Supercar Brands You've Probably Never Heard Of

In the world of supercars, the market never stands still. Every year, a new wave of startups announce their debut cars, aiming to leave their mark and become the next big success story of the auto market. And there have been plenty of success stories: Just twenty-five years ago, both Koenigsegg and Pagani were plucky startup companies that virtually no one had heard of. Now, they're heavyweights in the industry with loyal fans and overflowing order books.

But, for every company like Koenigsegg or Pagani, there are plenty of smaller automakers that remain in obscurity. This is for a variety of reasons, whether they're new and finding their feet or deliberately limit their production to create a sense of rarity. Sometimes they simply can't find any interested buyers. But, whatever their reason for slipping under most enthusiasts' radars, these supercar companies have remained hidden gems that few people have even heard of.

Hailing from Tuscany, Italy, Mazzanti Automobili produces just one car, the Evantra, first released in "Millecavalli" form (that's 1,000 horsepower to non-Italian speakers), then in 2021, in "Pura" form. The Evantra Pura still makes 751 horsepower though, so it's no slouch. Considering the car is hand-built in Tuscany, Italy, in strictly limited numbers, most people would expect the car to come with an equally exotic powerplant. But this piece of exclusive Italian metal has a very American heart: a good ol' Chevy 6.2L LS V8.

The car only weighs 2,820 lbs, so it's good for a top speed of 223 mph and a 0-62 mph time of just 2.9 seconds. Mazzanti is reportedly limiting Evantra Pura production to just five units per year, so buyers can rest assured that they will have one of the rarest supercars on the market. Many supercar startups fold within their first few years of coming to market, but Mazzanti has been around for 20 years now, having seemingly found its niche: combining exclusive Italian design with mainstream American power.

Orca Engineering was a short-lived supercar startup from Switzerland that only produced one car, the C113. The car was revealed in production form at the 2005 Geneva Motor Show, and originally, a run of 99 units was planned. It's not clear exactly how many C113s ended up being produced, but it was clearly a lot less than the company expected, as they went bankrupt just a few years after the car launched.

The C113 boasted some highly impressive performance figures for its era, with Orca claiming that the car could sprint from 0-60 mph in less than three seconds, and topped out at 224 mph, according to Ultimate Car Page. Extensive use of carbon fiber kept the car's weight down to just 1,873 lbs, and its construction was modular, which it was claimed would make maintenance significantly easier than on a standard supercar. Unfortunately, few buyers were interested in this unique-looking creation. The company's founder, Ralph Beck, went on to unveil another supercar in 2008, called the Beck LM800.

In sharp contrast to the far-out claims of Arash, Swiss supercar startup Picasso has stuck firmly to tried-and-tested components for its first car, the 660 LMS. The production-ready version of the car was unveiled at the Top Marques Monaco show in June 2022, and it's built to excel on the track and the road. It features a mid-mounted turbocharged V6 engine that produces 651 horsepower and 531 lb-ft of torque, plenty of power considering the car weighs just 2,160 lbs.

Rather than designing everything in-house, Picasso partnered with a number of established engineering firms to develop many of the car's mechanical components. Italian engine specialists Autotecnica Motori supplies the car's 3.0L aluminum motor, Sadev supplies the six-speed transmission, and Pirelli developed bespoke tires specifically for the car. Production hasn't started yet, but with such an impressive list of technical partners and a number of customers reportedly already on the order books, Picasso seems to be in a very strong position to bring the 660 LMS to a wider market soon.

A modern resurrection of a classic British brand, Radford only officially relaunched in the summer of 2021, but it's already shown off its first production car at the 2022 Goodwood Festival of Speed. The Type 62/2 is based on a Lotus Exige S but features entirely bespoke bodywork, a number of chassis upgrades, and a completely unique interior. Plus, in top-spec form, it comes with a 600-horsepower supercharged V6 in the engine bay.

