The 1000 plus bhp hypercar club!

McLaren F1

The birth of the McLaren F1 heralded a new era of hyper cars. The F1 was the first production car that was capable of doing 240 mph or 386 kmph. The car which was conceived by Gordon Murray was to hold the record for the world’s fastest production car for years to come. It set new benchmarks for super car design and construction and was to be the template for future hyper cars.

Bugatti Veyron SS

This was the first car to use carbon fibre aplenty. A 6.1 litre V12 with an output of 627 bhp powered the mid-engined supercar. The McLaren F1′s reign continued unchallenged until VW made history by making the world’s first 1001 bhp Bugatti Veyron. The Bugatti sailed passed the F1′s record of 240 mph to reach 253 mph.

The Veyron was the car that set the precedence for super car makers of the world. The then VW boss had set out on a journey with just one goal in mind. Creating a car that would breach the 400 kmph barrier. After years of research and countless late nights, a 8 litre W16 quad turbocharged engine was born.

Koenigsegg CCXR Edition

Before any body could venture out to challenge the Veyron, Bugatti have already raised the bar to 263 mph with the Veyron Super Sport with a 1200 bhp version of the same W16 engine. Now the race was ‘on’ and every other manufacturer was keen to beat the record set by the Veyron.

Christian Von Koenigsegg is a Swedish chap who has a shed built near the arctic circle which churns out a a handful of CCXR’s. These rare breed of cars have a 1018 bhp, 4.7 litre twin-supercharged V8. The CCXR gets close to Bugatti’s record but fails to beat it. Koenigsegg says it will do 260 mph, 3 mph shy of the Veyron SS’s top speed.

Zenvo ST1

Zenvo ST1 is a little known product from Denmark. Designer Jesper Jensen claims 1,104bhp from an engine that has been basically borrowed from a Corvette. The 7 litre V8 engine catapults the hyper car to an electronically limited top speed of 233 mph. You might think, this is just a jumped-up AC Cobra and you would be quite right as it is, sort of an AC Corbra on steroids. The huge scoop on the bonnet is there for a reason and not just an aesthetic feature.

Weineck Cobra

It needs the scoop as underneath the hood is a massive 12.9 litre V8. That’s right, 12,900 cc of engine that churns out an equally massive 1200 bhp. Top speed is 250 mph and 0-62 mph is done in 2.6 seconds. I just wonder how it must feel at 250 mph with no roof and just a pair of chromed roll bars to keep your head from crushing if anything were to go wrong and mind you, this ain’t got ABS or traction control.

SSC Ultimate Aero

The SSC Ultimate Aero was conceived to take on the mighty Bugatti Veyron. With a top speed of 255.83 mph it comfortably beats the Veyron’s record but fails to match the Veyron SS’s 263 mph making it the second fastest car in the world. However, Shelby SuperCars, the makers of the SSC Ultimate Aero claim that the car with its 1287 bhp, twin-turbo V8 could reach a top speed of 273 mph. Nobody has tried it though, so it just remains a claim.

Locus Plethora

The Locus Pléthore from HHT Locus Technologies of Canada is also known as the ‘Quebec Bomb’ for a very good reason. Its Chevrolet derived 8.2 lite V8 is claimed to produce 1300 bhp but unlike the other cars in this club, this beast manages to turn the needle to 204 mph only. Which is surprising from the amount of power it packs.

Hennessey Venom GT

The Hennessey Venom GT might look like a Lotus Exige but, the similarities end at that. This a stretched wheelbase version of an Exige but it packs in 1450 horsepower. Hennessey take the standard Exige and then turn it into a 6.2 litre twin-turbo speed machine that will do a Veyron SS busting 267 mph. 0-62 mph is over in 2.5 seconds, similar to what the Veyron manages in.

There are more examples of the mad 1000 plus horsepower hypercars that will do stratospheric speeds. Most of them are one-offs created by tuning houses and others are just concepts on paper. One such concept called the Dagger GT apparently has 2500 bhp on tap and could do 375 mph. Now that is an insane amount of speed which even test tracks like the Nardo Speed bowl or Ehra-Lessien probably couldn’t handle.

Share and Enjoy: