Fastest production car

This is a history of the world's fastest mass produced, street-legal cars (as opposed to concept cars or modified cars).

The first automobile ever produced was the Benz Patent Motorwagen, built in 1885 and unveiled in 1886 by Karl Benz. Unique and consequently the fastest, it established a record speed of 16 km/h (10 mph). More than a century later, in September 2007, the SSC Ultimate Aero TT allegedly registered the latest record, for a production car, of 412 km/h (256.18 mph). The car has still to be submitted to proper testing conditions. Until then, it is the Bugatti Veyron, the world's fastest street-legal car, with an officially registered top-speed of 408.5 km/h.

It is of note that the base model of many of the vehicles listed is vastly lower in maximum speed than limited edition or very rare production models, which may in themselves not fall into the category of 'production car'.

Record holders

Date	Car	Speed		Comment
		km/h	mph
1886	Benz Patent Motorwagen	19	11.81	First street legal car, had 0.3 hp
1886	Daimler Motorized Carriage	23	14.29	1 hp
1900	Mercedes 35 hp	85	53
1903	Mercedes 60 hp	96	60
1921	Bentley 3 Litre Super Sports	160	100
1926	Bentley 4½ Litre	160	100
1929	Duesenberg Murphy Roadster	210	130.5
1929	Bentley 4½ Litre Supercharged	222.02	137.96
1932	Duesenberg SJ	217	135
1953	Pegaso Z-102 Supercharged	244.62	152
1954	Mercedes-Benz 300SL	250	155
1955	Ferrari 410 Superamerica	261	162.2
1962	Ferrari 250 GTO	279.06	173.4	A homologation car of which just 36 were produced
1968	Ferrari Daytona GTB/4	281	175
1970	Lamborghini Miura P400 SV	288.07	179	150 built. (385HP)
1984	Ferrari 288 GTO	304	189	272 built, was to compete in the new Group B Race series, but the series was soon abandoned and the 288 GTO never raced thus all 272 cars built remained purely road cars. (400HP)
1986	Porsche 959	320.3	199	200 road cars produced.
1987	Ferrari F40	324	201	1350 built, the F40 was the last car commissioned by Enzo before his death and was debuted during Ferrari's 40th anniversary. The first claim was 194.5 mph, many people have claimed to hit 200 mph but it has never been certified.
1990	Lamborghini Diablo	325	202	Arguably the first production car to hit 200mph
1992	Bugatti EB110 SS	346	214
1993	Jaguar XJ220	349.2	217	Official speed recorded in 1993 at Nardo test track driven by Martin Brundle without catalytic converter. The unmodified road car reached Template:Convert/mi/hTemplate:Convert/test/Aon (549 hp)
1994	McLaren F1	391.4	242.9	At factory rev limit, it reached 371.8 km/h (231.0 mph)Template:Convert/test/Aon at Nardo test track and driven by Jonathan Palmer. With the rev limiter disabled, it reached 391.4 km/h (243.2 mph)Template:Convert/test/Aon. Only 107 cars produced. (627 hp)
February 28, 2005	Koenigsegg CCR	388	241	Recorded at Nardo test track and verified by Guinness Book of World Records. (806 hp)
April 19, 2005	Bugatti Veyron	408.47	253.81	Recorded and verified by German governmental inspection officials on April 19, 2005. (1,001 hp)
September 13, 2007	SSC Ultimate Aero TT	412.28	256.18	Certified by Guiness World Records on October 9, 2007. But still unconfirmed, due to the lack of proper testing, under credible variables.

See also

• List of fastest cars by acceleration
• History of the automobile
• Land speed record

Further reading

• Wood, Jonathan (2005), The Ultimate History of Fast Cars Parragon Publishing, ISBN 1-4054-5467-9
• Brown, Langworth, and Auto Editors of Consumer Guide (1998). Great Cars of The 20th Century, Publications International, ISBN 0-7853-2523-9