10 Speed Record Holders

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Cars have always been getting faster and faster.. and faster. But how fast will the laws of physics allow road cars to go?

With top speed records come the ultimate bragging right: “We make the fastest car in the world”. Its the ultimate spec in top trumps, more than horsepower or price. Here are the last 10 record holders for the fastest production car.

 Ferrari 288 GTO 

188 MPH in 1985

Ferrari created the 288 GTO to participate in Group B, but the series was cancelled before they could enter. As a result, the successor to the much acclaimed 250 GTO never competed in a race series. It did have credentials; undoubtably it is one of the most beautiful Ferraris ever made, and the fastest car in the world for a period before the 959 took it’s place. Although Ferrari’s claim of 190 was never proven, it did manage 188 mph in the hands of Auto, Motor und Sport magazine.

Porsche 959 
195 MPH in 1986

Like the 288 GTO, Porsche made the 959 to go rallying in Group B. Homologation required 200 road cars, resulting in the 959 we have today. During its production, it was the most technologically advanced supercar there was. AWD was unheard of on a sports car before. The 959 set the precedent for technology combined with motoring; hadn’t it been for the 959 we wouldn’t have  the likes of the Bugatti Veyron today. 

Ferrari F40 

201 MPH in 1987

The Ferrari F40 was many things- it was the last car overseen by Enzo before his death. It is regarded by many as the ultimate drivers’ car with no electronic aid or luxuries to speak of. It is also the first road car ever to break the 200 mph barrier; nothing to write home about in 2012, but an achievement beyond belief in 1987.

The F40 was the complete opposite of the Porsche 959. The Porsche was a technological masterpiece whereas the F40 had little more than a set of pedals, a gearstick and an enormous turbocharged V8.

Bugatti EB110 GT

209 MPH in 1991

You couldn’t accuse the Bugatti EB110 of being boring- it had a V12 engine with no less than four turbo chargers producing 603 bhp. In 1991! Michael Schumacher even owned one. On it’s debut year, Auto, Motor und Sport magazine clocked it at 209 mph, making it the fastest production car of the time. Despite this, sales never really took off as the world was in the middle of a recession, and Bugatti went bankrupt.

The EB110 has never really gotten the recognition it deserves.

Jaguar XJ220 

217 MPH (banked circuit) in 1992

Like the Bugatti, the XJ220 is largely a forgotten supercar. Customers wanted a V12 and AWD when they placed orders- the production car got a turbocharged V6 with two wheel drive. Even so, racing driver Martin Brundle took it to 212 mph on the famous Nardo track, Italy. After removing the catalytic converters and increasing the rev limit to 7900 rpm, the XJ220 maxed out at 217.  It was calculated that the car would have exceeded 223 mph on a straight road, hugely impressive for 1992.

Mclaren F1 

241 MPH in 1998

The Mclaren F1 is legendary, in part due to the fact that it held the top speed record for seven years (over a decade if you consider it began production 5 years earlier). When Mclaren began producing the car, they expected it to top out at 231. It would be five years until Andy Wallace piloted the XP5 prototype to 241 miles per hour with a higher rev limit.

During the test, Wallace humorously observed: “It will not go faster than 391 (kmh).. but still, 391 is quite fast, isn’t it?”

Even today, 20 years later the Mclaren F1 remains the worlds  fastest naturally aspirated car.

Koenigsegg CCR 

241 MPH (banked circuit) in 2005 

When the CCR came out in 2005, Christian Von Koenigsegg suspected his car could break the mighty Mclaren’s 7 year reign. So in February he and a group of Koenigsegg engineers reached 241 mph on the banked Nardo circuit, matching the top speed of the Mclaren F1. Like the XJ220 before it, it would have been faster on a straight but unfortunately, the Bugatti Veyron came and broke the record a mere two months later, shattering the CCR’s chance to be king.

Bugatti Veyron

253 MPH in 2005

The Bugatti Veyron could accelerate to 62 in 2.5 seconds, and keep going till 253 mph.

It is a first in the automotive world, not because it can reach an insane speed, but because it does so with ease, and immense comfort for the driver. It has a cabin upholstered in leather, airbags, air conditioning,  and an automatic gearbox.

The Veyron is such a car that anyone could hop in and max it- provided with enough space of course, because at top speed you’ll be covering the length of a football pitch every second. 

SSC Aero

256 MPH in 2007 

SSC beat the Bugatti Veyron in 2007 by 3 mph. The SSC Aero had come a long way from it’s conception, where the first few were built on space frames made for Pontiac Fiero based Lamborghini replicas. It has a Corvette C5R race car engine producing over 700 hp. For the top speed run, SSC had a 12 mile section of highway closed in Nevada.

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport 

267 MPH in 2010 

Volkswagen AG spent 6 years designing the Veyron, so you could understand why they were slightly miffed when the Aero SSC broke their record after two years and only three mph. They didn’t hang around  for long though, as three years later they gave the world the Veyron SS. It has 1200 bhp and a slightly redesigned  all carbon fibre body. A Bugatti test driver managed to do 267 mph, but they are limited to a meagre 259 at production to prevent the tires from disintegrating.

Koenigsegg Agera R 

273 MPH in 2012/13?

The Koenigsegg CCR never really got it’s chance to shine, but the Agera R should change that. An even more powerful version of the already insanely fast Agera, the R has never been tested to top speed. Koenigsegg say it could theoretically reach 273 mph and there’s no reason to doubt them- the Agera R already holds the acceleration record, going from standstill to 186 mph in 14.5 seconds. given time, this could be the fastest car in the world. Koenigsegg will have to hurry though- If rumours are correct, Bugatti will be
introducing a 1600 hp Veyron at the Frankfurt motorshow in 2013.



First Published: 15/12/12

Location: The Supercarkids Magazine (Issue 4, p36-41)

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