The company is co-owned by 2009 F1 champion Jensen Button, who reportedly provided much of the funding to help get the project off the ground. The Type 62/2 is limited to just 62 units, which will be split between the top-spec John Player Special, the middle-tier Gold Leaf, and the base-spec Standard trims. The car's retro-modern design takes inspiration from the Ford GT40, which the original incarnation of Radford helped to design in the Sixties. It's not easy to get a reboot like this right, but Jensen Button's Radford revival seems to have done the original company justice.

Most electric vehicle startups flooding the market at the moment are developing high-margin SUVs or luxury vehicles, but Spanish newcomer Baltasar is not like the rest. In 2021, the brand unveiled the Revolt, an all-electric track day toy that's also fully road legal. It has two electric motors that drive the rear wheels, making a combined 500 horsepower. That figure might seem quite modest, but considering the whole car weighs just 1,697 lbs — including batteries — it's enough to propel it to face-melting levels of performance.

From a standstill, the Revolt can reach 62 mph in just 2.5 seconds, although there's no word yet on what the car's top speed is. Its battery can reportedly hold enough charge for 40 minutes of flat-out track time or up to 373 miles of range at road-legal speeds. Design-wise, it boasts hints of the Renault Spider in its exterior styling. There are a few quirks: the car's charging port is located on the passenger's side of the dashboard, rather than on the outside of the car like usual. There's also no padding at all on the carbon-fiber seats, which will presumably make driving down uneven public roads a rather uncomfortable experience.

German automaker Wiesmann's cars all follow a simple formula: a light curb weight, a distinctive dual-headlight design, and a powerful BMW engine under the hood. The brand's first car, the MF3 Roadster, rolled off the production line in 1993. Production of the MF line of cars continued until 2014, when a series of financial issues hit the company. Wiesmann was forced to shut its doors and declare bankruptcy, but was bought out by a group of investors shortly after.

In 2022, the company unveiled two brand new supercars, codenamed "Project Thunderball" and "Project Gecko." While Project Gecko is essentially a continuation of the MF production cars, with a BMW V8 under the hood and a similar design, Project Thunderball is something a little different. It no longer features a signature Bavarian powerplant, instead making the switch to electrification. Wiesmann is one of the first low-volume supercar makers to create a fully-electric vehicle, so Project Thunderball will definitely be one to watch when more details are revealed.

Rezvani is perhaps best known for its outrageous bulletproof super-SUV, the Tank, but it also makes a supercar called the Beast. Various incarnations of the Beast have been unveiled over the past five years, but the latest is a 1,000-horsepower, carbon fiber-clad machine that's only been shown off in a shadowy teaser image so far. The previous iteration, pictured, was called the Beast Alpha X Blackbird. It was based on the Lotus Elise and featured a 700 horsepower engine, with a curb weight of just 2,150 lbs.

There's no word yet on whether the latest Beast will also be based on the Elise, but a full reveal is slated for sometime in summer 2022. Despite its high-performance engine and carbon fiber bodywork, the Beast is very reasonably priced in supercar terms. The cheapest version starts at just $95,000, with even the top-spec Alpha X Blackbird coming in at $225,000. That's about the same price as a new Ferrari Roma, but with the Blackbird, buyers get an extra 100 horsepower and a much rarer car.

On the other side of the world from Bolwell, Belgium's only carmaker — Gillet — has been quietly churning out supercars for 30 years. The brand's signature model is the Vertigo, and despite its obscurity, it has a serious racing pedigree. An early incarnation of the car won the G2 class of the FIA GT World Championship for three consecutive years between 2006 and 2008. Then, more recently in 2018, a Vertigo driven by the daughter of F1 legend Jacky Ickx achieved a sub-11 minute time at Pikes Peak.

As well as manufacturing its own supercars, Gilet also supplies rolling chassis for low-volume coach-built cars. The ultra-limited Zagato Maserati Mostro is based on the chassis of a Gillet Vertigo 5 Sprint (pictured), and the Alfa Romeo Zagato TZ3 is also built on a Vertigo chassis. All very impressive for a company that, despite being around for three decades now, most enthusiasts will have never heard of.