Cariosities

While gas prices continue to go up and the economy continues to go down, some could care less and would rather buy the fastest gas-guzzling cars on the road no matter how much they cost. Forbes has teamed up with Tom duPont to find the world’s fastest cars for their latest Top 10 list.

“A Bugatti test driver took a $100 bill and plastered it on the dashboard,” recalls duPont, who was invited to strap into the passenger seat for a demonstration drive. “He told me I could have it if I could grab it once we took off.”

As many of you know the amazing Bugatti Veyron goes from 0-60 in 2.5 seconds with a top speed of 253mph.

But the Veyron is not the fastest car on the road, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. In March 2007 it tested the American-made SSC (Shelby Super Cars) Ultimate Aero and crowned it the Fastest Production Car in the world. The $654,400 twin-turbocharged car boasts a top speed of 257 mph and goes from 0 to 60 in 2.78 seconds. Snagging this title marked a first for a U.S. auto manufacturer since the Ford GT40 claimed the Guinness record in 1967 with a top speed of 167 mph.

Rounding out the top five fastest cars are the $695,000 Swedish-made Koenigsegg CCX, top speed 250 mph; $595,450 American-made Saleen S7 Twin Turbo, top speed 248 mph; and the $700,000 British-made Bristol Fighter T, top speed 225 mph.

All of the cars on our list are street legal. So if you really do want to use one of them to cruise around town (or test the limits of how late in the morning you can leave for work), that’s up to you. When researching which cars truly go fastest–with the automakers themselves as well as data available at www.thesupercars.org–we excluded cars that are built and equipped for the sole purpose of racing on a track. We also excluded vehicles that are no longer in production.

If the wait is a bit too much to bear for one of the aforementioned cars and you are on a slightly tighter budget, you could check the second half of our fastest-cars list–some no less expensive, or more available. But you might get lucky. They’re the $741,000 Italian-made Pagani Zonda F, top speed 215 mph; $325,560 Netherlands-made Spyker C8 Double 12 S, top speed 215 mph; the $430,000 Italian-made Lamborghini Murcielago LP640, top speed 213 mph; $497,750 U.K.-made McLaren Mercedes SLR, top speed 206 mph; and the U.S.-made Silva GT3, which clocks in at 205 mph and sells for $75,000.

This is the for Forbes list of the Top 10 World’s Fastest Cars.

SSC Ultimate Aero: 257mph - 0-60 in 2.78 secs
Bugatti Veyron: 253mph - 0-60 in 2.5 secs
Koenigsegg CCX: 250mph - 0-60 in 3.2 secs
Saleen S7 Twin Turbo: 248mph - 0-60 in 3.2 secs
Bristol Fighter T: 225mph - 0-60 in 3.5 secs
Pagani Zonda F: 215 mph - 0-60 in 3.5 secs
Spyker C8 Double 12 S: 215mph - 0-60 in 3.5 secs
Lamborghini Murciélago LP640: 213mph - 0-60 in 3.3 secs
McLaren Mercedes SLR: 206mph - 0-60 in 3.8 secs
Silva GT3: 205mph - 0-60 in 3.7 secs

source: Forbes