- There's nothing that you love more
than the thrill of speed.
But would it surprise you to know
that people from the olden days also enjoyed going fast?
Well they did and they did it
in some really, really cool cars.
Cars that might not seem fast by today's standards,
but back they were like frickin' lightning, baby.
Today we are gonna look at
the fastest production cars from every single year
for the past 100 years.
Dust off your history books, d-holes.
This is "D-List".
Now before we get into the fastest cars throughout history,
let me start by telling you about the first car ever
just to show how far we have come.
The Benz-Patent Motorcar was the first car ever made
way back in 1885.
It had a single-cylinder engine
capable of producing .75 hrsprs
and a top speed of 10 miles per hour.
And I know what you're thinking right about now.
How fast can a horse run?
Well don't worry because I got you.
The fastest ever recorded horse
was clocked at 55 miles per hour.
Now that is way faster than the Benz
but not even close to as fast as the first car on our list.
The Austro-Daimler Prinz Henry,
Prince Henry,
had a 5.7 liter four-cylinder engine,
those are some big old cylinders,
capable of 85 miles per hour.
For years this car dominated the world.
However in 1928 Duesenberg Model J came along
and blew everybody out of the frickin' old timey water
with their inline eight-cylinder
capable 119 miles per hour.
Ooh, we're in the triple digits now, baby.
There's a lot of modern cars right now
that I would not feel comfortable
going 119 miles per hours in.
And it remained the fastest car in the world for a while.
1929, Duesenberg Model J, 1930, Duesenberg Model J,
1931 Duesenberg Model, Duesenberg Model J,
Duesenberg Model J, Duesenberg Model J, Duesenberg Model J,
Duesenberg Model,
1949, Jaguar XK120, finally (exhales).
The XK120 was a supremely capable car
with a ton of race wins.
The top confirmed speed was 124 miles per hour.
But there is a rumor going around a bunch of old folks homes
that if you folded down the windshield
and covered the passenger seat,
the car could top out at over 130.
Without a frickin' windshield!
I want to point out that the Jaguar XK120
is the first car in this list
that in my opinion looks like a sports car
like we think of sports cars today.
It's sleek,
it looks like it can just cut through the air.
All the cars up until this point look like coffins on wheels
and that's not very far from what they were.
19, Jaguar, 1951, 1952, Jaguar XK12.
1955, the Mercedes-Benz 300SL
topped out at 140.7 miles per hour with the doors down.
With the doors up
it would go much, much slower.
1956, Mercedes-Benz 300SL, 1957, Mercedes-Benz 300SL.
1958, Aston Martin DB4.
141 miles per hour.
1959, Aston Martin DB4 GT Zagato.
1961, Ferrari 250 GTO.
The world's most expensive car
was in 1962 also the world's fastest car.
Its three-liter V12 produced 296 hrsprs
and had a top speed of 158 miles per hour.
The 250 GTO was produced by old man Enzo
to compete in the FIA GT World Championship
which was getting really popular
at the beginning of the 60s.
It won two back-to-back championships
as if it needed to prove itself with looks like that.
This is one of the most beautiful, beautiful cars
that the world has ever seen.
It only held the thrown for one year though
before it was beaten by
the 1963 Studebaker Avanti?
Now this was a last ditch attempt by Studebaker
to save their failing car company.
And they made this,
a fiberglass body with a 280 cubic inch V8
which delivered 290 hrsprs and made the Avanti,
which means "go" in Italian,
little language lesson for you guys there,
you know it's not just cars,
the fastest car in the world up until that point.
A true, if somewhat unknown, cult American icon.
1964, AC Cobra MKIII 427.
You guys know I love my boy Carroll Shelby
and the AC Cobra is probably his greatest accomplishment.
This thing is not only
one of the most iconic cars in America,
it is one of the most recognizable sports cars in the world.
I love Carroll Shelby to death.
He's honestly my favorite person in cars.
We've done four episodes of our podcast on it,
two or three "Up to Speeds" on him.
I'll put the links to all those things
in the description below.
1967 Lamborghini Miura P400.
Propelled by its four-liter 385 hrspr V12,
this thing rocketed up to 171 miles per.
The Miura is commonly known as the world's first super car.
So it's no wonder that it was also the world's fastest car
when it was launched in 1967.
