A supercar is type of high-performance celebrity automobile. Defining criteria suggested include performance, styling, body type and the prestige of the marque. To be a supercar, a vehicle shall fulfill as many of the following requirements as possible:

- Outrageous performance

Especially if considered dangerous or borderline suicidal by the general public at the time of introduction

- Style which commands attention and is unique (but not neccessarily aesthetical)

Thus the eye-hurting Ferrari Enzo, the brutal Bugatti Veyron and the nice Pagani Zonda are all supercars. The Ferrari Enzo Ferrari is a 12-cylinder Ferrari supercar named after the companys founder, Enzo Ferrari. ... Bugatti EB 16/4 Veyron concept car Bugatti EB 16/4 Veyron concept car interior The Veyron 16. ... The Pagani Zonda is a supercar made by Italian car makers Pagani. ...

- A supercar must be practically useless by all considerations

This is meant to emphasize their elite status. Grand tourers (2+2) and most sports sedans are not considered supercars regardless of performance, because they are useful, even if marginally. The highest number of seats a supercar can have is three (as in McLaren F1). This article is about the type of car. ... McLaren Cars is an automaker founded in 1990 with the object of producing road cars based on Formula One technology. ...

- Cutting edge features are borrowed from contemporary racing car technology

In the 1980's the use of turbochargers enhanced the supercar image of a car, nowadays it decreases it, because Formula 1 racing has long dropped turbo in favour of N/A engines. Even though Ferrari Enzo isn't the fastest or most powerful supercar, it has tremendous amount of F1 engineering in it, driving consumer demand and the price tag very high. Turbocharger Cut-away A turbocharger is a compressor used in internal-combustion engines to increase the power output of the engine by increasing the mass of oxygen and fuel entering the engine. ... Formula One, abbreviated to F1 and also known as Grand Prix racing, is the highest class of single-seat open-wheel auto racing. ...

- A supercar must be temperamental

Enthusiasts maintain a supercar must have "soul", thus a moderate number of breakdowns and clutch failures are considered part of life. Extreme mechanical reliability, characteristic of german and japanese made vehicles, is generally frowned upon. Ferrari owners call Porsches expensive rollerskates. The Porsche 912, a Porsche of the 1960s Porsche (), is a German manufacturer of sports cars, founded in 1931 by Ferdinand Porsche, the engineer who created the first Volkswagen. ...

- A supercar must be series produced

Supercars must not be prototypes, but be made as a regular product, even if in a very limited number or capped to a predefined quota. Based on homologation requirements, 50 cars per model could be proposed as a minimum. Homologation is a technical term, derived from the Greek homologos for agree, which is used in English to signify the granting of approval by an official authority. ...

- Built for road

Racing cars are not considered supercars, even if they are driven on the streets (e.g. Jim Glickenhaus' Ferrari 330P4). Racing car downgrades (e.g. Saleeem S7) or homologation cars made as a prequel to FIA racing cars (e.g. Ferrari 288 GTO) are accepted as bona fide supercars.

- Road legal

A supercar must be possible to use on the streets, because they serve as ego amplifiers and fashion accessories for the rich and famous. A car entirely banned in America or limited to 2500 mile/year show-only licence is sometimes not considered a supercar, because the USA is the major market of supercars (e.g. the Maserati MC12 suffers from this fate).

- Hand-built

A supercar must be almost entirely man-made and industrial robot use must be limited to CNC machined parts, wheels and engine only. The lesser reliability of supercars is seen as proof to the amount of handcraftmanship that went into making these vehicles.

- Spartan features

A supercar must sacrifice very minimal performance for comfort. Lack of leather interior, minuscule trunk space, weird doors and hard to negotiate cabin entry are characteristic features of supercars. (The Ferrari F40 actually lacked a door knob and entry was facilitated by way of pulling a hidden steel rope).

- Adheres to certain key traditions of the brand

Thus the Ferrari 360 is not a supercar, because only 12-cylinder cars are considered pure-bred Ferrari.

- There can be only one supercar in the brand's model palette any given time

This is an obvious requirement based on the meaning of the latin word "super". Thus the Lamborghini Gallardo is not a supercar, because the Lamborghini Murcielago exists. Lamborghini Gallardo The Lamborghini Gallardo (Spanish for elegant) is the Italian supercar maker Lamborghinis lesser model of car, sitting beneath the Murciélago. ... The Lamborghini Murciélago is a GT and supercar automobile made by Lamborghini. ...

- Prestiege or high profile image of the marque is a must

It may be theoretically possible for a start-up small company to make supercars, but a japanese manufacturer having solid 40 year history of making reliable, boring and robot built cars can never make a supercar that would be fully accepted by the car enthusiast public.

See also: List of Supercars.