2015-11-03

A "supercar," by definition is supposed to be "super." Meaning above, beyond, or simply better in all aspects. A supercar isn't fragile, and it isn't a toy that should stay on the track. The very word implies a net improvement in every facet of what a car's supposed to do.

Unfortunately, not all meet that standard. More than a few over the years have wound up as blatant cash grabs, simply cashing in on the brand name. Others were badly conceived, badly engineered, or wound up with seriously cut corners because of cost overruns. Some others are just so gaudy, so embarrassingly over the top that you'd have to diamond-platinum coat your retinas to not see everyone in the world laughing at you. And the most fragile super cars aren't those supercars you wouldn't take on the street - some of them probably wouldn't make it past the driveway. Yes, history's just filled to the brim with examples of supercars you wouldn't take out on the street.

At least a few deserve mention as the most impractical, unreliable, gaudy rip-offs of all time - so vote them up below to tell the world just how silly these cars are.
http://www.ranker.com/list/fragile-supercars/richard-rowe,

Covini C6W

Everybody's seen one of those ideas that's so awful, it's brilliant. This isn't one of them. Granted, it does look kind of cool in a way, and Covini has a long-lasting, good reputation. But six wheels were a bad idea in F1, are a bad idea on the street. It's even worse when you try to explain to people how buying a six-wheeled car isn't just disgustingly conspicuous consumerism.

Enzo Ferrari

To be fair, the Enzo was a pretty stellar car for its time, and is rightly credited with bringing Ferrari into its modern era. The difference between this car and the F40 that preceded it almost defies comparison. But it was also too wide to use in most places, too low to clear most driveways, too expensive to have fun with, and too conspicuous to get away with anything. A little better than the Countach in terms of practicality, but not by as much as you'd think.

Ferrari Mondial

Almost universally agreed to be the lowest point of Ferrari design, the Mondial was just a loser in every way that a car could be. True, it did have a V-8, but the car was still slow, unreliable, handled like garbage, was overpriced and could barely compete in quality with a lot of Chryslers costing half as much. Old Enzo never did try to hide the fact that he ripped off customers to fund his F1 team... that's part of the make's charm. But nobody found this heap charming in the least.

Gumpert Apollo

From a technical perspective, by kind of old-school supercar standards, the Apollo is a pretty great car. And it's stupid fast, having held the Nurburgring record for some time, before Porsche took it. Some people even kind of like the way it looks! But 1990s sophistication and reliability in 2015 isn't cool. In fact, all the things that make the Apollo cool are too geeky to matter.

Lamborghini Countach

The Countach's impracticality, rear visibility, terrible gas mileage and laughable "reliability" is almost legendary these days. One example: The car was too wide for most city streets, and could only be parallel parked if the driver opened the door to look behind, twisting the top half of his body completely around while also somehow keeping the bottom half pointed forward to work the clutch and brake.

Qvale Mangusta

Here's a winning formula: combine the drivetrain from the worst generation of Ford Mustang ever with a mid '90s Toyota MR2 body, the reliability of an early '80s Lamborghini, a name nobody cares about or can pronounce, and a $117,000 price tag. The worst thing about this car is that it was designed by Marcello Gandini, the guy responsible for the Lamborghini Miura and Lancia Stratos. Knowing that, this car starts looking like a collection of B-sides from hit singles made by a guy who should have known better.

Dome Zero

If you like that kind of 1970s, futuristic Blade Runner look, then the Dome Zero is probably still an icon. It definitely turned heads back in 1975, and its designer Minoru Hayashi had every intention of using the car to dominate LeMans. Unfortunately, Dome didn't have the money to meet Japanese homologation rules, and the Dome's 2.8-liter Nissan inline-six wasn't exactly a barn burner.

Mitsuoka Orochi

Don't worry - after your friends get done laughing at you for paying $125,000 for a car that looks like a constipated carp, you can take comfort in the fact that it's powered by the best Toyota Camry engine 2006 had to offer.

Lamborghini Egoista

No, Lamborghini. Just, no.

Lykan Hypersport

You know that guy who just made a ton of money in the music business, bought gold teeth studded with diamonds, and surrounds himself with ex-exotic dancers wearing clear heels and silver Spandex booty shorts? This is the car version of that guy.

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