World’s Fastest Car title stripped off from Bugatti Veyron Super Sport

It was only last week that Hennessey had laid an unofficial claim for the World’s fastest production car title with its Venom GT, after it hit a top speed of 427.6 kph (265.7 mph). However, it has now brought to light that the previous record holder, Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, may have had an unfair advantage.

According to Hennessey, the Veyron SS that topped out at 430.9 kph (267.8 mph) back in 2010 had a modified speed restrictor, and The Sunday Times reported that Guinness World Records agreed.

And following that, Guinness World Records has apparently stripped the Veyron SS of its title as the report (following Hennessey’s claim), says that the standard production version of the Veyron SS has its speed limited to 415 kph (258 mph), but this was altered just for the test to pick up extra speed.

The rules for the record clearly indicated that the record-setting car must be unchanged from what is available to customers. And since the Venom GT’s record is still unofficial, the world record for fastest production car reverts back to Shelby SuperCars (SSC) Ultimate Aero, which has a top speed of 412.1 kph (256.1 mph).

In order for the Venom GT to take this title from the Ultimate Aero now, it must attain its average speed over two timed runs. And more importantly, Hennessey must also build some fifty identical examples of the Venom GT in order for it to qualify as a “production” car. In the short term, at least, that might end up being the taller order. But till then, Shelby fans can celebrate.

However, its not all bad news for Bugatti as they recently got the title for the world’s fastest production convertible car, the Veyron Grand Sport Vitesse clocking a top speed of 408.84 kph in a test in Germany.