Top 7 supercars from the 1960s

by SpeedLux

Lamborghini Miura P400SWhat is a supercar? It is a term used for high-end sports cars. These cars are fast, powerful, rare and of course very expensive.

This term is first associated with the Lamborghini Miura from mid-1960s when CAR magazine editor Leonard John Kensell Setright called it The Supercar! 

In addition to Lamborghini Miura, 60s brought us other very interesting supercars that are still influencing modern day supercars. Choise of engine for most supercars at that time was either a V8 or V12. Below we have our top 7 list of supercars from the 1960s. Enjoy!

Update! We added an amazing Alfa 33 Stradale to this list!

7. 
1965 AC Shelby Cobra 427

AC Cobra 4277.0-liter V8 develops 410 horsepower. Top speed: 265 km/h (165 mph), 0-100 km/h (0.62 mph) in 4.2 seconds.
Weight: 1,147 kg (2,529 lbs).

AC Cobra 427 by Shelby is an icon to brute American performance. It was built to be a Corvette-beater and with a weight of nearly 227 kg(500 lbs) less it managed that very well. Today original cars sell between $200 000-$500 000.

This classic design still lives on in the form of kit cars and replicas. Even Shelby America makes its own version of the classic AC 427.

6. 1965 Aston Martin DB5

1965 Aston Martin DB5

Front longitudinal 4.0-liter Inline-6 develops 282 horsepower. Top speed: 233 km/h (145 mph), 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 7.1 seconds. Weight: 1,633 kg ( 3,600 lbs).

A total of 1,021 DB5s were produced between 1963-1965. A Convertible was also offered and was available with a steel hard top with an exceptionally large rear window.

At the beginning of 60s Aston Martin was out of racing and needed new ways to promote their cars. In 1964 Sean Connery drove the DB5 for 13 minutes as a James Bond in a blockbuster movie Goldfinger.

After that movie everyone knew about the Aston Martin DB5 and car placement in blockbuster movies was started.

5. 1964 Jaguar E-Type (Series 1)

Jaguar E-Type 4.2-liter Inline-6 develops 265 horsepower. Top speed: 241 km/h (150 mph), 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 8 seconds. Weight: 1,361 kg (3,000 lbs).

There was also a detachable hard top available and a 2+2 version of the coupe from 1966.
Over its lifespan between 1961-1975 over 70,000 E-Types were sold. It is one of the best known British motoring icons from the 1960s.

When released Enzo Ferrari called it “The most beautiful car ever made”.

4. 1968 Alfa Romeo 33 Stradale

Afa Romeo 33 StradaleMid-engined 2.0-liter V8 develops 230 horsepower in road trim and 270 horsepower in race trim. Top speed: 260 km/h (160 mph), 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 5.5 seconds. Weight: 700 kg (1,543 lbs)

First built in 1967 it was based on the Alfa Romeo T33 racing car. Designed by Franco Scaglione, and built by Carrozzeria Marazzi, it is one of the rarest cars to come from Italy. Only 18 were built and it in 1968 it cost US$17,000 (average cost of a new car in 1968 was $2,822).

The Stradale is believed to be the first production vehicle to feature dihedral doors, also known as butterfly doors. Rev limit on that supercar was am amazing 10000 rpm.

3. 1965 Ford GT40 Mark I

Ford GT40 Race CarMid-engined 4.6-liter V8 develops 335 horsepower. Top speed: 263 km/h (164 mph). 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 5.3 seconds. Weight: 908 kg (2,002 lbs)

End of 1965 production of a road going GT40s began. It was not designed as a road car, but a race car with one goal – to beat Ferrari at Le Mans. Ford was successful and won the Le Mans four times.

GT40 produced 380 horsepower in competition trim because of a lighter flywheel and no mufflers. A total of 85 production GT40s were made. In 1965 GT40 cost $17,000, recently 1966 Ford GT40 was sold for $2,300,000.

Just like with the AC Cobra there are plenty of kits and replicas inspired by the original GT40.

