Guinness World Records has reinstated the ‘World’s Fastest Production car’ title to Bugatti Veyron Super Sport. Earlier this month the Veyron’s record was declared invalid after John Hennessey in an interview brought to notice that the 30 cars sold have a speed limiter restricting the owners to 415kph, while the record speed clocked is close to 431kph.
Guinness statement said, “It has come to the attention of Guinness World Records that there was an oversight in its adjudication of the ‘Fastest production car’, which was set in 2010 by the Bugatti Veyron 16.4 Super Sport.
“As the car’s speed limiter was deactivated, this modification was against the official guidelines. Consequently, the vehicle’s record set at 431.072 km/h is no longer valid. Following this, Guinness World Records is reviewing this category with expert external consultants to ensure our records fairly reflect achievements in this field.”
While Bugatti stated that the update did not bother them much and the speed limiter was installed purely for safety reasons. They also said that Guinness was aware of the restrictor and the Veyron SS is more than just a world-record car.
Now after conducting more thorough reviews with external experts Guinness has reinstated the speed record to Veyron SS. Guinness official website says, “Following a thorough review conducted with a number of external experts, Guinness World Records is pleased to announce the confirmation of Bugatti’s record of Fastest production car achieved by the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport. The focus of the review was with respect to what may constitute a modification to a car’s standard specification. Having evaluated all the necessary information, Guinness World Records is now satisfied that a change to the speed limiter does not alter the fundamental design of the car or its engine.”
The battle for the title of the fastest production car with or without limiter is going to be on for a while. Some say Hennessey will win at 427kph if both the cars race on a straight track; while others believe Bugatti is doing the right thing as 415kph is safer than 431kph!
