Red Victor One: The world's fastest street legal car?
Video of what may be the world's fastest street legal car made its rounds around the blogosphere last night, and we have to say the Red Victor One, a 1971 Vauxhall Victor powered by a 2,200 bhp, twin-turbo 9.8-liter V8, is a rather impressive beast, if not incredibly limited in its abilities. Built by Andy Frost, a 45-year-old Brit who estimates he's pumped about $187,000USD into the car, the Victor One is basically a street legal drag car capable of reaching 60 mph in 1 second and running the quarter in 7.8 seconds at 183.07 mph. Surely the Red Victor One is an impressive machine, able to embarass Veyrons and Enzos all day long in a straight line. Turning, however, is a different story, as this street legal drag racer probably handles like the QE2.
The car, however, actually isn't in a class by itself, it just benefits from a rather sensationally titled YouTube video. We thought for sure someone had built a street legal Supra that could match the Red Victor One, but couldn't locate one on the internets. A quick survey of the tubes, however, revealed a 1966 Chevelle that back in 1994 did the quarter in 7.85 seconds at 172.41 mph using a 632ci big-block and many liters of nitrous. Of course, one thing the YouTube video doesn't specify is whether Red Victor One takes its passes on street tires or slicks, which would make a significant difference. Still, props must be given to Andy Frost and the Victor; both are truly insane.
[Sourcce: Engadget]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
James MacNeil @ Oct 20th 2006 9:09AM
Just a couple of notes; it's a '72, and he estimates AU$100,000, which is about US$75,000, not $187,000.
Chris @ Oct 20th 2006 9:16AM
I know there are street legal GT-Rs and even WRXs that can do the 1/4 mile in low 8's on street-legal semi-slicks. Which obviously is slower than this monster (which I'd be suprised if it wasn't using slicks there, otherwise it wouldn't launch so well), but then again they'd also make this thing look like an Aveo on an actual race track. But then again those are cars built by large tuning companies (like HKS for example), not by some guy doing everything in his garage which is very impressive. And if you'd only count RWD cars though then I'd have no idea of anything that could really touch this while remaining street legal.
Jason @ Oct 20th 2006 9:17AM
Filming style was very Top Gear-esque. :)
Adam @ Oct 20th 2006 9:19AM
James MacNeil, he says 100,000 pounds, and they're obviously all British. The Australian dollar is only worth around .4 British pounds if I remember correctly.
AndyT @ Oct 20th 2006 9:28AM
#1. It really is 100,000 pounds, not Australian dollars. At an exchange rate of $1.87/pound it is $187,000
Jeff @ Oct 20th 2006 9:29AM
"The world's fastest street legal car?"
No, it's not. Or at least not if you're using 1/4 mile performance as your measure.
Off the top of my head I know John Shepherd has gone 7.72 @ 188.41 in his "street legal" (it has Ohio plates!) 2.0L 4-cylinder AWD Eagle Talon. I'm sure there are several others that are quicker / faster.
Cool video and nice car nonetheless!
Kevin White @ Oct 20th 2006 9:32AM
"...the YouTube video doesn't specify whether Red Victor One takes its passes on street tires or slicks..."
Probably both, but the 7.8 is slicks.
Corey W. @ Oct 20th 2006 9:39AM
HAHA, Love his attitude... "Why a Victor? Why not!!"
A true enthusists
"Turning, however, is a different story, as this street legal drag racer probably handles like the QE2."
Uh, it's not that bad!! Of course it's not a road course racer, but you can see from the video it handles on the street and highway just fine.
And before you guys start the retarded apples to oranges comparisons, think about what the car was built for.
Jeff @ Oct 20th 2006 9:55AM
Speed costs money, how fast to you want to go?
Nice ride.
Torz @ Oct 20th 2006 10:07AM
It's from "Fifth Gear" so any debates about it being British should be put to rest.
G man G @ Oct 20th 2006 10:19AM
the Street Eliminator class (which Andy Frost races in) requires street tyres (tires!) and pump fuel. As part of the qualification procedure at each round the cars take part in a 25 mile street cruise, including town traffic (should see the tourists in Stratford On Avon when the class rumbles through town!) and are required to take on pump fuel at a public service station and perform a hot start.
The GB£100,000 build cost reflects 25 years of building and developing and £4000 a year ain't bad!
jim @ Oct 20th 2006 10:31AM
the kid looks like curious george
james @ Oct 20th 2006 11:07AM
the word you're looking for is "quick," by the way..
auto specifications @ Oct 20th 2006 11:29AM
It may be the fastet car, but it doesn't look nice at all.
http://www.auto-specifications.com/
ObsessedAudiFan @ Oct 20th 2006 1:24PM
it's england you git. Wolverhampton is the UK.
wanker
Pro Street Anglia @ Oct 20th 2006 2:06PM
It is totally street legal, uses unleaded fuel, and treaded street legal tyres. There are other cars in the UK that are a little quicker & also totally street legal.
It also handles pretty well, no its not gonna beat a Ferrari 360 round the bends, but it will keep up with any normal good handling saloon.
Tony @ Oct 20th 2006 2:07PM
"6. "The world's fastest street legal car?"
No, it's not. Or at least not if you're using 1/4 mile performance as your measure.
Off the top of my head I know John Shepherd has gone 7.72 @ 188.41 in his "street legal" (it has Ohio plates!) 2.0L 4-cylinder AWD Eagle Talon. I'm sure there are several others that are quicker / faster.
Cool video and nice car nonetheless!"
This car won the World Streetcar Shootout a while back, which was held in the US, so he can lay claim to being the fastest. Does Shepard drive his car on the street? to the track and back home without changing anything? Most likely not.
Tom @ Sep 11th 2007 10:18AM
WRONG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
This car has never won a championship or a USA race to date.
It was STEVE PATEMAN that won the WORLD STREET RACE, not Andy Frost Or Ian Hook.
This car uses a Drag Radial type tire (Slick with grooves)
Adam Gleadow @ Oct 20th 2006 3:01PM
As far as I;m aware yes there are other street legal cars that are quicker, they WERE NOT in street trim (ie; treads, pump gas etc)whereas Andy Frost's Red Victor was totally street legal for that pass up the strip
It was Ian Hook's '34 Ford that won the world street race in America anyway.
All of the cars running in Street Elimintor are real street drivers
Overhaulin @ Oct 20th 2006 4:37PM
LOL, I like how both the owner and the host kept comparing this car to a Veyron. Sure it may be quicker than a Veyron, but what happens when they come to a turn?