Fastest Cars on Earth

The slow-poke of the world’s fastest road-legal cars is also Lamborghini’s current flagship supercar and second-fastest after the Veneno. While the Veneno took a bold style pivot, the Aventador is closer to the company’s distinct design language. While it’s slower than other speed racers, it’s been praised for its corner-hugging performance and rear-steering system.

The Ferrari Enzo has the same top speed as the newer LaFerrari, but it takes longer to reach 60 mph. First released in 2002, the Enzo was the last Ferrari to forgo a thick layer of electronic controls that characterizes what’s under the hood of the typical modern supercar. The car is named after the company’s founder.

Ferrari’s fastest, most oddly named (literally translated as Ferrari TheFerrari) road-legal racer may not be the fastest on the list, but it has been described by Car and Driver as a “carefully orchestrated system of technologies” working together to produce a pristine road-hugging beast. It’s also the Italian automaker’s first hybrid, with its massive V12 engine working in harmony with a horsepower-boosting electric motor.

Aston Martin’s fastest road-legal car ties in top speed with the Apollo Arrow, but with significantly slower 0-60 acceleration — 3.5 seconds compared to the Arrow’s 2.9 seconds. But what the One-77 lacks, relatively speaking, in acceleration is more than made up in styling and interior comfort.

The Apollo Arrow was made possible by a group of Hong Kong investors who in late 2015 purchased Gumpert, the supercar maker founded by Audi engineer Roland Gumpert. The company went bankrupt in 2013 and was rebranded to Apollo. Some estimates put the Arrow’s top speed at 224 mph, but 220 mph is more commonly cited.

Released in 2013 to much fanfare during Lamborghini’s 50th anniversary, the Veneno is not just the fastest Lambo but also one marking a significant design departure from its predecessors. Veneno, which means “venom” in Spanish, is named after one of the fastest bulls in Spanish bullfighting history, one that killed a famous bullfighter in 1914.

The brainchild of former Audi engineer Roland Gumpert, the Apollo has been described as a no-frills supercar designed by inured engineers uninterested in supercar hype and vanity. The Apollo set a lap time record for road-legal racers in 2009 at the famous Nurburgring motorsport complex in Germany. Gumpert’s company went bankrupt in 2013 and emerged under new ownership as Apollo.

Dubbed the “Brit Bugatti Veyron beater” by BBC’s “Top Gear,” the Noble M600 is likened to the Ferrari F40 (top speed 201 mph) and the McLaren F1 (top speed 240 mph) in terms of performance and handling. Notably, the M600 has been praised for having race-car performance with simpler, more forgiving handling, at least by supercar standards.

This Danish supercar may be one of the most exclusive on a list containing highly exclusive supercars. Since work began on Zenvo’s first hypercar in 2007, only 15 of the cars had reportedly been produced by 2016. A newer version of the car, the TS1, has since been unveiled with the same top speed.

AMG, the Mercedes’ division of hand-built high-performance engines, provides the punch to this Italian-Argentinian (but mostly Italian) supercar decked out in weight- saving carbon fiber and titanium. The Huayra is the faster successor to the Pagani Zonda.

In 1998, the McLaren F1 became the world’s fastest road-legal sports car. The British supercar has since dropped in the ranks but it still maintains a reputation for immense power and style. Famous McLaren F1 owners or former owners include Tesla Inc. co-founder Elon Musk, fashion icon Ralph Lauren and the Sultan of Brunei Hassanal Bolkiah.

Racer-turned-businessman Steve Saleen followed up his Saleen S7, which debuted in 2000, with a more powerful twin turbo version in 2007. The top speed of the S7 TT rockets past the top speeds of Lamborghini’s and Ferrari’s fastest road-legal sports cars. The slower S7 (top speed 220 mph) was featured in the 2003 film “Bruce Almighty” starring Jim Carrey.

The CCXR is the slower of the two Koenigsegg supercars on this list, and faster than the CCX version with its superior engine and aerodynamic tweaks. The CCX is no pushover, with a recorded top speed of 241 mph, but it seems a little unfair to include both versions on this list.

Aston Martin’s road-legal supercar is its fastest and most aerodynamic, designed to maximize stick-to-the-road downforce. The car was developed with the help of Adrian Newey, the renowned Formula One engineer.

From 2007 to 2010, Shelby Supercars wore the top-speed crown with its SSC Ultimate Aero Twin Turbo after beating out the Bugatti Veyron’s top speed of 253 mph. The SSC Ultimate Aero TT based its customized engine on a on a Corvette 5.7 liter V8, producing over 1,000 lb-ft of torque and over 1,100 horsepower.

The German tuning house 9ff built just 20 GT9-Rs in 2008 before facing financial problems in 2013. The GT9-R is a modified Porsche 911 with a 1,120 hp mid-engine for better weight distribution and a lower roof to help keep the car stuck to the road.

Bugatti made a decision that proves top speed isn’t the only factor in building a high-performance car. The German automaker electronically limits the Chiron’s top speed to 236 mph, or 261 mph in “Top Speed Mode.” The car is believed to be able to run at speeds near or over 300 mph — though there does not seem to be a street-legal tire that can accommodate such speeds.

In 2010, German supercar maker Bugatti reclaimed its title as the builder of the fastest street-legal sports car when its 1200 hp Veyron Super Sport hit an average of 267.8 mph in back-to-back runs in opposite directions. Unlike startup supercar manufacturers, Bugatti benefits from ownership by auto giant Volkswagen Group, providing the company access to immense resources.

In a 2014 run, the 1244 hp Hennessey Venom GT proved it was slightly faster than the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, which was the fastest road-legal car at the time. Even though the car did eclipse 270 mph, the Guinness Book of World Records never considered the Venom the world’s fastest road-legal car because of the way the speed test was conducted.

In 2017, the 1360 hp Swedish-made Koenigsegg Agera RS raced to the top of the list of fastest road-legal cars when a driver hit an average 277.9 mph based on two consecutive runs in opposite directions: one run peaked at 284 mph and the other touched 272 mph. Both speeds were faster than any other car on this list.