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  • Gordon Murray managed to make a car no one remembers
  • The Spyker C8 had an Audi S4-derived V8 and an antique airplane interior
  • The BMW Z1’s fold-down doors are the weirdest, best part of recent auto design

It’s not often the automotive hive mind lets something slip through the cracks. That’s especially true of sports cars, those most-lauded expressions of The Church of Speed. However, these forgotten sports cars have managed to do just that. Cars like the Holden Commodore, Chevy SS, and BMW Z1 may be lost to history for a reason, or maybe we just plain forgot.

The Spyker C8 is the pinnacle of forgotten sports cars

A Spyker C8, one of many forgotten sports cars, makes a run up the Hill at Goodwood
The C8 had the engine from the Audi R8 in the back | National Motor Museum via Getty Images

Speaking of sports cars we’ve just plain forgot about: this is the Spyker C8. Back in 2000, Dutch sportscar maker Spyker set out to make something truly mold-breaking. The Spyker C8 has an interior that looks more like a vintage airplane than the forgotten sports car it truly is. While the Audi S4-derived 395 hp V8 put out plenty of power, the C8 simply didn’t sell, and thus, was quickly forgotten.

Gordon Murray’s only affordable car is lost to the annals of history

Back in the late ’80s, Gordon Murray said he wanted to “out Chapman Colin Chapman,” the famous Lotus founder. So, Gordon Murray combined his obsession with lightweight cars with classic race car styling to get this: the Light Car Company Rocket. It weighs 860 lbs with a driver in it. It makes only 147 hp with a sequential transmission. And for some reason, everyone forgot about it.

A Chevrolet SS, sold as the Holden Commodore in Australia, shot from the front 3/4 angle in blue.
The Chevy SS was rebadged as the Holden Commodore; or was it the other way ’round? | Chevrolet

Perhaps the Holden Commodore, or as it’s referred to in the US, the M3-killing Chevrolet SS, is the least-forgotten sports car on the list. Demand for these rebadged Holden Commodores is rising, largely due to the death of Holden and the general state of the auto market. With 415 hp and a stick shift, this isn’t a car you ought to forget.

There’s less than 100 BMW Z1 sports cars left

Then there’s the BMW Z1. If this forgotten sports car is remembered at all, it’s likely for its weird fold-down retractable doors. A truly weird quirk as Doug DeMuro points out in the video above. Like so many others on this list, it also came with a manual transmission and made a piddling 168 hp to boot.

Formula 1 influence didn’t stop anyone forgetting the Alfa Romeo SZ

Finally, that leaves us with the Alfa Romeo SZ. It looks weird as all hell, and frankly, it shouldn’t be forgotten for its wild looks alone. Plus, as one of the last stick-shift Alfas with the legendary Busso V6, it makes a noise you’ll never forget. As for us, well, we’d forget every car on this list to have a go in the cheapest Gordon Murray car this side of a T.50.

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Chase Bierenkoven

Chase Bierenkoven has been obsessed with cars his whole life and now finds joy in sharing what he’s learned from his own daily drivers. Chase earned a Bachelor of Science in Criminal Justice and Criminology with a focus on legal studies from the Metropolitan State University of Denver and quickly became an automotive journalist. When he isn’t writing, Chase is either driving his passion project, a 2004 BMW M3 in Carbon Schwartz Metallic, or playing around Colorado’s terrain, mainly mountain biking and skiing.