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The best supercars of the 1990s

The race for pace entered a new phase in the 1990s, as Lamborghini broke the 200mph barrier with the Diablo, while Ferrari’s 550 Maranello – a return to a more understated style after the flashy Testarossa – teased us with a top speed of 199mph.

In Britain, Aston carried on their merry way, pumping up their monster GT range further with the 186mph Vantage V550, the fastest way of getting from A to B in extreme comfort yet produced, while McLaren pushed their technical expertise to the limit to create the record-setting McLaren F1.

We look at the supercars of the 1990s in words, pictures and video.

It’s almost impossible to look past the McLaren F1 when talking about the greatest ever supercars - produced throughout the 1990s, it’s still today one of the fastest, most expensive and most technically astounding production cars ever made.
It took Lamborghini five years of development to come up with a worthy successor to the Countach and, when it was launched in the first month of 1990, the Diablo rocketed the Italian company back to the top of the supercar charts.

Top speed was a buttock-clenching 202mph, with 0-60mph achieved in 4.5 seconds thanks to a modified, mid-mounted 5.7-litre V-12 engine.
No car of the 1990s could propel its occupants with such speed and in such opulent comfort as the Aston Martin V8 Vantage V550.

A rebodied Virage - only the roof and doors were carried over - the V550 name denoted the colossal power that saw one of Newport Pagnell's last hand-built cars surge to 186mph, passing 60mph in just 4.6 seconds.
Ferrari made perhaps its boldest move for a quarter of a century with the 550 Maranello; they once again decided to put the horse before the cart, placing the car's 5.5-litre V-12 where Enzo always thought it should be - in front of the driver.

The sheer ostentation, as well as the mid-engine layout, of the 80s Testarossa was also cast aside in favour of a more understated GT sports car look designed by Pininfarina.