What do the Aston Martin Vantage, Porsche 911 Turbo (993), Lotus Esprit V8, Dodge Viper, Caterham Seven JPE, and TVR Cerbera all have in common? They were some of the fastest cars and most powerful cars you could get in the 1990s. Their performance was fantastic enough to get the attention of none other than Jermey Clarkson.
Now this isn’t a “Top Gear” thing. This particular race is from his VHS exclusive Jeremy Clarkson: Unleashed on Cars, in which Clarkson is searching for the greatest and fastest car in the world.
This led to Clarkson getting his hands on the six cars you see here and a two mile runway to race them on. Looking at the specs, they all appear to be somewhat evenly matched:
- Aston Martin Vantage: 5.3-liter Supercharged V8, 550 HP, 4.6 seconds to 60 mph, 185 mph top speed
- Porsche 911 Turbo: 3.6-liter turbocharged flat 6, 408 hp, 3.7 seconds to 60 mph, 181 mph top speed
- Lotus Esprit V8: 3.5-liter twin-turbo V8, 349 hp, 4.5 seconds to 60 mph 175 mph top speed
- Dodge Viper: 8.0-liter V10, 415 hp, 4.6 seconds to 60 mph, 167 mph top speed
- Caterham Seven JPE: 2.0-liter 250 hp I4, 3.4 seconds to 60 mph, 150 mph top speed
- TVR Cerbera: 4.2-liter 350 hp V8, 4.0 seconds to 60 mph, 185 mph top speed
Impressive performance for the time. Only one car came out on top though. The race was set up so that the cars would run flat out over a mile of the runway. The one that came in first would receive the title of the fastest car in the world. While the 911, Esprit and the TVR were the fastest off the line and stayed ahead of the others, the TVR ended up whipping them all. The Cerbera covered the mile in a blistering 31.2 seconds. This was followed by the 911 Turbo at 32.5 seconds and the Lotus at 33.3 seconds. Sadly this race was a poor showing for the U.S.; the Viper came in last at 35.7 seconds.