The World’s Fastest Street Legal Cars

There's nothing wrong with indulging in a little harmless fantasy from time to time – and if you can afford such a vehicle, you can slap a stylish private number plate to any of these cars and take them for a Sunday afternoon spin in addition to zooming around the nearest racetrack. Fasten your seatbelt and hold on tight - we're about to divulge the five fastest street legal cars that money can buy.

Bugatti Veyron Super Sport

You may associate steady and reliable Volkswagen more with camper vans than supercars, but owner Ferdinand Piech made his intentions clear when he purchased Bugatti – VW wanted to conquer the world of speed racing.

That's something that has been achieved on multiple occasions with various models of the Veyron, but the SSC Ultimate Aero conquered the initial vehicle on the track. Naturally Bugatti were not going to take this lying down, and the SuperSport was the result – the crown was soon retrieved, albeit returned to the SSC when it was revealed that the Bugatti had violated rules by disabling speed inhibitors found on the production model, with the top speed of 268 mph not applying to the street legal vehicle.

Only thirty models of Veryon SuperSport were made (in addition to five extremely limited World Record editions), with American talk show royalty Jay Leno one of the few lucky owners. At over £2m a pop, that’s hardly surprising.

Bugatti Chiron

The Veryon had a great innings for a supercar, remaining in construction for around a decade. All good things must come to an end though, and Bugatti's next supercar was even faster – the Chiron tops out at 261 mph even when it's street legal, and it handles like a dream.

In many respects, the Chiron is the ultimate luxury drive – and comes at a price point to match such decadence. Five hundred models were rolled off the production line, and they change hands for a little under £2m a time.

Hennessey Venom GT

Hennessey made their name through souping up existing cars to increase their speed, hence their company slogan of, "making cars faster since 1991". Having made their name by boosting the engines found in vehicles produced by Dodge, Ford, Cadillac and Lamborghini among many others, the first Hennessey-produced vehicle was the Venom GT.

The car was made with the intention of breaking world records and it recorded a speed of 270mph, surpassing the velocity of then record holder the Bugatti Veryon SuperSport, back in 2014. Guinness did not acknowledge the record as the speed was only achieved in one direction, and Hennessey have only sold sixteen of their planned twenty-nine models at around £1m each (thirty is often the cut-off point for an official record), but there's no arguing with the statistics.

Koenigsegg Agera RS

Swedish supercar manufacturers Koenigsegg have long been making a stir thanks to their astonishingly fast vehicles, and boasting a top speed of 271 mph ensures that as of right now, the Agera RS is still the fastest street car in the world – at least officially...

We say officially in such dramatic fashion because the next entry on our list claims to be faster, but we'll get to that shortly. For now, marvel at the specs – and beauty – of this glorious vehicle, which combines the sleek elegance of a traditional sports car with the kind of powerful engine usually reserved for the race track. 

The Koenigsegg Agera RS is limited to twenty-five models, retailing at a little under £2m.

Hennessey Venom F5

Clearly stung by the experience of having the achievements of the Venom GT unheralded by official bodies, Hennessey decided go one better with the Venom F5.

Named after the world's fastest tornado, the Venom F5 is still unacknowledged by Guinness – though as it was only announced in November 2017, it's surely just a matter of time.

Even so, the car has recorded a top speed of an eye-watering 301 mph. Unofficially, this makes if the fastest street legal car in the world – though if you're looking to pick one up, expect to part with around £1.2m when the car is ready for sale.

So, what do you think – have you made plans to trade in your family saloon yet? Obviously these statistics will change, as the title of world's fastest car alters almost as often as their drivers need to shift gears as manufacturers attempt to out-do one another and provide millionaires with their latest toy.

For now, enjoy the drive that you have – and maybe start dropping your pocket change into a piggy bank. The time might come that you can pick up one of these sporty supercars in the future and embrace your inner speed demon.