The 1990s were a fantastic time if you were a supercar fan. The decade saw the unleashing of some of the best high-speed vehicles, such as Bugattis, Ferraris, and others.

Narrowing down which are the best from such an impressive era for supercars is difficult, but we think that is what we have done.

This list contains 15 truly epic supercars from the ’90s, at least in our opinion. All of these symbolize how good a decade the 1990s was for performance cars.

Bugatti EB110

1993 Bugatti EB110 SS
Image Credit: Eddie Phạm/Flickr.

Before it went bankrupt, the EB110 was the only production car made by Romano Artioli’s Italian incarnation of Bugatti. But Artioli and his team created a superb supercar that has become a highly sought-after classic.

Under the hood is a massive 3.5-liter Bugatti quad-turbocharged V12 engine, with 553 hp in GT form but 603 hp in the EB110 Super Sport. Before the production model, the design underwent a few changes, and the Bugatti had a few innovative features. These included the carbon fiber monocoque chassis, active aerodynamics, quad turbocharging, and an all-wheel drive system.

Jaguar XJ220

1993 Jaguar XJ220-S
Image Credit: Perico001/Flickr.

Jaguar’s XJ220 struggled to sell in the early 1990s. This was due to the recession at the start of the decade and Jaguar’s decision to replace the 6.2-liter V12 with a twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6.

Yet even with the smaller engine, the XJ220 was still a mighty impressive machine. The supercar’s top speed was 212.3 mph, and the V6 engine produced 542 hp and 475 lb-ft of torque—more than the V12 of the concept version. A price tag of around $500,000 made it one of the world’s most expensive production cars when the XJ220 was on sale in 1992.

Ferrari F50

Ferrari F50
Image Credit: MrWalkr/WikiCommons.

The Ferrari F50 never received the same attention as its predecessor, the Ferrari F40. Yet it was still an incredible supercar, with a 4.7-liter Tipo F130B V12 under the hood producing 512 hp. Ferrari developed this engine from the 3.5-liter V12 used in the 1990 Ferrari 641 Formula 1 car.

One of the most fabled of all the F50s are the three F50 GTs Ferrari produced to compete in FIA GT1 racing. These had a more powerful V12 under the hood, producing 739 hp. Six were initially planned, but Ferrari sold just three, and it is now alleged that Ferrari destroyed the three remaining tubs.

McLaren F1

Mclaren F1 GTR - Le Mans 1995
Image Credit: Martin Lee/WikiCommons.

The McLaren F1 is still the world’s fastest naturally-aspirated production car, with a top speed of 240.1 mph. The Gordon Murray-designed supercar has an innovative central driving position, mimicking an F1 car, with the passengers sitting on either side.

The F1 was about low weight and high power, the latter coming from the 618 hp BMW S70/2 V12. Murray used materials such as carbon fiber and titanium in the F1’s construction, and it was the first production car to use a carbon fiber monocoque chassis. The F1 has gold foil in the exhaust compartment as a heat shield.

First-Generation Honda NSX

Honda NSX (1990)
Image Credit: Rutger van der Maar/WikiCommons.

The fabled first-generation Honda NSX is still regularly talked about even over 30 years since its debut in 1991. Honda’s incredible supercar had powerful V6 engines under the hood, producing up to 290 hp, and it was the first production car to feature an all-aluminum semi-monocoque.

Formula 1 world champion Ayrton Senna contributed to the car’s development, convincing Honda to stiffen the chassis and refine the suspension and handling. Several unique variants would appear, such as the raw NSX-R of 1992, the 1995 NSX-T, and the stunning NSX-R GT of 2005.

Nissan R390

Nissan R390 GT1 Road Car
Image Credit: WikiCommons.

The Nissan R390 is, to many people, an FIA GT1 racer that would race at the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1997 and 1998. But, to satisfy the homologation rules at the time, Nissan produced a road-going version of the race car, one of the rarest supercars in the world.

Nissan would produce just one example of the R390 for the road. It has the same 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged BRH35L V8 engine under the hood as the race car, producing 550 hp and 470 lb-ft of torque. Nissan claimed that the R390’s top speed is 220 mph, and they still own the single R390. Andrea Chiavenuto would then modify a racing R390 to make it road-legal for former F1 driver Erik Comas.

JaguarSport XJR-15

JaguarSport XJR-15
Image Credit: WikiCommons.

While the XJ220 never had a V12 engine, Jaguar’s XJR-15 did. This two-seater is based on the Le Mans-winning XJR-9. The supercar was actually produced by JaguarSport, a subsidiary of Jaguar operated by Tom Walkinshaw Racing.

The XJR-15 is the world’s first fully carbon fiber car. Under the hood is a massive 6.0-liter Jaguar V12 with 450 hp and 420 lb-ft of torque. Despite bearing the Jaguar name, Jaguar itself had no official involvement with the car, and JaguarSport would only produce 53 examples, each selling for over $500,000.

Mercedes CLK GTR

Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR
Image Credit: David Merrett/WikiCommons.

