Watch: Venom GT hits 265.7mph

It took just two miles for John Hennessey's diminutive Venom GT to eye up the Bugatti Veyron Supersport square in the eye and kick it in the shins. That's because it took just two miles for this Lotus-based rocket to accelerate to a speed of 265.7mph.

That, people of the Internet, makes it the fastest production car... in the world.

Now, if you're scratching your head and thinking ‘hang on, didn't the Veyron Supersport do 268mph a couple of years ago?', you're right. But Hennessey points out that production versions of the Supersport are limited to 258mph - to prevent the tyres from exploding - thus allowing the Venom GT to steal the top spot.

Somewhat crushingly, we're told this 265.7mph achievement isn't the end. Following the run along a naval air base in California, Hennessey said: "We are going to need a longer runway or road to find out its top speed." Ah yes, a longer runway: as mentioned, the Venom ran across a two-mile stretch, half the distance the Veyron took to hit 268mph.

And it's doubly scary considering it was only earlier this year the Venom officially became the fastest car to accelerate from 0-300kmh (186mph), hitting that speed in just 13.63 seconds.

How much more has that aluminium, 7.0-litre, twin-turbocharged V8 got to offer? Next we'll be hearing about the Venom GT rocketing off into the outer reaches of space...

Watch the video below, and pick up the new issue of Top Gear magazine for more on this story...