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"If a buying a Bentley is too obvious and a Ferrari too clich\u00E9, well, you&amp;#039;re either certifiably crazy or one incredibly lucky individual. The automakers and tuning houses in this list of outrageous vehicles are probably hoping it&amp;#039;s a bit of both. After all, what is a person to do when keeping up with the neighbors means one-upping a Lamborghini Gallardo, or a 1200-bhp Bugatti Veyron? You either move to a much less swanky neighborhood, or you buy something totally out of the ordinary.   Like any automobile purchase, some real-world considerations have to be taken into account...even at this stratospheric level of pricing and performance. Sourcing a dealership, and finding someone who can fix the car if something goes wrong, can be a challenge. And with so many choices out there, it&amp;#039;s smart to make absolutely certain the car is safe and fully certified for legal road use.   Companies such as Pagani, Ruf, Koenigsegg and Spyker might not have the name recognition of bigger sports and luxury automakers; yet their vehicles stand up against the world&amp;#039;s finest supercars. And who really cares if the valet knows exactly what it is you just pulled up in? Punch the gas pedal in a Gumpert Apollo or HKS Nissan GTR, and the last thing you&amp;#039;ll be concerned about is brand cachet.   SSC Ultimate Aero Twin Turbo   A car must be pretty special if it has &amp;quot;ultimate&amp;quot; in its name. The SSC (Shelby Supercars) Ultimate Aero Twin Turbo is built in the U.S. and, at various times, has been ranked as the fastest car in the world. With a Guinness-certified top speed of 256.18 mph, this is about the only vehicle on the planet that can go gunning for Bugatti Veyrons. Powered by a twin-turbocharged V-8, the latest spec of Ultimate Aero has more than 1200 bhp and carries a price tag of approximately $650,000. Perhaps the craziest part is that SSC is working on a leaner and faster &amp;quot;Next Generation&amp;quot; model.   Pagani Huayra  Photos: Pagani Huayra &amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt;   Horacio Pagani has been building some of Italy&amp;#039;s quickest and most jaw-dropping supercars for more than a decade. Built out of lightweight carbon fiber and motivated by a highly tuned Mercedes-Benz engine, a Pagani is the kind of car you drew in your notebook during algebra class. The brand-new Huayra sticks with the company&amp;#039;s reputation for exquisite detailing\u2014check out the jewel-like cabin and central-exit quad exhaust\u2014and adds a new twin-turbo Mercedes V-12 right behind the cockpit. According to Pagani, this handcrafted masterpiece can reach a top speed of 230 mph. Pagani has also promised that the Huayra will be U.S.-certified. The only catch: You&amp;#039;ll need $1.4 million to buy one.   Koenigsegg Agera   Compared to some of the other boutique sports car manufacturers, the Koenigsegg Agera approaches the art of going fast with business-like precision. Engine-turned dashboards and exposed gearlevers are nice, but Koenigsegg foregoes most of these fripperies. Simple and cleanly styled, the Agera is powered by a 910-bhp twin-turbocharged V-8 engine which, according to Koenigsegg, pushes the car to a top speed of at least 245 mph. The Swedish sports car company has also vied for the title of the `world&amp;#039;s fastest car&amp;#039; and, not long ago, shocked the auto world by nearly purchasing Saab from General Motors. It&amp;#039;s good to see the company back to doing what it knows best\u2014building elegant and fearsomely fast supercars.   Spyker C8 Aileron   True, the Spyker C8 Aileron supercar isn&amp;#039;t the quickest car amongst this esteemed company. But when exactly did a top speed of 187 mph become slow? Any Spyker is as much a work of art as it is a sports car. Rivets on the bodywork and an exposed shift linkage are only two of a Spyker&amp;#039;s extravagant design details. The brand, which is over 100 years old, was resuscitated about a decade ago by Dutch businessman, Victor Muller, Spyker Cars has unveiled a dizzying array of models (including one very awkward-looking SUV). The company also recently purchased Saab from General Motors. At the heart of C8 Aileron is an Audi-sourced 4.2-liter V-8 engine. We enjoyed the &amp;quot;brute power&amp;quot; of this $214,990 sports car, but remarked: &amp;quot;if you&amp;#039;re careless, the Aileron will bite you like any 400-bhp 3142-lb. mid-engine supercar.&amp;quot;   HKS Nissan GTR R35  Photos: HKS Nissan GT-R R35 &amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt;   The Nissan GT-R is a potent performance weapon even in stock form. Thanks to its fantastic all-wheel-drive system and twin-turbo 3.8-liter engine, the GT-R accelerates and grips the road better than cars costing double (or triple) its $89,950 base price. The tuning wizards at HKS have made a good thing even better with the HKS Nissan GT-R R35. Engine modifications include a racing center pipe, intercooler pipe kit, electronic boost controller, blow-off valve kit, and reinforced turbo actuators. During our time with the car, we noted that &amp;quot;the revived GT-R sticks to the pavement like epoxy, exhibiting flawless balance through most corners.&amp;quot; Other cars might go faster in a straight line, yet almost nothing will out-corner the HKS-tuned Nissan GT-R.   