10 Sports Car Brands You May Never Have Heard Of Before

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - When most people think of sports car brands, a few names always come up. Ferrari, Porsche, Lamborghini, and McLaren are known all over the world. They appear in magazines, television programmes, and online content so often that they have become the default image of what a sports car looks like. But the sports car world is far wider than these familiar names. There are many other manufacturers producing vehicles that are just as fast, just as thrilling, and just as carefully engineered, yet most people have never heard of them.

Here are ten sports car brands from around the world that you may never have come across before:

Apollo started in Germany in 2004, founded by Roland Gumpert, a former Audi Sport director. The company was originally called Gumpert, known for making the famous Gumpert Apollo, a car that once held a lap record at the legendary Nurburgring race track on its time. After new owners from Hong Kong took over in 2016, it was renamed Apollo. Today, its most celebrated model is the Apollo Intensa Emozione, a car with a massive V12 engine of which only ten were ever made.

De Tomaso was founded in 1959 in Modena, Italy, by Alejandro de Tomaso. The company became famous for mixing Italian design with American power. Its best-known car, the Pantera, sold over 7,000 units and was available at Ford dealerships in the United States. The Mangusta, an earlier model designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro, was a direct competitor to the Shelby Cobra. Today, the brand has been revived with the new P72.

Hispano-Suiza was born in 1904 from a partnership between Swiss engineer Marc Birkigt and Spanish industrialists. The brand once competed with Rolls-Royce for the title of the world's best car. During World War I, the company built revolutionary aircraft engines. Famous models include the H6, the elegant J12, and the Alfonso XIII, named after the Spanish king who was one of their first customers. Today, the revived brand makes the all-electric Carmen hypercar.

Zenvo is Denmark's only supercar brand, founded in 2007 and based on the island of Zealand. Every car is built almost entirely by hand. The first model, the ST1, produced over 1,000 horsepower from a twin-charged V8 engine and could reach 233 mph. The newer TSR-S is famous for its centripetal rear wing, which tilts left and right during cornering to help keep the car stable. It is a feature no other production car has.

Automobili Pininfarina is one of the newest names on this list, launched in 2018 after India's Mahindra Group acquired the legendary Italian design house Pininfarina. Its first and most famous car is the Battista, an all-electric hypercar with over 1,877 horsepower, which is more than any road-legal Ferrari. Only 150 units were produced. One special commission came from basketball legend Michael Jordan, who received a custom open-top version with a built-in cigar humidor.

Ultima Sports is a small British company based in Hinckley, England. It builds lightweight, Le Mans-inspired sports cars for the road. The Ultima GTR was once proven to be significantly faster around the Top Gear test track than both the Ferrari Enzo and the Bugatti Veyron. The newer Ultima EVO continues this tradition, offering up to 1,020 horsepower from a supercharged V8 engine. These cars are raw, extreme, and built for driving enthusiasts.

Rimac began as a teenage hobby. Founder Mate Rimac converted an old BMW into an electric car after its engine broke, and from that small project, a company was born. Today, Rimac is one of the most respected electric hypercar makers in the world and is part of the Bugatti Rimac group. Its flagship car, the Nevera, can reach over 256 mph. The newer Nevera R set 24 world performance records in 2025, including a 0-60 mph time of just 1.66 seconds.

Wiesmann was created by brothers Martin and Friedhelm Wiesmann in 1988 in Germany. Their idea was simple but bold: take the look of a classic British roadster and pair it with modern German engineering. The company uses BMW engines and is known for its gecko logo. The MF3 Roadster and the powerful GT MF5 are its most celebrated models. After closing in 2014, the brand came back with new owners and is now developing the fully electric Project Thunderball.

Ariel is a tiny British company with only 30 employees, yet it builds some of the world's most extreme performance cars. Founded by Simon Saunders in Somerset, England, Ariel is famous for the Atom, a car with no doors, no roof, and no body panels. It is built around an exposed metal frame, making it incredibly light and fast. The Atom 500 V8, with only 25 units built, could go from 0 to 100 km/h in under 2.3 seconds. The off-road Nomad is another well-loved model.

Morgan is one of the oldest independent car manufacturers in the world, started in 1909 by H.F.S. Morgan in Malvern, England. Every Morgan is hand-built to order, and the company still belongs to the Morgan family today. The company is known for making the 4/4. First made in 1936, it is said to be the longest-running production car in history. Morgan also makes the Super 3, a modern three-wheeled sports car that continues the spirit of their original 1910 design.