Poster Cars
The 1990s was arguably the greatest decade for poster cars. For two months, in the summer of 2024, the Louwman Museum brought together twelve of the supercars that adorned many a bedroom or garage wall during this period. This remarkable dozen complemented the already formidable collection of the Dutch museum that opened its doors in 2010. The entrance hall of the Michael Graves designed building is perfectly suited for a temporary display, which previously included Martini liveried competition cars and Formula 1 racers. Museum director Ronald Kooyman describes the criteria for the 1990s supercars to make the cut: “We have managed to assemble a uniuqe collection, whereby we define ‘supercar’ as a car produced in limited numbers, with at least 500 hp and a top speed of over 300 km/h. Within this group we have split the cars into various categories: production models, limited editions, homologation specials and prototypes. Some of the cars have never before been seen in the Netherlands, nor even in the Benelux. This particular collection of sports cars has also never been seen in the Netherlands, nor in the Benelux not even in Europe. Perhaps nowhere in the world…”

Road going supercars
Motorsport was usually key in the development of these 1990s supercars. Some were built to bring racing technology to the road, while others were produced for homologation purposes. Great examples of the former on display were the Ferrari F50 and the Jaguar XJ220. The F50 was built around a Formula 1 derived V12 engine, which was used as a fully stressed member of the chassis. As such, it is still the most hardcore production car to come out of the Maranello factory. The XJ220 was developed by Tom Walkinshaw Racing, which was also responsible for the Le Mans winning Jaguar Group C racers. In fact, its twin-turbo V6 also powered the XJR-11 that competed in the 1989 and 1990 World Sports Car Championship.
The other four production road cars on display were the McLaren F1, Aston Martin Vantage V600, Bugatti EB 110 SS and the very rare Vector W8.
Also on display were a pair of one-off show cars. This included the E31-generation BMW M8, which was never actually shown in period and its existence was only acknowledged relatively recently. From the Mercedes-Benz Classic stable comes the C112 of 1991. Penned by Bruno Sacco, it was a technology demonstrator with advanced features including four-wheel steering and active suspension.

Homologation specials
Truly capturing the imagination was the line-up of four GT1 homologation specials. While the Mercedes-Benz CLK-GTR and Porsche 911 GT1 '98 are spectacular in their own right is the headliners were the Toyota GT-One and Nissan R390, which are only very rarely seen in public. The Toyota is normally stored underneath the wind-tunnel in the Toyota Gazoo Racing facility in Cologne, Germany. The Nissan, on the other hand, is the only R390 in private hands. It is owned by former works driver Erik Comas, who had a clause in his contract stipulating that he would receive one of the R390 road cars required for homologation at the end of the program. As it turned out, only one road car was ever produced and Nissan were not keen to see that leave their stable. Instead they presented the Frenchman with one of the competition cars during the late 2010s. The former Formula 1 driver has since meticulously restored the car and presented it at various shows. Fully road legal, it has been displayed both in plain white and its period racing livery. Comas was invited to show the car at Pebble Beach in August but could not pass up the opportunity to display his cherished Nissan together with the Toyota, Porsche and Mercedes-Benz at the Louwman Museum.

Final Thoughts
The Supercars from the 1990s display will remain at the Louwman Museum through to September 1st. If you can not make it to The Hague in time, the next best thing is our 30-shot gallery, which includes a detailed look of all twelve 1990s on show in the entrance hall of the Louwman Museum.