11. TVR Sagaris
The TVR Sagaris is one of the cars most people are truly fond of, so it is a terrible shame it never came to America. TVR introduced it in the early 2000’s. It was an exciting, innovative design from a company known for brutally fast and sleek sports cars. Propelled by TVR’s own 4.0-liter high revving six-cylinder engine with 406 HP, the Sagaris was lightning quick. It had acceleration times of 3.7 seconds to go from 0 to 60 mph and 185 mph top speeds.
But the coolest thing about this crazy sports car was its design. They named it after a battle axe from Greek mythology, and the Sagaris was simply hard to describe. There are few cars that have such an aggressive design yet still manage to look elegant and fast, even when standing still. TVR’s management was under scrutiny for not equipping the car with standard safety features like ABS, stability control or even airbags. This caused problems with car buyers on several European markets.
The head of the company explained that such devices promote overconfidence with drivers and TVR wanted to provide the purest driving experience possible. Needless to say, this policy didn’t attract many customers, even though the car was fantastic. Also, a lack of safety features kept the Sagaris from entering the U.S. market.
12. Isdera Imperator 108i
Isdera is a small, ultra-exclusive manufacturer of supercars in Germany. Eberhard Schultz, an ex-Mercedes engineer, founded the company in 1969. Over the years, Isdera produced only a few models, all of which used many Mercedes parts, engines and components. Over time, the company became famous for its exclusive production approach.
They introduced the Imperator in 1984. It remained in production until 1993 during which time they produced 30 of them. The car included spaceframe construction with a plastic body and Gullwing doors, which was everyone’s favorite supercar detail. Behind the driver was a Mercedes V8 engine with 5.0 liters of displacement. Over the years, Isdera installed bigger engines with 5.6 and 6.0 liters of displacement that Mercedes produced.
The performance was respectable with 5.0 seconds up to 60 mph and top speeds of over 170 mph. The design had the characteristic wedge shape and another interesting feature – a periscope rearview mirror which was and still is a rare solution in car design. Despite the interesting look, exclusivity, and performance, Isdera didn’t homologate the Imperator for the U.S. market. They sold the car only in Europe and the Middle East.