On Sept. 13, 2007, American manufacturer Shelby Super Cars' Ultimate Aero achieved a new Guinness World Records top speed in excess of 256 mph on a 2.5-mile stretch of highway in Washington state.
![](http://images.businessweek.com/ss/08/01/0123_ultimate_aero/image/3_ultimate-aero-nv.jpg)
"There is no doubt about precisely when folks began racing each other in automobiles. It was the day they built the second automobile." -Richard Petty