Ever since the automobile was invented in the late 19th Century, man has always sought to go faster and faster on four wheels, and road cars are no exception. The cars you're about to see below could actually be bought new and driven on the road. To be eligible to set a production car speed record, a car must have been intended for retail sale to consumers when it was created, have 25 or more examples of it sold to the public, and be street-legal in the markets in which it was sold. Here's how the production car speed record has evolved from the end of World War II through to the present day:
1949: Jaguar XK20 - 124.6 mph
1955: Mercedes-Benz 300SL - 150.7 mph
1959: Aston Martin DB4 GT - 152 mph
1963: Iso Grifo GL 365 - 161 mph
1965: AC Cobra 427 MKIII - 165 mph
1967: Lamborghini Miura P400 - 171 mph
1968: Ferrari 365 GTB/4 Daytona - 174 mph
1974: Lamborghini Countach LP400 - 174 mph
1982: Lamborghini Countach LP500 S - 182 mph
1984: Ferrari 288 GTO - 188 mph
1986: Porsche 959 - 197 mph
1987: RUF CTR Yellowbird - 213 mph
1998: McLaren F1 - 221 mph (capable of 240 mph without a rev limiter)
2005: Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 - 253.1 mph
2010: Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport - 267.9 mph
2017: Koenigsegg Agera RS - 277.9 mph
