The 1993 McLaren F1 held the record for the world's fastest production automobile for 12 years (232.5mph ). It's replacement, 9ff's Porsche GT2, lasted just over a month (241.1). On Monday, legendary driver Loris Bicocchi pushed a Swedish-made Koenigsegg CCR to 242.42mph at Italy's Nardo test track. While delighted with the news, company owner Christian von Koenigsegg was quick to point out that Nardo Prototipo is a circular test track; he reckons the CCR would top out at 247 in a straight line. Right; off you go then. Meanwhile, click through for more images of the new world champ.
London 2008: Honda OSM concept roadster says, "Cheerio!"
London 2008: Lotus unveils the Evora
2010 Chevy Camaro - Official Details and Images
2010 Chevy Camaro - LIVE from the reveal
Volkswagen unveiling two-door Elise fighter in LA, new sports car
First Drive: 2008 MINI Cooper S JCW
In the Autoblog Garage:2009 Nissan GT-R
North American Exclusive First Drive: Alfa MiTo
First Drive: 2009 Kia Borrego
In The Autoblog Garage: 2008 Mercedes SLK55 AMG
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Jon @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
Robert, the Koenigsegg is Swedish with a Ford block.
Steve @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
The Koenigsegg is Swedish. How do you figure that it was Dutch-made?
Viggo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
"It is a state-of-the-art Quad Cam semi-stressed V8 construction with a 4.7 litre displacement and 32 valves. Built to cope with extreme stress during racing conditions, the engine is equipped with forged Diamond pistons and forged Manley connecting rods. This is complemented by Billet camshafts and an exceptionally strong forged crankshaft manufactured by Gerlach Werke in Germany, known for their high quality and outstanding performance. The CCR engine delivers an astonishing 806 hp at 6900 rpm and 920 Nm (678 ftlb) at 5700 rpm."
Brandon @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
YOU ABOSULUTELY CANNOT post a pic of the Koeinisegg w/o showing how the doors work!! Blasphemy!
jp @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
Can I get one here in the US? How much?
Karl Gunnarsson @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
I don't get it. 9ff claims to have nailed 388 kph and so do Koenigsegg. Yet the mph figures here are not the same. How come and who actually went faster?
Personally I regard the Koenigsegg as the new record holder.
David Thomas @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
I never saw a kph figure for the 9ff just mph
Viggo @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
it says in a swedish newspaper that 17 cars (probably the CC8S and not CCR) have been delivered so far and that there's 25 customers waiting. According to the article the price of the CCR is about $755.000
And I agree about not showing a picture of the doors :)
http://www.koenigsegg.com/graphics/imagearchive/ccrb2_640.jpg
Nelson @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
OMFG!!!!!!!!111
Roshan david @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
Long live the McLaren F1. only 12 years as king of speed.
wow with that type of speed the CCR is a sure bet for any type of cannon ball race.
cheers all.
john f @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
the mclaren actually had a top speed (i have video proof) of about 391km/h, or around 241-242 mph.
neon rebel @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
Koenigsegg's own press release notes the McLaren F1's record at 386.7 km/h, set in 1998 I believe.
http://www.koenigsegg.com/record_pressrelease.asp
Paul Hagger @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
Why does noone ever mention the Callaway Sledgehammer at 252mph. And all those Nurburgring records ignore the Jag XJ220 that did it in 7 and a half minutes, too.
Could it be that one magazine ignores the true record breakers and then the rest feel content to do minimal fact checking?
Jon @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
Paul, a quick search finds a few references of a run of 254mph for the Sledgehammer with an acknowledgement that the run was "unofficial". It seems the only one to blame for overlooking the Vette's pace is John Lingenfelter himself who didn't bother ringing the Guinness people. Whoopsie.
I can't comment on the Jag. Maybe a similar situation? I'm not sure how they "officially" validate Ring times.
Ameya Karmarkar @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
thats funny
i thought the production version of the porsche dauer 962le mans was the fastest production car hitting 405kph.
saleen's s7 2005 (shown in detroit) is also said to boast a top speed of 390+ kph.Chrysler's ME 4/12 also hots 400kph but thats not a production model.Same with the sledgehammer.As far as i know only 1 was made,so its surely not a production car.
can someone pl. clarify ?!
Ameya Karmarkar @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
thats funny
i thought the production version of the porsche dauer 962le mans was the fastest production car hitting 405kph.
saleen's s7 2005 (shown in detroit) is also said to boast a top speed of 390+ kph.Chrysler's ME 4/12 also hots 400kph but thats not a production model.Same with the sledgehammer.As far as i know only 1 was made,so its surely not a production car.
can someone pl. clarify ?!
Jon @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
Ameya,
To carry the crown of "world's fastest production road car" the car and recorded speed would have to meet certain criteria. Such as:
- Is the car actually a production road car?
- Was the car actually driven that fast?
- Was the speed authenticated by the appropriate authority?
To apply these to the cars that you have mentioned, I will speculate that every one of them fails to meet at least one of the questions asked above. I am not calling this fact, just a guess.
The 962 probably didn't qualify as a production road car, as it was a homologated race car. The Chrysler is neither production nor was it ever driven that fast. The S7tt, again, has a "projected top speed". The Sledgehammer, I think fails question 1 and 3.
Maybe 20 years ago there was no set criteria. Maybe people didn't see the value in holding such a title and therefore didn't go to the proper lengths to make it official. I don't know. Today, holding the official record is undoubtedly lucrative for a company selling low volume hyper-cars. If tomorrow I hit the lottery (huge pot! yes please!) and I say to myself "I want the world's fastest road car", I'm buying a Koenigsegg CCR. Would I have bought a Koenigsegg otherwise? Probably not. Unofficial speeds are fun for us but then again we aren't in the business of selling cars.
Take a look at this link for a somewhat dated rundown of unofficially the world's fastest cars.
http://www.fast-autos.net/topspeed.html
Ameya Karmarkar @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
thanks jon
it really is quite unclear as to what a "production car" is ? do a specific number of them have to be built to qualify as a production car ? eg. mclaren f1 was the fastest and 65 were built.on the same lines,can the ferrari gto evoluzione (5 were built) be called a production car.
also could you give me a link if any to the site of some governing body that officially records these speeds ?
Gustavo Carvalho @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
If the koenigsegg is considered a production car, the Dauer *has* be a production car. You can still buy a new one (for a measly 1 million €), and Dauer has stated that as long as customers request them, he'll build them.
Don't remember the numbers, but he's built a dozen or so.
Jeremy Seets @ Dec 19th 2005 12:26AM
how much does the ccr average as in money. like how much does it cost.