As we approach the opening of our newest exhibition, World's Fastest: A Timeline of Record Setting Automobiles, you’ll notice that some cars that claimed to hold the title of ‘world’s fastest production car’ won’t be present on our list. Let’s take a look at the rigorous process we use to officialize a world speed record and dive into some of the car community’s biggest misconceptions and controversies surrounding the exclusive club of the World’s Fastest.

To qualify for a world speed record, a top speed attempt must be recorded by an independent third party, not by the car maker itself. In 1973, Ferrari claimed their 512 BB (pictured above) was capable of a record-setting 188 MPH, but a 1976 test by Autocar magazine externally measured its top speed at just 163 MPH—far off the previous record set by the Lamborghini Miura P400s in 1970. At this speed, the car’s electronic speedometer falsely indicated 174 MPH, demonstrating why external measurement of speed records by a third-party is essential. 

The top speed measurement must be an average over two runs, traveling in opposite directions, within 60 minutes to prevent environmental factors such as wind or incline from affecting the results. This important factor disqualifies the 300+ MPH runs achieved by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ and the Yangwang U9 Xtreme from consideration for the official record.

A pre-production example of the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ famously hit 304.773 MPH on the 5.6-mile-long straight at the Ehra-Lessien proving ground, but cannot be included in our list because a reverse-direction run was not completed.

The specific parameters that define a production car must also be taken into consideration. The vehicle must be a road-legal passenger car and the record-claiming speed must be achieved in the same, unmodified configuration in which it can be purchased from the manufacturer. The car must have been produced in that configuration by the same manufacturer indicated by its Vehicle Identification Number (VIN). Only when a record-setting car has met all these criteria can we officially declare it ‘the fastest production car in the world.’

The Race to 200

There are numerous debates in the automotive community surrounding production car speed records. Among the most controversial and misunderstood was the race to 200 MPH between Ferrari and Porsche in the late 1980s. The Porsche 959 was first designed as a Group B rally homologation car, filled with cutting edge technology to take on the fastest rally cars in the world. Sequential turbocharging, an advanced all-wheel-drive system, and active suspension made the 959 one of the most technically advanced cars ever produced. Group B rally was soon canceled after unchecked evolution of speed and technology led to safety concerns, so Porsche entered the 959 into the Paris-Dakar rally instead and won overall in 1986. That same year, when the 959 was released for the road, it took the crown of world’s fastest production car, rocketing to 198 MPH, just shy of the unthinkable 200 MPH barrier. 

Ferrari had no choice but to respond with the F40, named for Ferrari’s 40th anniversary and directly inspired by Group B rally monsters, just like the 959. Unlike the 959, however, the F40’s design consisted of a carbon-kevlar chassis, a 2.9-liter turbocharged V8, and little else. With no all-wheel-drive system and no active suspension, the F40 was essentially a stripped-out race car for the road. Despite this, the F40 accelerated to 100 MPH faster than the 959 and beat it by 0.7 seconds through the quarter-mile. Ferrari claimed a top speed of 201 MPH, and publications praised it as the first car to break the mythical 200 MPH wall, but most of them had not considered the fact that a small German manufacturer called RUF had actually beaten Ferrari to the punch—not just by a few miles per hour—but by a staggering margin.

Many people dismissed the 211 MPH record set by the RUF CTR "Yellowbird" in 1987, believing it was merely a modified Porsche 911, not qualified for a production speed record. However, because the German government recognizes RUF as an independent automobile manufacturer, and because many of its cars—including the "Yellowbird"—were built with RUF VINs, the record stands. Both Porsche and Ferrari had lost the race to RUF, and to make matters worse, once the F40 was released to the public, independent tests recorded top speeds ranging from 196-199 MPH, with the car never actually reaching its claimed 201 MPH top speed. The “Yellowbird” was in a 200 MPH class of its own, and in a 1988 test with German publication Auto, Motor und Sport, the RUF beat its own record with a 213 MPH run, further cementing its name in the history books.

View the RUF CTR "Yellowbird" vehicle spotlight to learn more about the car.

Come check out the exact record-setting example and find out what takes the crown next in our newest exhibition, World's Fastest: A Timeline of Record Setting Automobiles opening July 18.

Get tickets here