Building, owning or driving the fastest cars in the world is a passion that many automakers will always pursue. Setting the world record for the highest top speed of any production car comes with special bragging rights, and if you can claim a Guinness World Record along the way, even better.
The McLaren F1 lay claim to the title of the world’s fastest car for many years, but more recently there have been plenty of other contenders using help from electric motors to take the crown away from the F1. Just how fierce the battle is to build the fastest production car is clear from the names missing from our top 10, including BMW, Audi, Ferrari, Lotus, Jaguar, Lamborghini and Mercedes-Benz AMG. Yep, it seems crazy that the Italians are nowhere to be seen on this list, and although Germany has been involved in the development of some of our top fast-car performers, there are no Tuetonic brands on the list, either.
As you’ll discover, reading the specs of these cars is truly mind-boggling. Never mind road-legal, these things would have a decent shout at chasing down record-breaking racing cars down the Mulsanne Straight at Le Mans. Below and updated for 2024 are the top 10 quickest high-speed heroes that are street legal.
The Fastest Cars in the World Right Now
- Aspark Owl – 248.55mph
- Koenigsegg Regera - 249mph
- Koenigsegg Gemera – 250mph
- Aston Martin Valkyrie – 250mph
- McLaren Speedtail – 250mph
- Rimac Nevera – 258mph
- SSC Tuatara – 295mph
- Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ - 304.77mph
- Hennessey Venom F5 – 311mph
- Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut – 330mph
Aspark Owl – 248.55mph
There are all sorts of amazing facts about the Aspark Owl, not least the name of this Japanese supercar. It’s an all-electric machine that claims to be the fastest accelerating road car in the world, nipping off 0-60mph in just 1.69 seconds thanks to its four electric motors that produce a combined 2,012 horsepower and all-wheel drive. It proves that it’s not just Tesla that builds sensationally quick electric cars. If you drive the Owl a little more gently, the company also says it will cover 280 miles between charges of the battery pack.
Koenigsegg Regera - 249mph
Koenigsegg doesn’t even describe its £1.5 million Regera as a hypercar. It uses the term ‘megacar’ and it’s very apt, as this Swedish artwork has a twin-turbo V8 engine and electric motors producing a total of 1,500hp, which is enough to push it to a 249mph top speed. Helping the Regera to that flat-out speed and keeping it stable are active aerodynamic aids, so the car is as slippery through the air as it is grippy when cornering like a sports car.
Koenigsegg Gemera – 250mph
Koenigsegg’s Gemera is about as close as you’re going to get to an SUV or family car in the world of top speed record cars. Amazingly, it can seat four in its low-slung cabin, yet it will also see 250mph on the speedo if you drive flat out. Where other Koenigsegg models use a twin-turbocharged V8 motor, the powertrain in the Gemera comes with a 2.0-litre twin-turbo, three-cylinder engine and a trio of electric motors. Add them together and you get 1,700hp, which is more power than the Koenigsegg Agera RS.
Aston Martin Valkyrie – 250mph
Aston Martin is usually more about svelte supercars and roadsters than top-speed hypercars, but there’s nothing subtle about the Valkyrie. In some ways, it’s a much more traditional way to crack the top speed record run, as it has a naturally aspirated 6.5-litre V12 engine forcing out 1,000hp. It puts the British hypercar on a par with rivals from McLaren and Koenigsegg. As well as the road car, there’s also the track-focused AMR Pro version.
McLaren Speedtail – 250mph
Andy Wallace set the bar very high for everyone – and especially McLaren – when he hit 240mph in the F1 at the Volkswagen test track at Ehra Lessien in 1998. Few thought that two-way average record run would ever be beaten, but here we are with McLaren’s appropriately titled Speedtail. It offers drivers a 250mph maximum in this sleek road car that uses the same V8 engine as other McLaren models, but with 1,070hp on offer thanks to help from its hybrid powertrain that also uses an electric motor. In keeping with its space-age approach, the Speedtail was tested at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Rimac Nevera – 258mph
Rimac says the Nevera is like no other car, and the Croatian company has a point. After all, here’s an electric car with 1,915hp that can also cover 340 miles on a single charge of its batteries. Not many Nevera owners will bother driving that far, we suspect, as they’ll want to experience its 258mph top speed and acceleration that takes the car from a standstill to 60mph in 1.8 seconds. That makes the £1.7 million Rimac faster off the mark than a Bugatti Chiron.
SSC Tuatara – 295mph
American company SSC has been developing its Tuatara for several years and it has evolved into a 1,750hp machine with a £1.7 million price tag. For that, you get a 5.9-litre V8 twin-turbo engine that has taken the US supercar to a recorded top speed of 295mph. All of this is supported by a carbon-fibre chassis with suspension that can be lowered at the touch of button for driving on race tracks. As a road car, the SSC can also lift its nose to drive over speed humps to avoid damaging that expensive bodywork.
Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ - 304.77mph
Bugatti has led the way in top speed runs and Guinness World Records in recent years. It all started with the amazing Bugatti Veyron Super Sport that brought us the quad-turbocharged W16 engine in increasingly powerful forms. For the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, the German-designed quad-turbo motor develops 1,600hp. This power output isn’t as much as some, but the French-based firm uses slick aerodynamics to their best to achieve a top speed just shy of 305mph. This Chiron is no motor show concept, either, as you can buy one if you happen to have a spare £4.2 million down the back of the sofa.
Hennessey Venom F5 – 311mph
Anyone familiar with the world of high-speed cars will know the name Hennessey Performance. This American company is renowned for its tuning work on Ford and Jeep models, and its Hennessey Venom GT hit a true 270.49mph at Cape Canaveral, Florida. However, this wasn’t enough for Hennessey, so they came up with the F5 that uses a 1,817hp 6.6-litre twin-turbo V8 engine to catapult it to 311mph. If that sounds too tame for you, the company also offers an open-top Roadster version that makes a Porsche 911 Turbo Cabriolet look sluggish.
Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut – 330mph
At the very top of the maximum speed pile is the Koenigsegg Jesko Absolut, and there’s absolutely nothing to beat it right now. A top speed of 330mph is possible thanks to its twin-turbo 5.0-litre V8 engine that produces 1,600hp. It’s not as much power as some hypercars, but the Swede has a super slippery coupe body to cut through the air, plus a rear wing that generates 330 pounds of downforce. This accounts for the Jesko’s shape and dual rear fins to keep it stable at very high speeds. The name Absolut is used as the company says this is the absolute fastest car it will ever build... though the Swedes may change their minds if someone beats their record.