The Bugatti Veyron is amazingly fast, ripping from standstill-to-60 mph in 2.5 seconds; so we can only imagine what zero-to-60 mph in one second must feel like, especially if it were performed on a city street. Running off pump gas and with DOT-approved tires, one would be hard press to have guessed Rod Saboury’s 1963 Corvette can not only beat one of the world’s fastest production cars to sixty but trip the quarter-mile lights in lightning-quick 6.95 seconds; leading the Veyron by a whole four seconds. Recognized as the world’s fastest street-legal automobile, the Corvette certainly looks the part, with its massive hood bulge and intimidating hood intakes that look very similar to the round vents that can be found on the Spyker C8 Aileron.

Saboury’s Corvette utilizes a 2,400-hp twin-turbocharged Chevy engine built by Morgan Industries; the car doubles the power created by the Veyron’s quad-turbocharged W-16 engine. Power is directed to the rear wheels through a 4-speed transmission and planted to the pavement via huge 22-inch rims and tires. The Veyron, in constrast, uses a power-sapping four-wheel-drive layout that aids in traction during full- or even half-throttle acceleration.

The Corvette took two years to design and five years to build; Saboury would not comment on the total cost of the car. For comparison, Bugatti, and the nearly endless resources offered by its parent company Volkswagen, took seven years to bring the Veyron to market at a cost of nearly $400 million.

Of course, it may be unfair to compare a dragster with a production car that comes with a warranty and is designed to hit the twisty roads as well as rip to sixty.  

"This is not a street car that you can race. It is a race car that you can drive on the street," said Saboury "We have designed and built this car to leave the starting line as fast as possible to get the forward momentum going."

To read more of Saboury’s tale, click here.

Provided by duPont REGISTRY