Buy the record-setting 270mph Venom GT

Do you want a 270mph, slightly used car? If that answer is yes, and, um, you have over a million dollars to spare, then perhaps you'd be interested in the Hennessey Venom GT.

More specifically, the exact Venom GT that ran a Veyron-bashing 270.4mph at Kennedy Space Center's shuttle runway last year, before it 'ran out of runway'.

Hennessey Venom GT hits a record 270.49mph

John Hennessey is offering up chassis number 07 - one of just 12 Venom GTs ever built - for sale. The price? A cool $1.4 million (£886k) for the Lotus-based supercar, which is a veritable bargain considering that it puts you into a very rarefied, and very fast, world. Cheaper than the sold out LaFerrari/918/P1 triumvirate, and of course, less than the also quite sold out Bugatti Veyron.

The twin-turbo, V8-powered, 1244bhp GT ran that official top speed on the Space Center runway, eclipsing the Veyron SS's 268mph run. Unfortunately, the sprint was only performed in one direction, and because of the limited number of cars Hennessey is producing, can't be qualified as a proper production car. So the Veyron remains - officially at least - the world's fastest car.

Bugatti Veyron: This Is Your Life

Still. The Venom will do 0-60mph in 2.7s. It'll also do 0-100mph in 5.6s, 0-186mph in a world record-breaking 13.63s, hit a quarter mile in under ten seconds and top out officially at 270.49mph. It's still bloody fast. And considering Bugatti has run out of Veyrons to sell you, this is the only way to buy a bona-fide, 270mph car.

There's a new Veyron on the horizon, however, and Hennessey himself is planning on building a 290mph ‘Venom F5'. Where will the top speed wars end?

After burner: Top Gear drives the Venom GT