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 Amongst the world's most prestigious automakers, a fiercely competitive battle rages for most exotic, fastest, expensive and exclusive production super cars. Names such as Ferrari, Lamborghini, Aston Martin and Pagani, compete with the likes of Porsche, Saleen, Koenigsegg, and Maserati. They are names which provoke respect and enduring images of luxury, exotic materials and ridiculous exclusivity, since price tags can range in excess of one million dollars.
We see these cars on the race track and they are driven by consummate professionals whose names seem equally as exotic as the vehicles themselves. And you get what you pay for with these obscenely quick cars, many of which are just as comfortable on a race track, than on the road. All of these manufacturers have produced cars which reach in excess of 200 miles an hour, but in the last six or seven years, such speeds and the limits of physics have been challenged. There are currently maybe a dozen manufacturers whose vehicles are the fastest most prestigious in the luxury sports car market and breach the 240 mile an hour mark.
In the early 1990's, two manufacturers smashed the 200 mile an hour barrier to become the world's fastest cars. It began with the Jaguar XJ220, a car in which ex-Formula One driver Martin Brundle broke the production car speed record in, with a top speed of around 217mph. The other manufacturer, a new comer, put the 217mph top speed in the shade dominating the decade as one of the fastest most adventurous automotive engineering feats, even by today's standards. That car was the McLaren F1.
The McLaren is still one of the most revered super cars around today, well over ten years since its release in the early 90's. Designed by Gordon Murray to be the ultimate super car, it features a custom built normally aspirated BMW V12 engine, which produced an astonishing road legal 630bhp and one slightly modified car was pushed to a top speed of around 240 miles an hour. No expense was spared it its development, where extensive use of carbon fiber was used to build the car, keeping the weight to a mere 1140kg and giving it approximately 550hp per ton. Real gold was used to shield the engine cover from excessive heat and an inboard modem was used to conduct remote diagnostic tests on the vehicle. One of the more unique elements of the vehicle was the driver's position, which, borrowed from Formula One, placed the driver in the center of the vehicle with two passenger seats either side. Racing versions were also built and the car finished the 1995 Le Mans 24 hour endurance race in 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th and a respectable 13th position. The achievement provoked McLaren to produce a handful of revamped vehicles based on the Le Mans racing model, the McLaren LM, which in honor of famous New Zealand founder and racer, Bruce McLaren, were painted in the distinctive orange paintwork he adorned some of his race cars. These are highly prized collectors cars which rarely change hands, along with the equally rare GTR versions with their modified front and rear ends.
The McLaren F1 was light years ahead of its competition and still sets benchmarks for other super cars in its category. After all, it held the official production car speed record for over ten years. As mentioned, even today the McLaren is one of the most sought after super cars and you'll need well over one million to buy a second hand model. This is truly an astonishing vehicle and many argue that few cars will come close to achieving the level of technical panache and luxury wrapped up in the vehicle, even the rumored successor McLaren intends to build in the near future.
 In terms of top speed however, the McLaren's incredible hold on the title eventually had to be relinquished as technology in the industry progressed. Surprisingly, it came from a relative new comer in the auto industry and a country not renowned for being steeped in auto racing history, Sweden. The Koenigsegg company took the top speed title with its' Koenigsegg CCR vehicle, which breached the 240 mile an hour mark. More recently they have produced the CCX which the manufacturers claim will exceed 245 miles an hour. The vehicle is an engineering dream, from its' uniquely hinged door struts to the smooth but aggressive styling and low slung appearance, all of which, the manufacturer says, allows the vehicle to travel at such high speeds. The windshield is also different in that it is semi-circular, making it look like Michael Keaton's bat mobile (without the superfluous flutes and wings). The roof slants back towards the engine bay and hood, which neatly hides, on the CCX model, a super charged V8 which produces an enormous 806bhp. The car, in terms of shape, is reminiscent of the famous McLaren, sans the roof scoop and horizontal lines and appears to sit even lower to the road, if that is possible. The body work reads like some sort of military specification, made from pre-impregnated carbon fiber/Kevlar, with light weight hard foam sandwich reinforcements. The car weighs a rather light, 1180 kilograms, or about two and half thousands pounds, and incredibly reaches a quarter mile in a mere 9.9 seconds at an end speed of 146mph.
This is one seriously cool looking car
with performance to match and I really, really want one. Even
just a drive of one on a test track please, after some lessons
with Koenigsegg's test driver, Loris Bicocchi, first of course.
Serious owners can order the Koenigsegg with any number of
individual touches and modifications, from paintwork to exhaust
and wheel options. This vehicle is a serious contender to the
title of world's best sports car and it has few to none
rivals on the road. The car I believe, still has Texas' highest
recorded speeding ticket at well over 220 miles an hour and
in a documentary on the Gum Ball rally held in Europe a few
years ago, competitors described an incident in which during
a leg in the American race, an owner of a Koenigsegg was finally
stopped by a swag of pursuing American cops who unceremoniously
arrested him. The owner's only phone call was made to a towing
firm who could transport the vehicle to the next check point!
The car recently recorded, briefly, the fastest time around
auto show legend Top Gear's test track, with a time of 1:17.6
seconds, with a modified rear wing and TG's anonymous tame
race driver at the helm, The Stig. A British made Ascari currently
holds the track's fastest lap time, by a whisker. Koenigsegg
have announced on their website the development of the CCXR,
which develops just over 1000bhp and we can assume then that
top speed records may yet be broken.
If you would like to read the rest of this article...you can purchase this issue at Wegmans.
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