HomeHalloween horrors: the most frightening cars ever

Halloween horrors: the most frightening cars ever

From a demonic Dodge to a terrifying TVR, we reveal the scariest cars ever unleashed on the road.

October 31, 2024

The scariest cars for fright night
© Stellantis
Be afraid, be very afraid. Some cars here look terrifying in your rear-view mirror. A few are depreciation horror stories. Others are downright frightening to drive. Whatever their particular poison, though, any of these vehicles could haunt your waking moments. Don’t have nightmares.
BMW X6 Vantablack
© BMW
The BMW X6 coupe SUV is a horrific vehicle at the best of times. But this one-off special edition in ‘Vantablack’ paint is scarier still. ‘VANTA’ is an acronym for Vertically Aligned Nano Tube Array, and its billions of tiny tubes eliminate reflections and absorb up to 99.965 percent of light. The result is the ‘world’s blackest black’ – and a car that seems to disappear into darkness.
Peel P50
© Motoring Research
The Peel P50 holds the Guinness World Record for being the smallest road-legal car. You may remember Jeremy Clarkson driving one around BBC Television Centre on Top Gear. Our Tim Pitt sampled this modern replica, built by London’s P50 Cars. It uses a Honda moped engine and tops out at 30mph. But trust us, that’s quite scary enough.
Shelby Cobra 427 Super Snake
© Newspress
You don’t earn the nickname ‘widow maker’ for nothing. It takes skill and nerves of steel to tame a Shelby Cobra. It’s loud and a proper handful in the corners. The Cobra 427 Super Snake is in a different league, though, with an 800hp V8 engine and absolutely no driver aids. Only two were made. The other was destroyed, killing its driver.
Renaultsport Clio V6
© Renault
The original Renaultsport Clio V6 must rank as one of the scariest handling cars ever. Mad as a warehouse full of frogs and eager to catch out the unwary, especially in the wet.
Alfa Romeo 166
© Alfa Romeo
Wait, what’s so scary about the Alfa Romeo 166? It was named the worst depreciating car in the UK, retaining a tiny 14.4 percent of its original price after three years. That’s a scary amount of depreciation. Still, at least 166 owners could console themselves inside one of the world’s nicest car interiors.
Renault Fluence
© Renault
A similar study named the Renault Fluence electric vehicle as the worst first-year depreciator. After just 12 months and 12,000 miles, the Fluence would be worth up to £6,000. Its original price was £22,000. A nightmare for owners, but good news for second-hand buyers.
Caparo T1
© Caparo
The Caparo T1 looks like some kind of primaeval insect, but that’s not the reason for its inclusion here. Everybody’s favourite BTCC driver with a name that sounds like ‘potato’, Jason Plato, was driving a T1 at Bruntingthorpe when, in his words, it “spontaneously erupted into a ball of flame”. Cars that want to kill you. Scary stuff.
Reliant Robin
© Newspress
What could possibly be scary about a plastic three-wheeler made in the Midlands? Not a huge amount, until you attempt a corner. At which point it might decide to topple over. Well, not quite, because Jeremy Clarkson admitted that the Top Gear scenes were faked in the name of entertainment.
Maybach Exelero
© Mercedes-Benz
The one-off Maybach Exelero concept looks dark, mysterious and very sinister. Its grille is pure Hannibal Lecter, while its eyes have an evil look of intent. If the Exelero had a job, it would be as a hitman. And a deadly one at that.
Plymouth Fury
© Newspress
Just look at it: a classic slice of 1950s Americana. Mom’s apple pie wouldn’t melt in its mouth. But as anyone who has seen the film Christine will testify, this is one terrifying vehicle. She’ll possess you. Then destroy you. She’s death on wheels. She’s sounding remarkably like Liam Neeson.
Hyundai Santa Fe Zombie Survival Machine
© Hyundai
The Hyundai Santa Fe Zombie Survival Machine was designed for ‘effective undead annihilation’. It features knife blades, an automatic crossbow, razor-wired windows, three machine guns, a samurai sword, aluminium armour and a muffler silencer. Available at your friendly local Hyundai dealer with a five-year warranty.
G-Wiz
© Newspress
London’s streets are tight, congested and best avoided. Doing battle with buses, taxis and angry commuters in SUVs wouldn’t be our idea of fun. But to do it in an electric G-Wiz? No thanks. In fact, we think we’d rather cycle through London at night, with no lights and no cycle helmet. Or drive a Peel P50.
