Fastest production car
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- For the U2 song, see Fast Cars (song).
The first automobile ever produced was the Benz Patent-Motorwagen, built in 1886 by Karl Benz. Unique and consequently the fastest, it established a record speed of 10 mph (16 km/h). A little more than a century later, in September 2005, the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 registered the latest record, for a production car, of 252.95 mph (407.08 km/h).
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[edit] 1901 - 60 mph (96 km/h)
The Mercedes 35 hp reached 53 mph (85 km/h) in 1901, and a few years later, its derivative, the Mercedes 60 HP, reached 60 mph (96 km/h).
[edit] 1948 - 120 mph (193 km/h)
It took 46 additional years to reliably and consistently double the Mercedes 60 HP figure, or 120 mph (193 km/h). It was the 1948 Jaguar XK120, so-called for achieving precisely that speed.
The first production Ferrari was launched in 1948 as well, sharing their V-12 engines with the grand prix cars. The 410 Superamerica reached over 160 mph (257 km/h).
The 150 mph (241 km/h) Jaguar E-type (or XK-E) was launched in 1961. It was the first really affordable fast sports car ever, at roughly half the price of the cheapest Ferrari.
The 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO consistently reached 185 mph (298 km/h), but it could hardly be considered a production model. Very few were built, mainly to allow Ferrari to homologate it for racing. GTO means "Gran Turismo Omologato", a denomination later borrowed by Pontiac.
The 1966 Lamborghini Miura had an astonishing speed of 170 mph (274 km/h).
[edit] List
Rows in italics indicate modified production cars.
| Date | Car | Speed |
| 1886 | Benz Patent Motorwagen (first purpose-built automobile, not a production car) | 16 km/h (10 mph), Karl Benz's best guess |
| 1987 | Ferrari F40 | 323 km/h (201 mph) |
| 1987 | RUF CTR (modified Porsche 930) | 340 km/h (211 mph) |
| 1994 | McLaren F1 | 372 km/h (231 mph) at factory rev limit |
| March 31, 1998 | McLaren F1 | 391.1 km/h (240.1 mph) with factory rev limiter removed |
| February 28, 2005 | Koenigsegg CCR | 387.87 km/h (241.01 mph) |
| October, 2005 | Bugatti Veyron | 407.5 km/h (253.2 mph) |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Wood, Jonathan - The Ultimate History of Fast Cars - Parragon Publishing, 2005 - ISBN 1-4054-5467-9
- Brown, Langworth, and Auto Editors of Consumer Guide - Great Cars of The 20th Century - Publications International, 1998 - ISBN 0-7853-2523-9
