They’re the stuff of dreams, or maybe chemically induced hallucinations. They’re automotive royalty. The cars that we aspire to but will never have a chance of owning. They’re supercars and we’re picking the best of the crop of 2012.

Born in the excess of the 80s, supercars have to evolved into road going spaceships. Advanced electronics, carbon fibre, huge horsepower numbers, and astronomical prices are the hallmarks of todays supercars.

That being said, supercars aren’t really about perfomance. Plenty of track day specials (Radicals, Lotus Evora GTE etc.) provide, or in some cases exceed, supercar level performance for a fraction of the cost and lets face it nearly every car on the road is better at the day to day banality than most supercars.

Supercars are purchased for one reason and one reason only, posing. You buy a supercar because you know that it will make your rock star friends jealous and seduce European socialites into making bad decisions. The whole point of a supercar is that it’s an expensive, high maintenance accessory that is petty difficult to live with.

Runner Up: 2012 Ferrari F12

Why is it on the list? It’s a Ferrari and any supercar list worth it’s caviar needs to have a Ferrari. Front engined, V12 and red the Ferrari checks all the supercar boxes. Of course the awkward looks, lack of Lambo style doors and start-stop engine management system (a nod to eco-conciousness that returns and astounding 15mpg) leave it just a little bit off the pace.

Runner Up: 2013 McLaren MP4-12c Spyder

The coupe version of the this car provides phenomenal performance and is a technological tour de force. Many in the press were critical of it’s pure unexcited competence and claimed it lacked spirit. How did McLaren address those criticisms? They did what every good car company has been doing for decades, they chopped off the roof. Now the car looks about 100 times sexier isjust as fast and still has those crazy Lambo style doors.

Runner Up: 2012 Lamborghini Aventador

Much like Ferrari, Lamborghini is a legacy member of every supercar list. Unlike Ferrari, Lamborghini doesn’t worry too much about actual performance. Sure most of them put up big horsepower numbers and high top speed but attempting to drive one to it’s limits usually results in fiery death and the destruction of a small European principality. The newer Audi “assisted” Lambos changed that to a degree but one look at the Aventador shows that Lamborghini is still one hundred percent raging bull. (take that however you like-Ed.) With a big V12, mid engine layout, Lambo doors (the best way to show off you’re Romanian supermodel girlfriend when you pull up to the club), and angular scoops all over the place the Aventador would normally be a shoe in for this category but it just missed out this year.

Infinite Garage Best Supercar of 2012: Excess is Best

Winner: 2012 Pagani Huayra

Really this car is more than a supercar. Top Gear Magazine named it the hypercar of the year and they might be right. With only 40 examples made every year and a price of 1.5 million dollars the Huayra is way beyond supercar excess. If supercars are a representation of 80s excess then the Huayra is Louis XIV buried under gold plated concubines while on a cocaine binge. How excessive is it? There’s computer controlled active aero for one (think F22 Raptor). It has not just a V12 but a twin turbo V12. You like carbon fiber? The Huayra has carbotitanium. Huayra laughs at your plebeian Lambo doors, it has gullwing doors. In a nutshell the Huayra’s exclusivity, price, and performance put all the other supercars on the list to shame while still being nearly impossible to live with on a day to day basis, in essence the ultimate supercar.