Rover 100
© Rover Group
The Rover 100 was awarded a miserly one-star safety rating when it was tested by Euro NCAP. It effectively killed the car, as news of the crash-test made it to the evening news. If you think driving one is scary, spare a thought for the unfortunate crash test dummies. Gone but not forgotten. Forever in our hearts.
Buick Electra
© Buick
At best, the Buick Electra looks like a really stern school headmistress wearing sharp-angled spectacles. At worst it looks like a serial killer. Move away, children. Please move away.
Chevrolet Nova
© GM
The Death Proof Chevy Nova is a properly sinister looking machine. That bonnet ornament is a replica of the ‘Rubber Duck’ first seen on Kris Kristofferson’s truck in Convoy. Don’t be fooled. It’s a very angry duck.
Lamborghini Countach
© Lamborghini
The simple act of reversing a Lamborghini Countach can be an unnerving experience. Rearward visibility is terrible, the rear-view mirror is as useful as a chocolate teapot and the only sure-fire way of seeing behind you is to use the famed door-sill seating position. Not a manoeuvre for the faint-hearted.
A hearse
© Newspress
What could be scarier than a hearse? Especially one that looks as dark and moody as this gothic creation. That said, a hearse will probably be the final car most of us will travel in, before heading to the other world.
TVR Cerbera Speed 12
© Newspress
How the 804hp TVR Cerbera Speed 12 managed to transfer its power to the road is a mystery. But then that’s the whole point. TVR boss Peter Wheeler declared the car too wide and too fast for the road. Only one production car was built, which EVO magazine described as ‘terrifying’. Quite.
Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet
© Nissan
The Nissan Murano CrossCabriolet isn’t scary in the slasher horror movie kind of way, but it has been giving children nightmares ever since it was unleashed. It’s wrong on so many levels.
Peterbilt 281 petrol tanker
© Alamy
What could be scary about a Peterbilt 281 petrol tanker? Just ask David Mann, played by Dennis Weaver in the 1971 film, Duel. When the headlights of a truck become the eyes of a psychopath.
Dodge Challenger Demon
© Stellantis
With a name like ‘Demon’, this all-American muscle car was never going to be a docile family hatchback. In SRT 170 spec, the Demon is the fastest accelerating production car in the world, with a 0-60mph time of 1.66 seconds. Oh, and it can also pull wheelies. Scary on a drag strip, let alone on the road.
Saab 9-3 Viggen
© Saab
Once upon a time, the Saab 9-3 Viggen was the fastest Saab ever made. With 230hp on tap, it was also a seriously powerful front-wheel-drive car, from a time when sending so much power through the front wheels wasn’t a wise thing to do. It has become famous for near-uncontrollable torque steer, although Saab specialists can tame the beast.
TVR Sagaris
© TVR
Could this be the scariest looking British sports car? The TVR Sagaris featured slatted wing tops, bonnet vents and a rear end that looks quite unlike anything else on the road. And check out the bottoms of the headlights. There’s a definite hint of Satan’s tail there.
A panel van
© Alamy
Of course, we’re not saying The Mystery Machine is in any way scary. Indeed, its pesky occupants were pretty good at foiling life’s ne’er-do-wells. But if you see a battered panel van in your neighbourhood, you can’t help but feel a little worried. Lock your front door.
Volkswagen Phaeton
© VW
Here’s another scary depreciation story. New, you’d have paid upwards of £45,000 for Volkswagen’s posh saloon. But used examples start from less than £3,000. If you bought one from the showroom, we hope the nightmares aren’t too terrifying.
1957 Aurora
© Wikimedia
The Aurora was an 18-foot prototype created by a Catholic priest. It took three years to build and, had it reached production, would have cost $12,000, making it almost as expensive as a Cadillac Eldorado (America’s highest priced vehicle at the time). It’s one of the most frightening cars ever created.
Mercedes-Benz 600
© Newspress
There’s just something about the Mercedes-Benz 600. There’s no denying it’s an elegant and, in a unique way, beautiful machine. But thanks to the number of crazed dictators and despots who rode around in them, the car has developed a certain character. Put it this way, you probably wouldn’t mess with the chap in the back seat.