The FASTEST Car in the World — And Its Own Customers Sued to Avoid Buying It

The Jaguar XJ220 was the fastest production car in the world when it launched in 1992 — and its own customers went to court to get out of buying it. That contradiction sits at the heart of this countdown: seven cars sold on an extraordinary promise that arrived in showrooms as something far sadder. We work backwards from the Chevrolet Vega, GM's linerless aluminium-block "import killer" that won Car of the Year and then taught a generation to distrust American small cars, through Malcolm Bricklin's 90-pound powered gullwing doors, and on to the Aston Martin Lagonda — a 1976 saloon with a cathode ray tube dashboard and no dials, built by a company that was effectively broke. Along the way you'll get the engineering detail behind each failure, not just the punchline: why Cadillac's V8-6-4 cylinder deactivation was mechanically sound but computationally impossible in 1981, why the Vector W8 paired a claimed 625 horsepower with a three-speed GM automatic, and how the DeLorean DMC-12 ended up with 130 horsepower in a car costing more than a Corvette. Each entry covers what was promised, what was delivered, and what it cost the company. Motor Essence covers the engineering stories behind the cars that shaped — and occasionally sank — the motor industry. Contact: motoressenceofficial@gmail.com © Motor Essence 2026