Halloween is creeeeeeeeping up on us as it does every year, and pretty soon you won’t be able to move for discount sweets, children dressed as zombies and a mounting sense of dread as you realise your doorbell’s going to be ringing all night.
Planning a spooky halloween getaway to avoid the crowds? We’ve shortlisted eight of the world’s scariest cars you could consider for a real October holiday in style.
Prices for cars on this list range from under £1,000 to over £300,000, so there’s something to suit every budget. Whether you’re after a sports car with a speedy sting in the tail, or a wraith-like apparition that can silently creep up on anybody, we’ve got you covered.
Rolls-Royce Ghost
The Rolls-Royce Ghost is eerily silent and scarily powerful, but it’s the ‘Ghost’ moniker that qualifies it for a place on this list. After all, what’s spookier than a spirit?
In fact, Rolls-Royce has several model names that would make it onto this list – including Shadow, Wraith, Spirit and Phantom – but Ghost is straight to the point.
Reva G-WIZ
Imagine the scene. You’ve just finished up on a date – it’s all gone very well, and you think you’d like to see them again.
“How are you getting home?” they ask you. You took the bus. “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll give you a lift back,” they reply, taking a key from their pocket.
You head out to the car park.
You walk past the BMW 1 Series, the Volkswagen Passat and the Honda Jazz – normal, average cars.
You see your date heading towards a dark, shadowy figure.
“Please,” you whisper to yourself. “Anything but that.”
It’s the size of a Little Tykes Cozy Coupe.
It’s as safe as a Little Tykes Cozy Coupe.
It’s got a cutesy sticker on the back, and the panel gaps are wider than your finger.
It’s a Reva G-Wiz.
It’s an electrically-powered deathtrap that should never have existed.
It’s the biggest threat to your personal safety since your mother sent you that link to a story about killer clowns.
And unfortunately, the only choice you have now is to run away.
Far away.
Quickly.
Chevrolet Corvair
Few cars are influential enough to have entire books written in their honour, but the Corvair holds that rather dubious title. A quirk of its swing-axle suspension led to a title by activist Ralph Nader – scarily named ‘Unsafe at any Speed’.
The Corvair – along with many other cars of the time – was horrifically unsafe, and Nader’s book scared the authorities enough that soon things like rollover protection, soft-touch dashboards and even seatbelts became legal requirements. It was the damning of the Corvair in Chapter One that led to the model’s demise, noting its propensity for dangerous oversteer, its tendency to roll over and irresponsible manufacturing decisions.
Mercedes-AMG G 63 6×6
Monsters are often huge and seemingly deformed, and that’s exactly why the Mercedes-AMG G 63 6×6 is in this list.
Think of the regular G 63 as a zombie horde — powerful in nature, a little scary, but ultimately not the strongest thing out there. The 6×6 is like the tank of those — taking everything up a whole notch. Retaining the powerful drivetrain, this beast adds — you guessed it — an extra axle, allowing it to hunt down anything across all terrains even better than before. Be afraid.
Dodge Viper RT/10
There’s no horror story behind the Dodge Viper RT/10, but stepping in one will send shivers down your spine like no terrifying tale ever could.
Conceived back in 1991, the hardcore machine packed a monstrous 8.0-litre V10 sending 450bhp to the rear wheels. It’s a real Frankenstein creation too, with a truck-sourced motor stuck into a fibreglass body. And there’s no driving assists here either — it’ll take pure driving skill to stop this snake biting.
Mystery Machine
Like, zoinks! No list of scary vehicles would be complete without the iconic Mystery Machine – faithful transport for Fred, Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby Doo since 1969. Canonically, the Mystery Machine was formerly owned by a band – the Mystery Kids – before it passed into the hands of Scooby and the gang, ready to travel from spooky hotel to abandoned theme park to creepily cobwebbed power station.
In fact, the Mystery Machine’s probably harder-working than most emergency service vehicles – fearlessly travelling into and out of crime scenes for over four decades. That’s enough to put the jinkies up anyone.
Fiat 124 Spider
Spiders are scary, let’s all just agree on this. The creepy-crawly creatures are the stuff of many nightmares — and no matter how big or small, hairy or not, they could spook anybody.
Fortunately, the Fiat 124 Spider is an exception to this rule. While it may have something of an aggressive face, there’s a loveable side to this little Italian arachnid. Mazda MX-5 roots mean it’s a playful little thing, while Italian flair gives it a lustful personality. This is one spider you wouldn’t throw out the window.
Chrysler Voyager
The inoffensively-styled American minivan known as the Chrysler Voyager may not seem the scariest vehicle around, but wait until you see the havoc it can wreak on its occupants in a crash. When tested by Euro NCAP, the first-generation Voyager fared so badly in the frontal impact test that it scored no points.
Even clever Stow’N’Go seating and a comfy ride couldn’t woo buyers, and the Voyager skulked at the edge of the MPV class, threatening to crush children in its capacious interior, until the much-improved second-generation model arrived in 2007.