Christian von Koenigsegg is a Swedish inventor who made billions by creating Click – those clickable floorboards used in homes and buildings around the world. After raking in those spoils, his attention turned to building the ultimate luxury sports car, which led to the creation of Koenigsegg Automotive.
The company is world-renown for its line of high-performance, ultra-expensive sports cars – like the kind that cost $2 million each and have a waiting list of five years, as the company only makes five or so cars annually.
Nonetheless, it is a production car, and for now, the Koenigsegg’s Agera RS is the fastest such car in the world.
Following Texas-based Hennessey Performance’s unveiling of their Venom F5 Viper last week, which is reportedly capable of topping 300 MPH, Koenigsegg got the Nevada Department of Transportation to close an 11-mile stretch of highway outside of Las Vegas as it attempted to break the 268 mph record held by Bugatti’s Veyron Super Sport.
And it did just that, performing two runs at an average top speed of 277.9 mph. The record was verified by officials from the Guinness Book of World Records.
A closer look at the Agera RS shows why the company can get away with such an outrageous price tag. In addition to every creature comfort you could imagine, the vehicle’s twin-turbocharged, all-aluminum V8 engine pumps out 1,160 horsepower.
But more impressive is the vehicle’s use of lightweight materials such as carbon fiber and aluminum – meaning it weighs about as much as a typical passenger vehicle, but up to 1,500 pounds less than supercars like the Veyron which previously held the speed record.
Right now, you might be thinking about a report I gave about two weeks ago touting the Hennessey Venom F5 Viper as the world’s fastest car. Well, it still could be, but as of this recording, the good folks at Hennessey haven’t actually proven that the F5 can top 300 mph.