When cars first hit the roads in the 1800s, the fastest models - such as Karl Benz’s Patent Motorwagen - could just about reach 10mph. On a good day, with a light driver. And a strong tailwind.
Fast forward less than 150 years and we’ve topped that to more than 300mph. Or to put into perspective, when Bertha Benz drove that Motorwagen 66 miles and became the first person to drive a car for any prolonged distance, she would have just about travelled at 4.4 metres per second. Andy Wallce - behind the wheel of a Bugatti Chiron - has hit a blistering 136 metres per second.
Reaching these extreme speeds is no easy feat. There are only a few places in the world where cars can safely hit their top speed. Yet still, manufacturers such as Bugatti, SSC, Hennessey, and Koenigsegg continue to battle for the title of the world’s fastest car.
With that in mind, here’s a look at the fastest production road cars, based on official manufacturer figures, tested on airfields or dedicated tracks.
Top speed: 330mph
Okay, so the Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut hasn’t actually physically hit its top speed just yet, but the Swedish firm’s simulations confidently suggest it will achieve a staggering 330mph.
Driven by a searingly powerful twin-turbocharged 5.0-litre V8 engine, the Jesko Absolut is capable of producing 1280bhp, or 1600bhp when using E85 biofuel.
Koenigsegg says the car is inspired by fighter jets, and it’s not hard to see why.
All that power, partnered with an extra-slippery 0.278 drag coefficient and a nine-speed transmission, means it can hit 0-62mph in around 2.0sec and 0-100mph in 3.6sec.
If the Jesko can match its theoretical top speed and simulation results, it’ll be the undisputed fastest production car built so far.
Top speed: 304.7mph
Many would argue that the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport is the world’s actual fastest production car because it has actually officially clocked its ridiculous headline speed.
Based on the regular Bugatti Chiron, the Super Sport 300+ was launched by Le Mans winner and Bugatti test driver Andy Wallace to an eye-watering 304.7mph in Germany back in 2019.
Power comes from a W16 engine with 1578bhp and 1180lb ft, which is capable of sprinting from 0-124mph in 5.8sec and 0-186mph in a scarcely believable 12.1sec.
The record-breaking car was also fitted with lighter seats, a lowered ride height and a roll cage.
Just 30 Chiron Super Sport 300+ production cars were built, but these all had a limited top speed of 273mph.
Top speed: 293.54mph
It seems as if a new hyper-EV is launched every week, but few can lay claim to bragging rights like China's Yangwang U9.
Like the Rimac Nevera, it claims a clutch of records: chief of which is its claim as the fastest electric car money can buy - it recorded a speed of 293.54mph at the ATP test track in Germany.
Figures? 2977bhp, 0-62mph in 2.36sec and around £200,000 in China.
Top speed: 282.9mph
With 1750bhp and an 8800rpm redline, the SSC Tuatara means business. Power is sent to the rear wheels from a 5.9 litre V8 engine.
Mired in controversy from the outset, the SSC Tuatara’s initial claim of an ‘official’ 331mph top speed run was quickly debunked following accusations of misleading video ‘evidence’ and some belated admissions that there may have been ‘accuracy’ issues with the data logging kit.
The Tuatara returned for another attempt in 2021, hitting an average speed of 282.9mph over two runs on the same stretch of road. It might not be the initially quoted 316mph, but that’s still unbelievably quick.
Top speed: 282mph
The Bugatti Mistral is officially the world’s fastest open-top car, achieving a top speed world record at 282mph in 2024.
Although it might look like a Chiron with the roof chopped off, the Mistral is its own unique beast with bespoke bodywork.
It marked the final use of the brand’s famed W16 engine that first came into production with the Veyron.
If you want one, you unfortunately can’t have one. Just 99 cars were built and sold before the car was revealed, at a price of £4.17 million a pop.
Top speed: 277mph
The Bugatti Tourbillon is the firm’s latest ultra-powered hypercar and arrives 20 years after the hallowed Bugatti Veyron.
Its plug-in hybrid 8.3-litre, naturally aspirated V16 engine pumps out 1775bhp, which means a 0-62mph of just 2.0sec and a top speed of 277mph, though customer cars are limited to 236mph.
We doubt this will matter to most buyers, but as it’s a PHEV with a 25kWh battery, it can also travel up to 37 miles on electric power alone.
Top speed: 271mph
Unlike its Lotus Exige-based predecessor, the Hennessey Venom F5 is a bespoke build from the ground up - a first for the American firm.
Featuring a carbonfibre tub and a twin-turbocharged 6.6-litre V8 that packs a monstrous 1817bhp and gearbox-shredding 1193lb ft, the F5 sprints from 0-250mph in just 15.5sec – half the time of the Bugatti Chiron.
Hennessey also promises a top speed of 341mph, although 271.6mph is as fast as the car has gone so far.
Top speed: 268mph
When it used a customer's Agera RS to earn the outright world record top speed in 2017, Koenigsegg also took the record for the highest speed ever recorded on a public road.
Mercedes had held that particular crown since 1938, when a highly modified W125 grand prix car managed 268mph on a closed stretch of autobahn.
As an indication of 80 years of progress, the Agera RS was entirely standard, with Koenigsegg's optional 1MW engine package producing a colossal 1360bhp.
Top speed: 267.85mph
Unhappy about losing the record – and at the hands of American upstart SSC – Bugatti gave the Veyron a substantial overhaul in a bid to reclaim the top-speed title.
The Veyron Super Sport was limited to just 30 cars, each one boosted to 1184bhp and featuring an aerodynamic overhaul to cope with the forces generated beyond 250mph.
In July 2010, Bugatti test driver Pierre-Henri Raphanel lapped the Ehra-Lessien oval at 267.856mph.
Top speed: 258mph
If ever there was a car that put to bed the myth that electric cars were slow, it was the Rimac Nevera.
The Croatian hypercar has clocked 258mph, making it the joint-fastest electric car in the world.
It’s also the world’s fastest-accelerating production car over the quarter mile (8.582sec), it can accelerate from 0-62mph in 1.95sec and it can do 0-100mph in 4.3sec.
If there’s a caveat, it’s that customer cars are limited to ‘just’ 219mph, but Rimac can override this to achieve V-max at official Rimac events.