For eighth months.
In 1968 Ferrari retaliated with the 365 GTB4 Daytona
which was capable of 174 miles per hour.
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Back to the show.
The car was named to commemorate
Ferrari's one-two-three victory at the 1967 Daytona 24 Hour.
Ist was three miles per hour faster than the Lamborghini.
Which is such an Enzo move.
I mean, you guys know Enzo, I know Enzo.
Isn't that so Enzo?
Ferruccio Lamborghini would have the last laugh
in this particular speed war though,
because his 1969 Lamborghini Miura P400 S
clocked an impressive 179.3 miles per hour
and would hold the title for almost a decade.
(energetic dance music)
1979 Lamborghini Countach LP400.
That's right.
The Miura held the record
until the 179 mile per hour Lamborghini Countach LP400
was let loose on the streets in 1979.
The Countach set the precedent for super car styling
for the next 10 years.
And its 3.9 liter 370 hrspr V12 ruled the world.
1984 Ferrari 288 GTO.
After 15 years
of Lamborghini producing the fastest cars in the world,
yet again Ferrari had the last Italian laugh.
(mimics Mario laugh)
1989 Porsche 959.
The first all-wheel drive car to make the list,
which is interesting because all-wheel drive
is now a feature on pretty much all of today's fastest cars.
The 959 was about more than top speed however.
It featured so many technological innovations
which ruled the late 80s and early 90s
and was, until the McLaren F1,
which we'll talk about in a second,
hold on to your shorts,
the most technologically advanced production car
in the world.
Interestingly,
Porsche's main competitor was the 1987 Ferrari F40,
the last car that Enzo Ferrari
personally signed of on before his death.
The F40 was expected to be
the world's fastest production car,
and it was in Italy.
Let me explain.
The F40 was never recorded
going over 200 miles per hour outside of Italy,
which basically means
that it probably didn't go over 200 miles per hour.
Ferrari has a habit of giving their specs and stats
a little massaging.
Still the actually top speed of 199 miles per hour
still made it faster than the 959
and therefore it would have been
the world's fastest production car
if it weren't for this guy.
Ruf's CTR, or Yellowbird as it soon became known,
was the underdog when it entered the 1988 high speed test
put on by a German Magazine against two Ferrari F40s,
a Mercedes AMG six-liter 32 valve,
and the current fastest car in the world at the time,
the Porsche 959.
The CTR recorded a speed of 212 miles per hour.
Blitzing, absolutely blitzing,
the times posted by the Porsche, Ferraris, and Mercedes,
and going on to become the fastest car in the world!
And I just want to point out,
I think that it's incredible
that a relatively unknown company from Germany
managed not only to break
the 200 mile per hour barrier first,
but to get all the way to 212.5.
Incredible engineering
from one of my favorite manufacturers.
1990.
The 1990 Vector W8 might have made the list at this point.
However they only made 19 of them.
So it sort of doesn't count.
Plus the top speed was a claimed 242 miles per hour
but nobody was ever brave enough
to actually try and go that fast in it.
So I wanted to mention it
but it's not official.
It's on the list but it's not.
Moving on.
1992, Jaguar XJ220.
Now this is the second Jaguar that we mention on this list
and the fastest six-cylinder car in the world to date
and it would have been the fastest car in 1992
if the Bugatti EB110 didn't come onto the scene
and instantly murked him and stole his crown
with a top speed of 218 miles per hour.
We are getting to ridiculous speed at this point.
But all of this is about to pale into insignificance
with the emergence of this.
1993 McLaren F1.
All right, we've been waiting patiently
and it's time for the big boy.
The McLaren F1 is kind of like Flaming Hot Doritos.
Everyone remembers where they were
when they first became aware
that this beautiful machine exists.
The McLaren F1 stands as the highest watermark possible
for automotive development up until that point
and realistically was the world's first true
hyper, hyper, hyper.
The McLaren pioneered so many features
which helped it to achieve its mind-blowing top speed.
It's also still
the fastest naturally aspirated production car ever.
Its 6.1-liter BMW V12 produced 618 brake horsepower
and straight up rocketed the three-seater,
yes, three-seater McLaren,
to a record-breaking 240 miles per hour.
And it was the daddy for the next 10 years.
Literally my entire childhood,
this was the fastest car in the world.
