The first production vehicle to crack 200 mph was the Ferrari F40. The year was 1987; immediately after that Italian stallion’s speedometer registered 201, the race to enter the 300 mph club began. In 2019, amid fervent competition between Koenigsegg, Hennessey, and Bugatti, the Chiron Super Sport bested the others by a horseshoed nose, achieving a staggering 304.7 mph. In early 2020, a bevy of new hypercars was announced—several promising at least 300 mph. Then, in 2021, SSC North America turned a claim into reality, cementing the SSC Tuatara’s spot among the fastest ever.
Meanwhile, a relatively new name, innovative Czinger Vehicles, and long-standing icon Gordon Murray have both gained momentum. And, of course, Bugatti and Koenigsegg are busy being Bugatti and Koenigsegg. So, we’re updating our list of the fastest cars in the world it to show more wheeled lightning. For 2024, there’s a new number one in a race to go fastest. The competition also might be less relevant than ever, but that doesn’t make it any less serious for those vying for the title. (Three quick editor’s notes: our sole criterion is top speed, our floor for consideration is at least 218 mph and unproven manufacturer claims are denoted.)
With twice the power of a Formula 1 car, the ability to hit 60 mph in under two seconds and a $2.4 million sticker price, the new Rimac Nevera should intimidate even an experienced hypercar owner. Yet the automaker’s 33-year-old founder, Mate Rimac, intended his masterpiece to be a highly usable, no-fuss grand tourer. So which is it—Hyde or Jekyll? The answer from behind the wheel, amazingly, is both.
The 1,914 hp Nevera is currently the world’s fastest-accelerating production car. And at full steam, the Nevera is far from the stereotype of a silent EV, with 1.4 megawatts actually screaming through the car. The noise adds to the drama, as much psychological as physical, in a way no other road car can match, making for a dangerously charismatic split personality worth every one of its seven figures.
9. Bugatti Mistral — 261 MPH (Claimed, Roof off)
Just about any Bugatti will make the cut among the world’s fastest production cars, if simply because the quad-turbo W-16 engine, first pioneered by the Veyron, established an entirely new era of four-figure horsepower output back in 2005. The Veyron managed a 253 mph top speed then and Bugatti consistently upped that number through 2019, when the Chiron Super Sport 300+ managed a 304.7 mph single-direction run. But the Veyron, Chiron, Bolide and others were all coupes—now Bugatti plans to take a new world record home to Molsheim with the Mistral roadster, which features a final application of the quad-turbo W-16 before the marque partnered with Rimac and the resultant hybridization and electrification of future models. More importantly, the Mistral required significant revisions to Bugatti’s established design language to create sufficient downforce and engine cooling to allow for an incredible top speed of 261 mph. And that’s a figure that the Mistral will somehow achieve with the roof off.
8. Bugatti Veyron Super Sport — 267.8 MPH
Here’s yet another Bugatti, this one built back in 2010 for the sole purpose of securing the accolade of fastest production car ever built. And the Veyron Super Sport achieved it, per Guinness. From the same W-16 power plant, engineers managed to eke out an additional 180 hp, bringing the grand total to 1,184 hp. To unlock the potential for max speed, you’ll need a second key that’ll give unfettered access to the engine.
7. Hennessey Venom GT — 270.4 MPH
John Hennessey’s eponymously named performance group is obsessed with power and speed, evidenced by shoehorning as much oomph as it can into production cars from other manufacturers. Then Hennessey built his own supercar in 2014, powered by a 7.0-liter twin-turbo GM V-8 packing 1,244 hp and 1,287 ft lbs of torque. The Venom reached 270.4 mph at the Kennedy Space Center’s 3.2-mile landing strip, but only in one direction. Since both directions are required for a record-holding run, in addition to a production volume of 30 or more cars (only 13 Venoms have been sold), the Hennessey doesn’t qualify for official record books. But still, the beast has surpassed 270 mph, and that’s impressive as hell.
6. Koenigsegg Agera RS — 277.8 MPH
In November of 2017, a Koenigsegg Agera RS, running E85 fuel (meaning it was getting 1,360 hp), was driven by a factory driver to a two-way average speed of 277.8 mph on an 11-mile strip of closed road in Nevada. The car, owned by a customer who suggested the feat, actually hit 284.5 mph during the record attempt, which is staggering. At the time, it also nabbed the fastest zero-to-250 mph-to-zero metric (33.2 seconds), the highest average speed during the flying kilometer (268 mph) and for the flying mile on a public road (276.3 mph).
5. SSC Tuatara — 295 MPH
In October of 2020, SSC North America’s founder Jerod Shelby took his latest hypercar to a Nevada desert and hammered out a run that was touted to have averaged 316.11 mph. The internet, however, was skeptical, and shredded that session’s data in short order, negating it. In January of 2021, Shelby decamped to proving grounds at Kennedy Space Center for a redux, bringing ample recording devices and external groups to monitor. That trial resulted in a 279.2 mph speed on a northbound run, followed by the car reaching 286.1 mph on a southbound pass. Those (certified) results average to 282.9 mph, which is more than enough to notch the SSC Tuatara above the Koenigsegg Agera RS on this list.
4. Hennessey Venom F5 — 300+ MPH (Claimed)
Hennessey Performance Engineering’s Venom F5 picks up the baton from its older sibling and rockets away. A 6.6-liter twin-turbo V-8 pumps out 1,817 hp and 1,193 ft lbs of twist, which propels the 2,950-pound coupe to 60 mph in under two seconds. And in case you were wondering, its name i
