This is a history of the world's fastest mass produced, street-legal cars (as opposed to concept cars or modified cars).
The first automobile ever produced was the Benz Patent Motorwagen, built in 1885 and unveiled in 1886 by Karl Benz. Unique and consequently the fastest, it established a record speed of 16 km/h (10 mph). More than a century later, in September 2007, the SSC Ultimate Aero TT registered the latest record, for a production car, of 412 km/h (256.18 mph).
It is of note that the base model of many of the vehicles listed is vastly lower in maximum speed than limited edition or very rare production models, which may in themselves not fall into the category of 'production car'
Fastest production car - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia: "Record holdersDate Car Speed
km/h mph
1901 Mercedes 35 hp 85 53
1903 Mercedes 60 hp 96 60
1921 Bentley 3 Litre Super Sports 160 100
1926 Bentley 4½ Litre 160 100
1929 Duesenberg Murphy Roadster 210 130.5
1929 Bentley 4½ Litre Supercharged 222.02 137.96
1932 Duesenberg SJ 217 135[1]
1953 Pegaso Z-102 Supercharged 244.62 152[2]
1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL 250 155[3]
1955 Ferrari 410 Superamerica 261 162.2 [4]
1962 Ferrari 250 GTO 279.06 173.4 [5] A homologation car of which just 36 were produced
1968 Ferrari Daytona GTB/4 281 175[6]
1970 Monteverdi Hai 450 283 176 [7]
1970 Lamborghini Miura P400 SV 288.07 179 150 built. (385HP)
1984 Ferrari 288 GTO 304 189[8] 272 built, was to compete in the new Group B Race series, but the series was soon abandoned and the 288 GTO never raced thus all 272 cars built remained purely road cars. (400HP)
1987 Ferrari F40 324 201[9] 1350 built, the F40 was the last car commissioned by Enzo before his death and was debuted during Ferrari's 40th anniversary. The F40 is also the first road legal production car to surpass the 200 mph (320 km/h) mark. (470HP)"
