"Fast cars" redirects here. For the U2 song, see Fast Cars (song).
This is a progressive history of the world's fastest street-legal production car over the years (as opposed to concept cars or modified cars). The production car in context of this table is a car of which not less that 20 were originally built by its manufacturer to the same or faster specification than the record setting example. This list uses the same definition as the List of automotive superlatives for the sake of consistency and because the term production car is otherwise undefined.
Comparing claimed speeds of the "fastest car(s) in the world", especially in historical cases, is difficult due to there being no standardized method for determining the top speed, nor a central authority to verify any such claims. The current title Guinness World Records holder, the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, was certified as such for the average top speed achieved on a two-way run, registering 431 km/h (268 mph) but only 5 of the World Record model were made.
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Fastest production cars
| Year | Make and model | Top Speed of production car | Number built | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1894 | Mercedes Velocipede | 12 mph (19 km/h)[1] | 1200 | First production car |
| 1908 | Ford Model T | 35 mph (56 km/h)-40 mph (64 km/h)[2] | 15000000 | Line in sand for early production car |
| 1922 | Austin 7 | 48 mph (77 km/h) | 290000 | Line in sand for early production car |
| 1927 | Ford Model A | 60 mph (97 km/h)-65 mph (105 km/h) | 4000000 | Line in sand for early production car |
| 1928 | 1928 Mercedes-Benz 'S' Type Sports Tourer | 100 mph (161 km/h) | Line in sand for early production car | |
| 1949 | Jaguar XK120 | 124.6 mph (201 km/h) | 12000 | "Timed at almost 133 mph / 214 kph in 1949, the XK120 was then the fastest production car in the world. This speed refers to a tuned prototype, not a production car. |
| 1955 | Mercedes-Benz 300SL | 140 mph (225 km/h) | 1400 | Tested by Road & Track. |
| 1961 | Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato | 153.5 mph (247 km/h) | 20 | As tested by Autocar and published on 13 April 1962. The car was introduced at the London Motor Show in October 1960. |
| 1963 | Iso Rivolta Grifo A3/L 327 | 161 mph (259 km/h) | over 400 | Tested by Autocar. |
| 1967 | Lamborghini Miura P400 | 171 mph (275 km/h) | over 750 | Tested by Motor. Over 750 units build in 1966-1973 period, which includes P400, P400 S and P400 SV models. |
| 1968 | Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona | 174 mph (280 km/h) | about 1400 | Tested by Autocar. |
| 1984 | Ferrari 288 GTO | 188 mph (303 km/h) | 272 | Tested by Auto, Motor und Sport in 1985. |
| 1986 | Porsche 959 | 195 mph (314 km/h) | 337 | Tested by Auto, Motor und Sport in 1987. The 197 mph (317 km/h) top speed was recorded by the 959 Sport only 6 of which were ever made. The rest of the 337 units production run (1986-1989) were 959 Touring version that topped at 195 mph (314 km/h). |
| 1987 | Ferrari F40 | 202.687 mph (326.193 km/h) | 1311 | As tested by Quattroruote magazine. Claimed top speed 201 mph (323 km/h). |
| 1991 | Bugatti EB110 GT | 209 mph (336 km/h) | 95 | As measured by Auto, Motor und Sport. |
| 1992 | Jaguar XJ220 | 213 mph (343 km/h) | 281 | Tested by Autocar. |
| 1993 | McLaren F1 | 231 mph (372 km/h) | 107 | At factory rev limit, it reached 231 mph (371.8 km/h) at Nardo (oval) test track. It still remains the world's fastest naturally aspiratedproduction car in terms of top speed. |
| April 19, 2005 | Bugatti EB 16.4 Veyron | 253.81 mph (408.47 km/h) | 300 | Recorded and verified by German inspection officials. |
| October 9, 2007 | SSC Ultimate Aero TwinTurbo | 256.18 mph (412.28 km/h) | 24[citation needed] | Recorded and verified by Guinness World Records officials. |
| June 26, 2010 | Bugatti EB 16.4 Veyron Super Sport | 258 mph (415.21 km/h) | 30 | Production run of 30 of which 5, named the Super Sport World Record Edition, are capable of 267.857 mph (431.074 km/h). The other 25 Super Sport cars are electronically limited to 415 km/h (258 mph). The record attempt of the Super Sport World Record Edition was driven by Pierre-Henri Raphanel and was verified by Guinness World Records |
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