we can thank for the UK national speed limits! A genuine one will set you back more than £250,000. Along with the GT40 and the jaguar E type this is the most copied car of all with several kit cars being made.