The pursuit of speed has captured the human spirit for centuries. Consider the major advantage it gave the earliest cultures. Horses for instance vastly increased our ability to cover ground in a way that hadn't been seen up until then. Today we're still all about horsepower, albeit of a different breed.
Recently we've covered the fastest cars of the last 3 decades but today we're going to rank the top 15 that have been verified. This list is exhaustive and will only feature cars we could verify had actually hit their top speed. That means you won't see vaporware like the upcoming Tesla Roadster. Don't expect the latest Mercedes F1 inspired car either since neither of these has actually made it to production. Additionally, cars like the Saleen S7 that have estimated top speeds but no first-hand accounts of them reaching said speed aren't included here either.
That means that what you find below are the most legitimate cars that deserve to be on this list. When there are instances of a car that only made a run in one direction, as opposed to the standard testing in both directions, we still give it credit for its highest speed. The list below is the pinnacle of our quest for speed... so far.
15 Porsche 911 GT2 RS - 211 MPH
Porsche has always made wonderful cars, but for the first time in history, they've taken a new interest in overall top speed - and boy, does it show. 211 mph ties it with its bad big brother, the 918, too. Of course, there is some evidence that it may be much faster than that.
14 Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 - 212 MPH
The most surprising part of this list for me is this car. Yes, Corvette is a staple among sports cars but really with its entry into this list, we see that it's now on par with real supercars. That means the new mid-engine model is only going to be more dangerous.
13 Ford GT - 216 MPH
The Ford GT is a premier track car that you can drive around town. Sometimes it's easy to forget that the twin-turbo V6 is also strong enough to keep up with the best in the straight-aways too. All the way to 216 MPH
12 McLaren P1 - 217 MPH
McLaren made its name with a large top speed in the '90s, and when the P1 was released some balked that it was so slow compared to its lineage. Those people don't realize how much faster it is everywhere else on the race track. It's the ultimate McLaren even now.
11 Ferrari LaFerrari - 217 MPH
When LaFerrari came out everyone knew it would be a new bar for Ferrari, and it remains that. Of all the new cars none of them can match what LaFerrari can do in a straight line. Even the new 488 Pista tops out at a paltry 211.
10 Lamborghini Aventador SVJ - 217 MPH
So you're telling me that Lamborghini only now just came out with a car that can keep up with those older hypercars? Yep, and this bull from Sant'agata does it with no hybrid technology or boost. I would say that's far more impressive, even if it took a couple of extra years.
9 Pagani Huayra - 230 MPH
The Huayra is so unique. Instead of big wings everywhere they have flaps that can manage airflow individually on each side of the car for better handling. Combine that with a high-speed mode and this car isn't just fast in the corners.
8 McLaren F1 - 240 MPH
Today, here in 2020, this is still the fastest naturally aspirated production car ever made. Stop and think about that. It's absurd how fast this car was in 1994. It deserves all the praise it gets and more.
7 Koenigsegg CCR - 241 MPH
Koenigsegg started with this car and boy was it a great first offering. The CCR is all carbon fiber and it shows when it comes to top speed. Weight plays a large role and less weight means less energy needed to propel it past the competition below.
6 McLaren Speedtail - 250 MPH
McLaren is back on this list again and you can tell why just by looking at this magnificent slippery car above. That body shape produces a very low drag effect as the car hurtles all the way up to 250 mph. Every single one of these is actually tested up over 200 MPH before they're delivered to their buyers.
5 SSC Ultimate Aero - 256 MPH
The SSC Ultimate Aero is the biggest underdog here and I nearly didn't include it because of its very small production numbers. However, Ultimate fought hard to tick all the boxes that gave it a real-world record for some time in the top speed categories. Who am I to debate that. What a feat of determination.
4 Veyron Supersport - 268 MPH
Veyron was the car that knocked SSC out of the spotlight and boy did they ever smash the record with this Super Sport variant. 268 MPH seemed truly unbeatable for a long long time. That W16 quad-turbo setup is hard to beat.
3 Venom GT - 270 MPH
Here's the most controversial car on this list. Some argue that because the Venom is built on a stretched Lotus chassis that it shouldn't qualify as a whole new car and be capable of gaining such records. Guinness thinks it earned it though, so I do too.
2 Agera RS - 284 MPH
This one is special because unlike most of these cars, this record was set not by a factory car but with a car already owned by a private buyer. It was also set on a Nevada highway. There's also a video. They released all this stuff on the same day. Doubters be gone!
1 Bugatti Chiron - 304 MPH
Bugatti finally hit the number we know they've all been flirting with for decades. 300 is such a standard that after hitting this record, Bugatti basically dropped the mic and proclaimed they won't be going after top speed records anymore. It's almost like it was too easy for them.