2. 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO

Ferrari 250 GTO 3.0-liter V12 develops 296 horsepower. Top speed: 279 km/h (174 mph), 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 6.2 seconds.
Weight: 1,043 kg(2,299 lbs).

250 GTO was designed to compete in GT racing. It was based on the Ferrari 250 GT SWB and used a 3.0-liter V12 from the 250 Testa Rossa. When it was launched press called it “a Testa Rossa with a roof’.

Only 39 units were ever produced and all buyers had to be personally approved by Enzo Ferrari. Price at that time was $18,000. All of these cars have a very colorful history and if ever auctioned they would probably sell well over $10,000,000.

1. Lamborghini Miura P400S

Lamborghini Miura P400S 3.9-liter mid-mounted V12 develops 370 horsepower. Top speed: 282 km/h (175 mph), 0-100 km/h (0-62 mph) in 6.0 seconds. Weight: 1,245 kg (2,744 lbs)

Miura P400S is also known as Miura S. A total of 338 P400S were built between 1968-1971.
Miura was a trendsetter with its mid-engined layout among other two-seater high-performance sports cars.

Named after the Spanish ranch Miura, itt is considered one of the most beautiful classic supercars in the world and the one that started the supercar era.

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As you can see 1960s was not all about muscle cars, it was also the beginning of supercars!

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21 comments

Mike June 19, 2009 - 1:27 pm

Miura is just awesome and GT40 also. Timeless machines.
btw wasnt jaguar e-type in the Austin Powers movie?

Reply
Super Car June 19, 2009 - 7:39 pm

Great post! I think the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO would be my top pick but would love to have any of them parked in my driveway.

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Junblat June 19, 2009 - 7:53 pm

that Mark1 is AWESOME!

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Meade June 19, 2009 - 8:51 pm

You have nothing from Porsche,listed ? The 914 wasn’t in this class,But I have seen a frw that could run those same numbers.I’m refering to the One and Only Mighty 911.The 911 Turbo,The 911 Carrera,I’m not sure about the production years on the 939,930 Turbo (930 slope nose twin turbos too)and a few others I can’t recall right now.(my favorites are the ones I rembered 🙂 ) How about the Porsche Spyders ? I know Dr.Ferdinand,had a lil somthin’ that could hang with this elite 6.

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Meade June 19, 2009 - 8:54 pm

Oh yea I forgot to mention,five words.”Porsche There Is No Substitute”.

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Matt June 19, 2009 - 10:31 pm

@Meade

Porsche only had a 356 at that time and 912 if I am right. It is the 70s that really changed to Porsche and made their cars special.

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Pat June 19, 2009 - 11:58 pm

Everytime I even see a replica of a GT40 it makes me smile. What a car! Hard to understand why they did not build more of them.

and to Otto
Every car on that list pretty much was built with one goal – to race. But due to different rules like today they had to build road cars as well.

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Otto June 20, 2009 - 9:32 am

Well, i may be mistaken but besides the cars i mentioned – GT 40 and 250 GTO, none of these cars were seen in significant races as they were meant to be street cars. To make it simple, the GT 40 and the 250 GTO were race cars whose owners could drive on open roads, the others were street cars that could be prepared and engaged in races. I can’t imagine a E type or a Miura owner did so though. The E type because of it’s weak chassis and the Miura because the front would just take off reaching 250 km/h.
Some mentioned Porsche and it’s pretty much interesting because at that time Porsche did either street cars or race cars, but no supercars, although the 550 Spyder from the 50s could be considered a supercar.
It’s very easy to list the best Ferrari cars: just grab a decent sports car magazine and check the estimated value column in the last pages. Sort by price and here you go. A car you may not find is the 330 P4, the sexiest race car from Maranello. But you’ll certainly find the best looking street car, the 250 GT Lusso.

