It's no time-traveling DeLorean, but the Hennessey Venom GT sure is fast.
The American sports car unofficially claimed the title of world's fastest production car, having reached a speed of 270.49 mph earlier this month at the Kennedy Space Center. The Hennessey Venom GT surpassed the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport's previous record of 269.86 mph.
See also: 2013's Top Winners and Losers in Tech
NASA allowed the Texas-based manufacturer Hennessey Performance Engineering to use its 3.2-mile-long space-shuttle-landing runway for the speed test, ensuring that the sports car would have enough room to accelerate. The run was made over 2.4 miles, which left the car eight-tenths of a mile to come to a stop.
"I was still pulling," driver Brian Smith said in a statement. "If we could run on an eight-mile oval, we could go faster than that. On the very top end, there was a little wandering, but hey, we're going 270 mph."
But the record isn't official — at least according to Guinness World Records. Hennessey announced in 2010 that it only plans to make 29 Venom GTs (it's completed 11 so far). This decision means that Guinness will not verify the run, as it requires at least 30 units to be built in order for a vehicle to qualify as a production model, according to John Hennessey, the company's founder and president. Even if the Venom GT did meet these guidelines, the car would have had to make two runs in either direction to officially beat the Bugatti, Hennessey told the BBC's Top Gear. NASA, however, only allowed it to make one.
Bugatti's record was nearly tossed aside for good last April due to claims that modifications intended to make the car go faster should disqualify it from contention. However, Guinness ultimately determined that the adjustments did not affect the Bugatti's design or engine, and it was not stripped of the honor.
The Venom GT, which has a base price of $1.2 million, is powered by a twin-turbocharged, v8 engine that has a horsepower of 1,244 bhp. Each car is custom-ordered, and takes six months to build.
Have something to add to this story? Share it in the comments.