Mr. Bean wrecked one twice.
Until in 2005 Koenigsegg pre-released this,
the Koenigsegg CCR,
which achieved a top speed of 240.7 miles per hour.
But it also doesn't matter because a few months later
along came this.
Bugatti Veyron.
Now Bugatti at this point is actually owned by Volkswagen,
its a great story.
There's a link in the description below.
It's said the Volkswagen lost an incredible $6.3 million
for every Veyron they sold.
However the Veyron was never meant to be
a commercial success.
Its purpose was something far greater.
It was conceived and built with the sole purpose
of becoming the fastest production car in the world,
and by golly, it was!
Its eight-liter quad turbo W16
produced a ridiculous 987 hrpsprs.
Power was delivered to all four wheels.
And with the spoiler lowered to reduce drag,
the Veyro could hit a mind-bending 253 miles per hour.
And it was undisputedly
the fastest production car in the world
for a while.
2006, 2007, 2008, 2009.
Finally, the Veyron was knocked off of the top spot.
Who could knock it off?
Another Bugatti Veyron!
2010 Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport
achieved 267.856 miles per hour,
cementing the Veyron's place in history
for an entire generation.
It was nine years before something came along
that could actually challenge the Veyron.
The 2014 Hennessey Venom GT
had a top speed of 270.49 miles per.
It was based on a heavily modified Lotus Exige
powered by a seven-liter V8 that made 1,244 horsepower.
However,
Hennessey is still classified as a performance tuner
rather than a manufacturer
and rules is rules.
I can't argue with the rules
even though I made up the rules.
In 2016, a full 11 years after the Veyron took its place
at the top of the pyramid,
along came this.
Chiron, Chiron, Sarrone,
Chiron, Chiron, Chiron? - Chiron.
Chiron.
The eight-liter quad turbo W16 was totally reengineered
to produce 1,479 hrsprs.
The Chiron immediately took the standards set by the Veyron
and raised it to a truly staggering height.
The Chiron's top speed was electronically limited
to 261 miles per hour,
mainly because Bugatti was worried
that if they went any faster
the tires would actually unpredictably,
possibly even exploding.
Both in terms of looks and performance,
this thing seems like it came from another planet.
Which is why what happened next
seems so unbelievable.
In 2017
the Koenigsegg Agera RS shocked the world
when it managed an incredible 277.87 miles per hour.
Max, can you just show these guys
what 277.87 miles per hour looks like?
(yelling)
But if you think that Bugatti would take that sitting down,
(scoffs) then you're certified bonkers, pal.
And that's why in 2019
they took their newest version of the Chiron
and did this.
(intense orchestral music)
2019 Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+.
Can you guess what the 300+ stands for?
In 2019 Bugatti revealed
that it would be making 30 examples
of the ultimate version of the Chiron.
It is a Chiron Super Sport
with a heavily modified body with drag reduction
and closely resembles the Chiron prototype
which made history when it became the first road car
to travel at over 300 miles per hour.
The Super Sport 300+ is a production road version
of that record-breaking car
and has recorded a legal production car top speed,
with tires that won't explode,
of 304.77 miles per hour.
Power is up to 1,578 hrsprs.
And here's something that I think is really, really cool.
Bugatti is saying that anybody who buys one
will have a free invite
to go to the Ehra Lessien test circuit
to drive their production car to its top speed
of over 300 miles per hour.
Although, if you can afford a $6 million dollar car
I think you can probably afford a plane ticket.
Now at the time of recording this video,
which is June 2020,
the Chiron Super Sport
is still the world's fastest car for 2020.
But we still got six months to go so who knows?
Maybe someone's gonna go faster.
In just 130 years
we've gone from building cars
which could barely go 10 miles per hour
to ones that can go more than 300 miles per hour.
If we do this list again in another 10 years,
who knows, maybe we'll be going 1,000 miles per hour
in a Pumphrey 502.
Detroit, Italy, Japan, hit me up.
Let's make this car happen.
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- Thank you guys so much
for watching this episode of "The D-List"
and everything else on Donut Media.
If you want to follow along with a build
of the opposite of the fastest car in the world,
check on this episode of "Money Pit".
It's hosted by my buddy Zach Jobe.
It's a lot of fun,
I love it.
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