Sports cars are meant to be fast, delivering heart-pounding acceleration, razor-sharp handling, and an exhilarating driving experience. However, not every vehicle that looks the part can actually perform like one.
Over the years, some sports cars have fallen short of expectations, whether due to underpowered engines, excessive weight, or poor engineering decisions. Despite their aggressive styling and sporty branding, these cars struggled to deliver the kind of speed enthusiasts crave.
From sluggish 0-60 times to disappointing top speeds, these models proved that not all sports cars are created equal. Here are nine examples of sports cars that, despite their appearances, turned out to be surprisingly slow.
1. DeLorean
If you’ve ever watched Back to the Future and thought that the dramatic buildup to getting Doc Brown’s DeLorean time machine to the crucial 88 mph was just Hollywood exaggeration, you might want to hear just how embarrassingly slow the DeLorean actually was.
Originally manufactured in Northern Ireland, this so-called sports car was initially intended to feature a high-revving Wankel rotary engine positioned in the middle.
However, that plan was scrapped in favor of a Ford V6 engine until it proved to be too unreliable. Dammit, America.
With that option off the table, DeLorean pivoted to a Citroën V6, only to find that it lacked the necessary power. Dammit, France.
An attempt to turbocharge the underwhelming Citroën engine was ultimately abandoned, leading DeLorean to settle for a lackluster V6 developed through a joint effort by Peugeot, Renault, and Volvo.
The 2.8-liter engine produced a measly 130 bhp and, to make matters worse, wouldn’t fit in the originally designed mid-engine bay.This forced a redesign, shifting the powerplant to the rear of the car.
While this configuration could have resulted in unpredictable handling, the DeLorean’s sluggish 10.5-second 0–60 mph time meant that even rivers would doze off before reaching a curve let alone breaking through the space-time continuum.
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2. Smart Roadster
With sales of the innovative little Smart ForTwo city car failing to ignite the excitement Mercedes had hoped for, panic set in at Smart headquarters in the late 1990s.
How could the brand, designed as an urban offshoot, generate buzz, steal attention from BMW’s thrilling new Mini project, and entice more customers into showrooms?
Someone landed on the idea of a lightweight sports car. The outcome was the two-seat Roadster, featuring plastic body panels and powered by a 0.7-liter turbocharged three-cylinder engine, sending a modest 81 bhp to the rear wheels.
Unfortunately, this was further hindered by an excruciatingly sluggish automated manual gearbox with ‘F1-style’ sequential shifting though it had about as much genuine F1 heritage as a can of Rich Energy drink.
Despite its eye-catching design and lively handling, the Roadster sold about as quickly as it could accelerate.
If you think a 0–60 mph time of 10.6 seconds is underwhelming, spare a thought for the European entry-level model, which had to make do with just 61 bhp. Does taking 15 seconds to reach 60 mph even qualify as ‘moving’?
3. Ferrari 208 GTB
What could be more exciting, more visually striking, than a mid-engined, sharp-nosed Ferrari with a V8 growling just behind the seats? Well, for starters, one with more than 153 horsepower.
In 1980, Ferrari decided to outmaneuver Italy’s own tax authorities, who had imposed double the duty on cars with engines exceeding 2,000cc.
To sidestep this, Ferrari’s engineers cleverly installed a de-bored version of their Tipo V8 into the 308, resulting in a 1,990cc eight-cylinder supercar that topped out at just 133 mph.
Only 160 units were produced before Ferrari revised the design, introducing a turbocharger. This modification allowed the car to hit 60 mph in a much more respectable 6.6 seconds and pushed the top speed past 150 mph.
4. Porsche 914/4
The collaboration between Volkswagen and Porsche goes back further than many realize. Today, models like the Touareg and Cayenne share underpinnings and technology, but back in the 1960s, VW and Porsche were working together on a co-developed targa-roofed sports car.
The plan was for the entry-level four-cylinder version to carry a VW badge, while the more powerful flat-six variant would proudly wear the Porsche emblem.
However, Porsche grew hesitant about marketing what was essentially a rebadged Volkswagen, so the final product was sold exclusively under the Stuttgart brand.
