Fastest production car by year?

[Antti-san]

Anybody know where I could find a list where I could see what was the fastest production car made in the world in a particular year? Like what car was the fastest in 1987, 1988, 1989 and so on?

 

[niky]

Define fastest.

Fastest to 60 mph? to 62? to 100?

Highest top speed?

Or fastest around an unspecified race track?

And define "year"... actual production year or "model" year (as these don't always match... there are 2010 models, for example, launched in 2009).

I doubt you can find such a list... but good luck!

 

[Antti-san]

I meant top speed.

Wasn't the CTR Yellowbird the fastest production car made in 1987 (340 kmh)? But what about 1988?

 

[lpb-nissan-gt-r]

try guiness book of world records.

 

[opelgt1969]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fastest_production_car

I don't trust this site myself.

 

[niky]

The problem with records lists is this... the McLaren held the record for a road-legal "production" car for 11 years. But it wasn't on sale for all of those 11 years, so you have a few years in between where you have no data on the fastest production car then in production... not unless you dig.

And "production" is such a vague term... If you produce it, and someone buys it... is that not "production"? That would open up a whole new kettle of fish when considering speed records. The Callaway Sledgehammer was faster than the F1, but was a "production" of one... though Callaway was willing to sell further examples for an eye-watering $400,000.

Also note... things change if we're considering "stock" versus "modified"... "modified" being the excuse some people use to disqualify such top speed record holders as the Callaway Sledgehammer... the McLaren F1 that held the record for so long wasn't in completely stock trim. In completely stock trim, the F1 can only do 230 mph.

 

[TVC]

The problem with records lists is this... the McLaren held the record for a road-legal "production" car for 11 years. But it wasn't on sale for all of those 11 years, so you have a few years in between where you have no data on the fastest production car then in production... not unless you dig.

And "production" is such a vague term... If you produce it, and someone buys it... is that not "production"? That would open up a whole new kettle of fish when considering speed records. The Callaway Sledgehammer was faster than the F1, but was a "production" of one... though Callaway was willing to sell further examples for an eye-watering $400,000.

Also note... things change if we're considering "stock" versus "modified"... "modified" being the excuse some people use to disqualify such top speed record holders as the Callaway Sledgehammer... the McLaren F1 that held the record for so long wasn't in completely stock trim. In completely stock trim, the F1 can only do 230 mph.

I think most people count a car as a production car if the company makes at least certain amount of them. There might be other factors also though like they don't have to be custom ordered. You are right though. No one has ever really clearly defined what a production car is.

 

[niky]

The FIA has guidelines on the number needed to be classified as "production"... but that's for internal use, and those numbers have changed over the years due to homologation rules. Take note... the single Nissan R390 road car qualified the race car for homologation.

In the real world, production is simply this. You build it. You sell it. A production of more than one is often cited as needed... but what's the difference between one and two? Or three? Or four? Many supercars have tiny production numbers. Others specify the need for an assembly line, but many supercars are not assembly-line produced... but hand-built. In fact, many performance engines for major manufacturers are assembled by single craftsmen, instead of on a line.

In the end, "production" is a vague term, used to justify many vague distinctions (like the "production car record" that Porsche and Nissan harp on about... which neither had, anyway, since the Radical had it at the time...) for marketing purposes, fanboyism, or whatever.

 

[Antti-san]

You raise many interesting points niky! 👍 I guess this isn't such a simple thing after all!

 

[Famine]

Also note... things change if we're considering "stock" versus "modified"... "modified" being the excuse some people use to disqualify such top speed record holders as the Callaway Sledgehammer... the McLaren F1 that held the record for so long wasn't in completely stock trim. In completely stock trim, the F1 can only do 230 mph.

That's been going on since the beginning of time though. The Jaguar E-Type famously had a listed top speed of 150mph but couldn't get anywhere close in production trim.

 

[niky]

Though... wasn't the McLaren's claimed top speed 231 mph?

Although I don't recall if they reminded everyone that they'd removed the rev limiter to set that record after it had made the news...

 

[Tornado]

That's been going on since the beginning of time though. The Jaguar E-Type famously had a listed top speed of 150mph but couldn't get anywhere close in production trim.

Watch out, Countach can do 200!

Also, regarding the F1, there's the whole mess of this thing:

 

[niky]

Could have been faster... don't know if it was ever timed over 250 mph.