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Pat June 20, 2009 - 10:10 am

to Otto
I am quite sure that Mr. Shelby built the Cobra with one goal in mind – to race it. But because of changes in some rules he ended up putting windshields on at least the 65 model. So it was not designed as a street car for rich customers. Same thing with the Alfa 33. Was not most of the versions built in race trim?

That makes over half of these cars on the list were meant to be race cars at first.

btw 550 Spyder is one of my favorite cars, but it should be on the 50s list then not here.

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Andrus June 20, 2009 - 10:21 am

@Otto
For this list we asked about 10 friends who work in the automotive industry and over 50 daily readers to list their favorite cars. This list surely is not THE ONE, but it reflects our and some of our most active readers taste and the cars they like from that era. Feel free to send us suggestions for 70s post at: tips@speedlux.com

This list is like an MTV top, some like the songs at top and some don’t. In the future we will be doing also different types of polls which should reflect “average” opinion better.

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Otto June 20, 2009 - 10:54 am

Some never give up as I don’t 😉
If Selby had in mind to build a race car with the Cobra then he dramatically failed because there were no race track meant only of a single straight line. The Cobra was the best car to burn rubber on the straights but simply couldn’t turn. The 33 Stradale was based on the Autodelta Alfa Romeo T33 and was meant as “an attempt by Alfa to make some of its racing technology available to the public” even if some selected clients could ask for the race trim. I can’t wait to have the same kind of discussion about the 70s list and the Porsche 917 …

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Pat June 20, 2009 - 11:01 am

🙂

I found this form the web:
In 1967 Shelby had finished 31 427 competition cars. These were strictly race spec cars that were tuned to have somewhere between 400 and 500 horsepower. Unfortunately, the 31 examples was not enough to homologate the car for production endurance racing. Shelby’s only choice was to throw windscreens on the unsold cars and sell one of the most radical road-going machines. In 1967 the 427 S/C was the fastest accelerating production vehicles.

good point about the Alfa, but still the car was based heavily on racing technology. Even today lot of supercars use technologies… etc from motorsports.

917 is revolutionary, but wasn’t it only for racing?

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James Sutcliffe June 22, 2009 - 2:44 am

I am not trying to sell anything but some of the current GT40 “recreations” are very good. Ford did a great job with the Ford GT, but it isnt the right size and its left hand drive only. Originals (and there are some that arent very original) are out of most peoples reach, let alone actually seeing one. Anyone who would like to see one of our cars is very welcome. Just come over and have a good poke round and see what a GT40 is like.

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Karan kumar June 22, 2009 - 9:24 am

This is a great post. As a kid I remember putting posters of Lamborghini Miura on my bedroom wall and feeling proud about liking such a masterpiece of a car. This was when I used to stay in Hong Kong.

Now I’m back to India and drive the SUV Mahindra Scorpio. I am really proud of Scorpio because it is going to be sold in the US market also now. The Indian SUV for US Markets, Mahindra Scorpio. Check it out at http://www.mahindrascoprio.com

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1964 Jaguar July 7, 2009 - 10:15 am

These are some awesome cars, but I love love love the swooping front-end of the Jaguar. Great collection!

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Top 10 supercars from the 1970s | SpeedLux.com September 23, 2009 - 3:59 am

[…] If you want to be notified the next time we have something new, subscribe to our RSS feed. Thanks for visiting!This post is a followup to our Top 7 supercars from the 1960s. […]

Reply
Pontus September 28, 2009 - 7:08 am

You forgot a very important car.
Plymouth Superbird 70’/Dodge Charger Daytona 69′

That’s what i would call car.

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Mike September 28, 2009 - 7:11 am

@Pontus

Dude you are confusing supercars with muscle cars. Charger is one of my favorite cars, but it is a muscle car meant for the straight road.

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Pontus September 30, 2009 - 8:09 am

@Mike

But it’s a super muscle car 😀

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Vytas October 10, 2009 - 2:32 pm

Gord GT (mm)
Invite me to friends 🙂

Reply
javier May 31, 2010 - 1:57 pm

well ill without doubt choosen the ford gt 1 and then the miura but well done

Reply

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