The base model for the U.S. market produced just 80 bhp, meaning that despite being as lightweight as a roller skate, the 914/4 needed a sluggish 13.3 seconds to reach 62 mph.
Meanwhile, the 914/6, with 109 bhp, managed the sprint in a much more respectable 8.7 seconds. Now that’s more like it.
5. Chevrolet Corvette C3 ‘California’
One of the lowest points in the history of America’s sports car came in 1980, when Chevrolet essentially threw in the towel on trying to make its big-block V8 engines comply with California’s stringent emissions regulations.
Instead, the company opted to drop in a smaller, severely restricted engine. Sold (mercifully) for just the 1980 model year, the C3 ‘California’ was only available with a 305 cubic-inch V8, paired with an outdated three-speed automatic transmission.
That’s right despite boasting a sizable 5.0 liters of displacement, California’s version of the Corvette could only manage a measly 180 bhp.
To be fair, the 5.7-liter version available in the rest of the U.S. wasn’t much better, churning out just 230 bhp.
To make matters even more frustrating, all 1980 Corvettes came equipped with a speedometer that maxed out at 85 mph—thanks to a new federal law designed to discourage speeding. Land of the free, right?
6. Toyota GT86 / Subaru BRZ
A perfect example of the idea that not all great sports cars are fast just as not all fast cars are truly sporty the Toyobaru was never built for straight-line speed, often struggling to keep up with a hot Renault Clio.
Subaru insisted on using a flat-four engine to maintain a low center of gravity, while both manufacturers deliberately avoided turbocharging in favor of a sharper throttle response.
With just 197 bhp, the coupe was never going to be a rocket, but it stands as a modern tribute to the classic philosophy that power isn’t everything.
A finely tuned chassis that makes the most of every single horsepower will always be more rewarding than an overpowered machine that exists purely for the numbers.
7. MG Midget
The MG Midget stands as one of the most iconic British sports cars of the swinging Sixties. But when it first hit the scene in the summer of 1961 around the same time as The Beatles it had to make do with a tiny 1.0-liter engine producing just 46 bhp.
Within a year, this was swapped out for a 1.1-liter motor with a slightly more respectable 56 bhp, which was a necessary upgrade.
Early tests suggested the Midget could reach a top speed of around 88 mph, but getting there required the patience of a primary school orchestra conductor 0–60 mph took a painfully slow 18.3 seconds.
Surely, by 1967, MG had figured out a better solution? Not quite.
The later model pictured here was saddled with a detuned Mini engine, producing just 65 bhp intentionally weakened so it wouldn’t steal the spotlight from the more expensive MGB. Ahh, the British car industry at its finest.
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8. Pontiac Fiero
America’s first mid-engine sports car has gained notoriety for just about every reason imaginable unreliability, sluggish performance, poor build quality, a tendency to catch fire, and an unfortunate afterlife as the base for unconvincing Ferrari replicas. What a disaster.
That being said, the concept behind the Fiero was solid: a smaller, more affordable, and fuel-efficient alternative to the Corvette, aimed at gearheads feeling the pinch of rising fuel prices.
It wasn’t until 1985 that the Fiero finally received a V6 with a respectable amount of power.
Before that, the base models suffered through a disappointing 10.7-second 0–60 mph time and a 17-second quarter-mile, thanks to a 2.5-liter four-cylinder engine producing 190 bhp.
That same engine had an unfortunate habit of throwing a rod through the block, leaking oil onto the hot exhaust, and promptly setting itself on fire. And that, kids, is why choosing a name that’s an anagram of “o fire” is a terrible idea.
9. AC Ace
The car that eventually gave rise to the legendary AC Cobra started life with a rather modest 100 bhp four-cylinder engine one that could trace its origins back to the 1920s.
By early 1950s standards, the Ace’s 0–60 mph time of 11.4 seconds was nothing to be ashamed of.
But fast forward to 1964, and Carroll Shelby was happily shoehorning in 7.0-liter Ford V8s pumping out a monstrous 425 bhp, transforming the Cobra into the world’s fastest sports car with a top speed exceeding 180 mph.