Late 80s supercar shootout

[Ferrer]

Originally Posted by NSXType-R

That's like saying a Howitzer isn't powerful just because it needs to be towed around.

It's still a massively advanced car, even for a 911.

I'm not denying that, and probably for its time it was an imense achievement. But I want a supercar to be exciting not to be a technological showcase.

By the way the ZR-1 first made 385bhp then it got up to 405bhp.

[nota]

What makes a car 'King' of late 1980s supercars is a bit of an ambiguous question (verdict dependant on your individual priorities, eg)

Seeing as other posters are nominating various fancy not-listed competitors ... so why not this as my personal 'underdog' favourite?

The Aussie supercar

"The Giocattolo (Italian for ''toy'') was Australia's bravest attempt at a supercar ... and its most memorable failure.
In 1986, car enthusiast Paul Halstead ploughed millions earned from computers into his obsession, hiring ex-Formula One engineer Barry Lock to design a special car using the Alfa Romeo Sprint body.

The front-drive Alfa was reworked to take a Holden Group A V8, mounted amidship and driving the rear wheels. Some body panels were Kevlar [plus rear floor & 2 bulkheads in carbon fibre].

Called Giocattolo Group B, the unusual car wasn't priced as stratospherically as the European supercars of the era.

It had astonishing acceleration for its day, covering 400 metres from a standing start in 12.9 seconds. Top speed was an electronically limited 250 kmh.

Halstead and Lock managed to produce 15 of the well-appointed coupes before going to the wall. Customers wanted something a little more stunning than a remodelled Alfa for their $92,000." [elevated price of final editions - still less than base 911]

From a quick search:

Also quoted @ 0-200 km/h in 11.1 which appears to be quicker than either ZR1 Corvette or even the fastest Countach variant

220 kw and a very torquey 500 nm from the well proven heavy-duty Holden V8 in mild 'emissionised' tune (miserable 8.5 compression!)

In naturally-aspirated form this engine could in those days be easily - and cheaply - improved to reliably output over 400 hp while still retaining full 'daily driver' usage. In 'sprint' tune with stock albeit race-prepared internals it could rev to 9,000 rpm

One famous street-driven example (pics #1, 2 ,3 below) was twin-turbo'd to produce about 1,000 rwhp. At the time it was far & away Australia's fastest street-registered vehicle

Would doubtless prove to be at least as durable & trouble-free, and probably far more so (not to mention practical, or cheap to service) than any of those other high-strung and/or high-complexity nominations. These cars were also designed to have sufficient ground clearance for typical Australian dirt-road use which led to them being considered by the Queensland Highway Patrol (pic #6 below) and were personally endorsed by this bloke - recognise him?)

When converted to US Dollars, its AU$ price tag amounted to approx one tenth of the then-current USD list price of a Countach!

Is the only car I am aware of that included a flask of (Bundaberg) Rum in the factory toolkit! (as the manual advises 'for when all else fails')

youtube of standard model
15 second youtube of the twin-turbo car

[henk4]

they may have got this idea from Alfa (in this case Autodelta) themselves..
Here is a Sud Sprint with the V6 before the rear axle...done in 1982

[Ingolstadt]

Audi Ur Quattro
Lancia Delta Integrale
Lancia TE 037
Alfa Romeo GTV V6

[Wouter Melissen]

Originally Posted by Ingolstadt

Audi Ur Quattro
Lancia Delta Integrale
Lancia TE 037
Alfa Romeo GTV V6

What a great collection of 1980s cars, but what do they have to do with this topic?

[Kitdy]

Originally Posted by henk4

they may have got this idea from Alfa (in this case Autodelta) themselves..
Here is a Sud Sprint with the V6 before the rear axle...done in 1982

What's the car to the right?

[Wouter Melissen]

Originally Posted by Kitdy

What's the car to the right?

A mid-engined Junior Zagato.

[Kultag]

The Porch for me. The F40 is a bit too racecar-ish, the Countach ruined itself through the years, and the Vette is not supercarish enough. The 959 was a Veyron of its time. Ish.

[f6fhellcat13]

Originally Posted by henk4

are you implying that the 959 looks good with mudflaps????

yes i am, much better than the other three

[blingbling]

the two people that voted for the corvette probably hasn't seen a map of the world before

[Rockefella]

Originally Posted by blingbling

the two people that voted for the corvette probably hasn't seen a map of the world before

I was one of them and did it because I'm a douche.

[kingofthering]

Originally Posted by Rockefella

I was one of them and did it because I'm a douche.

Explains a lot...

[Ingolstadt]

I voted for Countach

[Rockefella]

Originally Posted by kingofthering

Explains a lot...

Banned.

[DanWheldon]

I guess there is 2 or 3 supercars in the late 80's that went it to production in the 90's such as the Jaguar XJ220 and XJR-15 and the Cizeta Moroder V16T

but my favourite supercar from late 80's is definately the modified 911 from Ruf, the CTR YellowBird