Hennessey Venom GT  Photos: Hennessey Venom GT &amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt;   Start with a lightweight Lotus Exige sports car, add a 1200-bhp turbocharged V-8, and the result is one of the most mind-blowingly fast cars in the world. The Texas tuning house of Hennessey always comes up with sports cars that put a driver&amp;#039;s bravery\u2014and the grip of the widest and stickiest tires\u2014to the absolute limit. Even for the likes of Hennessey, the new mid-engine Venom GT is one crazy creation. Weighing only 2685 lb., the Venom GT has about the came curb weight as a Honda Civic, but with &amp;quot;8.6 times the power.&amp;quot; Currently priced at $895,000, the Venom GT should be able to reach a top speed of 272 mph.   SMS Supercars 570 Challenger  Photos: SMS Supercars 570 Challenger &amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt;   Steve Saleen has an enviable record when it comes to tuning Mustangs. But for many auto enthusiasts, his mid-engine Saleen S7R remains the pinnacle of his craft. Not only was it gorgeous, but in twin-turbo format it ranked amongst the world&amp;#039;s fastest cars with a top speed of nearly 250 mph. A dispute with investors saw Saleen leave the company bearing his name to found SMS Supercars. The company&amp;#039;s sour apple green 570 Challenger we tested has a Lysholm twin-screw compressor and SMS&amp;#039;s Six-Pack Intercooler System under the hood. Despite having 500 bhp, the SMS Challenger posted performance figures that were &amp;quot;nearly identical&amp;quot; to a stock Challenger SRT8. However, at $67,581, the SMS Challenger is a bargain (in this pricey company) and available through Dodge dealers. If you want to turn heads everywhere you go\u2014but are roughly $1.3 million short of buying a Pagani\u2014this could be your kind of car.   Callaway Corvette SC606  Photos: Callaway Corvette SC606 &amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;gt;   A standard Corvette is already one of the best performance bargains. Naysayers might bemoan the midlife-crisis image but, if you&amp;#039;ve driven a modern Vette, you know how wrong they are. Luckily, so do the folks at Callaway. The company has been building modified Corvettes for years and the SC606 is one of their latest creations. Starting with a Corvette Grand Sport, the SC606 comes with an Eaton-sourced TVS2300 Roots-type supercharger, integrated air-to-liquid intercooler and other performance hardware that will make your tech-loving friends drool. In layman terms, the V-8 now serves up 606 bhp at 6400 rpm. Callaway isn&amp;#039;t about to simply throw in a bigger engine and forget the rest of the package. During our test drive, we found the track-biased suspension firm but &amp;quot;much better controlled in pitch and roll, with much less bump harshness than stock.&amp;quot;   Ruf RGT-8   As one of the preeminent Porsche tuning companies (and a manufacturer of its own vehicles), Ruf can always be counted on to do something special. As far back as 1987, the Ruf CTR Yellowbird\u2014nicknamed for the wild color of the original test car\u2014rocked the supercar establishment with its blistering performance. More than 20 years later, Ruf vehicles aren&amp;#039;t getting any slower. The Ruf RGT-8 begins with a Porsche 911, but ditches the seminal sports car&amp;#039;s flat-6 for a lightweight 550-bhp V-8 engine. Fitting neatly in the rear of the 911, the new engine reportedly weighs 88 lb. less than Porsche&amp;#039;s own V-8. The Ruf engine has also been purposefully tuned to sound more like a racing powerplant, without the traditional lumpy sound of a V-8. The RGT-8 is set to go on sale this year for approximately $300,000.   Gumpert Apollo   The Gumpert name certainly lacks the musicality of Ferrari\u2014or even Hyundai, if we&amp;#039;re being honest. Yet this angular mid-engine supercar can deliver anywhere from 650 to 800 bhp, depending on its state of tune. The sprint from 0 to 60 mph takes only 3.0 seconds, according to Gumpert. One of the hardest tasks is simply getting in and out of the Apollo. The gull-wing doors swoop upward, but there&amp;#039;s an enormous carbon-fiber sill to haul yourself over before getting snug in the cockpit. The exterior looks like it was styled with a machete but, hey, if you wanted some Q-car to avoid attention you wouldn&amp;#039;t be looking at a Gumpert Apollo in the first place. Now available in the U.S. through Tempe-based Evolution Motorsports, the Apollo is not a supercar for shrinking violets.   Brabus EV12   A Brabus EV12 sedan is the kind of car you buy if you win the lottery, but don&amp;#039;t want everyone assuming you&amp;#039;ll automatically pick up every check. Sure, your friends will think you bought a sleek new German luxury sedan\u2014but most of them will have no idea it can top 230 mph, or that it costs upward of $675,000. Brabus can turn just about any Mercedes-Benz vehicle into something more exclusive and much, much faster. Even the boxy Viano van and tiny Smart Fortwo city car have received the Brabus treatment. The EV12 sedan tugs at our hearts with its epic performance\u2014thanks to a 789-bhp twin-turbo 6.3-liter V-8 engine\u2014and its stealth looks. With seating for five and a spacious trunk, the Brabus EV12 is the perfect reason to leave the private jet in the hangar and opt for the highway. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
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