A new type of car is available -- one that can go off-road, then go back on the pavement and compete with top-drawer sports cars. Dutch automaker Spyker calls this kind of car an "SSUV" -- a "super sports utility vehicle." Earlier this year, Spyker unveiled its D12 Peking-to-Paris SSUV at the Geneva Motor Show. The four-wheel-drive SUV, which will go into production next year, has a 500-horsepower, 12-cylinder engine that generates a zero-to-60 time of five seconds and a top speed of 185 mph.
Porsche has also recently entered this segment with its $112,000 Cayenne Turbo S SUV, which can scale down the side of a rocky hill and then go head-to-head with a Corvette, thanks to its 520-hp motor and zero-to-60 time of 4.8 seconds.
This kind of racecar/SUV hybrid is as adventurous as a car can get and will do virtually anything you want it to. But there are other kinds of "adventure cars" too, such as the Aquada boat-car from Britain's Gibbs Technologies. It can reach 100 miles per hour on land and a startling 30 mph in water.
All three have made our list of the most impressive adventure cars currently on the market. And they share another trait besides being built for unusual undertakings: sky-high base prices. Though we included such affordable fare as DaimlerChrysler's $19,000 Jeep Wrangler, the average price of a car in the slide show is $241,000.