The Mercedes CLK GTR is the all-conquering GT1 car that broke the championship it raced in. Mercedes produced the CLK GTR to race in the FIA GT Championship. It fended off the McLaren F1 GTR and Porsche 911 GTR and won eight of the 13 races it entered.

So good was the CLK GTR that after the 1998 season, all its rivals packed up and left. Mercedes also produced 28 road-going versions to satisfy the homologation rules. These had a 6.9-liter V12 engine under the hood, tuned by Ilmor, to produce 622 hp and 539 lb-ft of torque. The top speed was 199 mph, and the car was also described as “a real work of art” by former racing driver and motoring journalist Paul Frère.

Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion

Porsche 911 GT1 Strassenversion
Image Credit: Valder137/WikiCommons.

As Mercedes did with the CLK GTR, Porsche produced a road-legal version of its 911 GT1 to satisfy the FIA homologation rules. The regulations stipulated 25 examples, which is precisely what Porsche did.

The GT1 Strassenversion had a de-tuned version of the race car’s engine, with a 3.2-liter twin-turbocharged Porsche M96/80 flat-six. However, this engine was still good enough to produce 536 hp and 443 lb-ft of torque. With so few examples in existence, the GT1 Strassenversion is incredibly expensive. One sold at the Gooding & Company’s Amelia Island auction in 2017 for $5.665 million.

Yamaha OX99-11

Yamaha OX99-11
Image Credit: WikiCommons.

The Yamaha OX99-11 is one of the most remarkable stillborn vehicles of the 1990s. While it was in Formula 1 as an engine supplier to the Zakspeed team, Yamaha decided to use its F1 technology and create a price-no-object supercar.

The OX99-11 was the product of that idea. Dreamt up in 1989, prototype production would begin in the early 1990s, utilizing a new V12 that the Brabham F1 team was running. IAD would help Yamaha, but after disagreements with them, they took the project to its own Ypsilon Technology. The company was then given six months to finish it, but thanks to Japan’s financial crisis and overruns on the project, Yamaha canceled the OX99-11 in 1992.

Dauer 962 Le Mans

Dauer 962 Le Mans
Image Credit: WikiCommons.

The Dauer 962 Le Mans is the Dauer Racing version of the Porsche 962 Group C car, which initially contested races such as the Le Mans 24 Hours in the 1980s. The 962 won Le Mans twice, but Dauer wanted to take the car to further heights.

To do so, Dauer produced 13 road-going versions to meet the various homologation rules. Each had a 3.0-liter Porsche Type 935 twin-turbocharged flat-six under the hood. Power was enormous at 720 hp, thanks to removing the air restrictor in the racing version. Porsche lent some support to the Dauer 962, and such was the car’s development that it won Le Mans outright when initially the intention was to win the GT class.

Lotus Elise GT1

Lotus Elise GT1
Image Credit: WikiCommons.

The remarkable Lotus Elise GT1 is another 1990s classic, but Lotus produced just a single road-going example. Lotus intended to race the Elise GT1 in the FIA GT1 category, which would debut at the 1997 FIA GT season opener at Hockenheim, Germany. However, all four cars that Lotus entered failed to finish.

The solitary road-going version has become the stuff of legend. Under the hood of the road car was the Lotus Type 918 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged engine, producing 350 hp. For the race version, Lotus would use the 5.7-liter Chevrolet V8 engine it had jointly developed with the American company for the Corvette ZR1.

Ferrari F355

Ferrari F355
Image Credit: Lothar Spurzem/WikiCommons.

The Ferrari F355 began an upturn in fortunes for the Italian manufacturer. It debuted in 1994 and features a mighty 3.5-liter V8 with 375 hp.

The F355 was a development of the 348, and Ferrari spent over 1,000 hours in its wind tunnel, making it as aerodynamic as possible. It would be available as a Berlinetta, Spider, and GTS, and at the time, it became Ferrari’s highest-selling model, with over 11,000 sold from 1994 to 1999. Ferrari also produced the F355 Challenge, a race-ready version of the Ferrari Challenge race series.

Pagani Zonda C12

Pagani Zonda C12
Image Credit: WikiCommons.

The legendary Pagani Zonda would debut before the decade’s close in 1999. Even today, the Zonda C12 is one of the most dramatic-looking supercars in history.

 that produces up to 444 hp and 527 lb-ft of torque. The 1999 Zonda C12s are exceptionally rare, as Pagani produced just five with the 6.0-liter engine, and one of those would become a crash test chassis. The Zonda would debut at the 1999 Geneva Motor Show, and the rest, as they say, is history.

Author: Henry Kelsall

Henry is a freelance writer, with a love for all things motoring whether it be classic sports cars, or Formula 1 racing. He has freelanced for over eight years now, mostly in automotive matters, but he has also dabbled in other forms of writing too. He has a lot of love for Japanese classics and American muscle cars, in particular the Honda NSX and first-generation Ford Mustang. When not writing, Henry is often found at classic car events or watching motorsports at home, but he also has a curious passion for steam trains and aviation.

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