Hennessey Venom GT breaks world speed record
But its claim of world's fastest car is unofficial at best, having failed to meet a number of criteriaWhen it comes to world speed records, 4.2km/h means a lot.
That's precisely the amount by which the $1 million Hennessey Venom GT beat the current world-record holder, the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.
US-based super car company Hennessey is claiming the title of the world's fastest production car, with its Venom GT (a heavily modified Lotus Elise) cracking an impossible 435km/h (270mph) at the Kennedy Space Centre in the USA.
That beats the Veyron's 431km/h (268mph) by just over 4km/h.
The Hennessey Venom GT is powered by a cracking 7.0-litre twin-turbo petrol V8 engine that pumps out an earth-shaking 915kW.
Although the Hennessey Venom GT technically went faster than the current Guinness World Record holder for fastest production car, the 883kW quad-turbo 16-cylinder Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, the Venom has not had its record verified by Guinness World Records.
The Venom GT only conducted one run, but two runs - one in each direction - are required to deliver an average top speed and be eligible for a Guinness World Record.
Furthermore, to qualify for the world's fastest production car, a minimum of 30 vehicles are required to be built, and Hennessey says it will build only 29 units of its wild Venom GT.
So far, 11 Venom GTs have been sold, with Aerosmith rocker Steve Tyler among the clientele.
Despite claiming the (unofficial) title of the world's fastest production car, Hennessey reckons its tyre-shredding beast would have been capable of hitting 450km/h (280mph) given more road.
As the Veyron retains the Guinness World Record for now, the Bugatti's world-record attempt wasn't without controversy.
The company faced a 'please explain' from Guinness World Records in 2013 and was momentarily stripped of its world record for breaking the rules.
The production Veyron has a speed limiter, but this was disengaged during the attempt in 2010 which was a breach of the rules, according to Guinness World Record officials.
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