The Fastest Road Cars In The World

For those of us trundling along in reliable Ford Fiestas, or an environmentally friendly Prius, the idea of getting behind the wheel of a vehicle that eats up tarmac at more than 250mph is probably pretty mindblowing. However, there are some (usually rather wealthy) individuals out there for whom the pursuit of extreme road speed is something of an obsession. It’s thanks to these filthy rich few that the vehicles that take the titles of the fastest road cars in the world have been developed. Here are some of the top models:

1. Bugatti Veyron Super Sport

The Super Sport model of the Bugatti Veyron was designed by Veyron’s Hartmut Warkuss, with the exterior by Jozef Kaba? of Volkswagen and has been called the fastest street legal production car in the world. It gets up to an impressive (and slightly terrifying) top speed of 268mph and achieves 1200 horsepower. For those more concerned with looks, it comes in a number of unusual exteriors – including the ‘Sang Blue’, which is blue carbon fibre, and the ‘Grey Carbon,’ with polished aluminium along the bottom and metallic dark grey body panels above. Prices vary per model but you won’t get this car for less than a million.

2. SSC Ultimate Aero

The Aero held the title of fastest car in the world for three years between 2007 and 2010 and with a top speed of 257mph it’s still not far off the top of the heap. The car has a twin turbo V8 engine, 1183 horsepower and a fantastic range of weird and wonderful paint colours, from Canary Yellow and Scarlet Red, to Palladium Grey and Pearl White. The doors on this model open upwards, and this alone makes it worth the cool half million price tag.

3. Saleen S7 Twin Turbo

The slick Saleen S7 is a relatively cost effective speedy model with a price tag of just under £300,000. For that you get a Twin Turbo All Aluminum V8 Engine, a top speed of 248mph and an unusual design in that it has both a front and a rear boot. Unbelievably, given the 750 horsepower of the modified version, the engine is still quite clean with a fairly involved emissions control system that has been built in line with OBD-II standards. For many, this remains one of the best sports cars on the market.

4. Koenigsegg CCX

The smooth, aerodynamic, Swedish built Koenigsegg CCX is one seriously high performance car and has clearly been designed to achieve maximum levels of speed. The car has a top speed of 245mph and achieves 0 – 60mph in just 3.2 seconds. The V8 engine boasts more than 800 horsepower, which for many people justifies the quarter of a million price tag.

5. Hennessey Venom GT

The Hennessey Venom GT looks like it should belong to a superhero and with a top speed of 260mph, it would be a pretty handy tool for Batman or the X Men. The Venom kind of resembles a muscle car and has been equipped with some comprehensive safety features such as built-in roll cage. Only a few of these are built per year, but with a retail price of around half a million it’s not surprising there aren’t that many takers.

If you’re a speed freak and you’ve got a spare couple of hundred thousand (or million) then these super fast road cars are a great investment. Just be sure to put on your seatbelt before you get to the 200mph mark…

This was a guest post by John for Mitsubishi UK who have a great range of used cars and pickup trucks for sale.