The USA Needs More American Supercars
(The Gas Station is where American Cars And Racing Executive Editor Gary Gastelu vents his opinions. Feel free to let us know if you think they stink.)
The Ford GT is a dime a dozen. Well, six or seven figures a dozen.
The 2017-2023 supercar accounted for the top 20 prices paid for American cars on the Bring A Trailer auction site in 2023, ranging from $804,400 to $1,791,000.
This for a car that started around $450,000 and just went out of production last year.
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It and the 2004-2006 Ford GT dominated the top 60 among factory offerings, with a couple of 2003 Saleen S7s and classic Ford Mustangs sprinkled in for color.
It shouldn’t be this way.
There are more Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, Pagani, etc. models than you can even keep up with, many available in limited edition trims that cost millions when new and more when lightly used.
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If a college athlete signs a pro sports contract, you can be fairly certain he’ll be showing up to training camp in something from Europe … unless it’s a modified truck.
Cleary there’s still a demand for supercars of all kinds that outstrips the supply, and that’s especially true for the scant number of good American models that have ever existed.
Hennessey is one of the few U.S. companies that actually makes a legit supercar with its Venom F5, while Glickenhaus and SSC are kind of in the business, but so small they’re hardly on anyone’s radar.
It’s time for the big boys to step up to the plate.
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Ford proved with the GT that there’s a business case to be made and will be trying again this year with the Mustang GTD. The IMSA-based road car is in the vein of the Porsche 911 GT3 and will be arriving with an 800 hp supercharged V8 and $300,000 sticker price.
While I’m just as impressed with a car like the Corvette Z06, which delivers supercar-beating performance at a more attainable price, Chevy really needs to get in this game with something on the high end.
Cadillac, too. The brand competes in prototype racing with a mid-engine car, so why shouldn’t it bring one to showrooms like the Cien concept promised it would way back in 2002?
Or, instead of being a giant four-door liftback, what if the Cadillac Celestiq were a coupe that competed against the Rimac Nevera and Pininfarina Battista in the electric supercar space? (The USA does also need more exotic luxury cars, but that’s a rant for a different day.)
Here’s a wild idea. How about Tesla makes one? Like maybe the $250,000 Roadster it unveiled in 2017. Ford has sold 1,350 GTs since then and I’m fairly certain that if Tesla came out with it today at $500,000 it would have no problem filling the order books.
I’m not letting Stellantis off the hook. The Dodge/SRT Viper used to be part of this conversation and, of all the supercar concepts of recent years, there is no better example of “the one that got away” than the 2004 Chrysler ME Four-12.
Look, I have a personal interest in this, because I run a website about American cars. With pretty much just the Mustang and Corvette to pick from right now, I won’t be getting to drive many sports cars this year, let alone supercars. Come to think of it, the last thing close to an “American” supercar that I tested was the Ohio-built Acura NSX.
Honda is apparently working on something new in the segment. Hopefully it’s not the only one.
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