Car and Driver Tested: The Quickest Cars from the 1950s to Today

One of the pillars of Car and Driver—and Sports Cars Illustrated, which was our name from our founding in 1955 until 1961—has always been recording objective performance data for a wide variety of automobiles.

This tradition began in 1955, and our approach progressively became increasingly scientific as manufacturers became ever more adept at wringing performance from their wares. It’s worth a note that in the fast-and-loose ’60s, carmakers regularly sent magazines “ringers” that were far quicker than what someone could buy off a showroom floor, and these same companies also often vastly underreported output figures.

One of the most egregious cases of this practice involved a certain 421-cubic-inch 1965 Pontiac Catalina 2+2 that appeared in our March 1965 issue. Capable of demolishing the zero-to-60-mph measure in a blazing 3.9 seconds, that particular Catalina, we openly revealed, had been “properly set up” by famed tuner Royal Pontiac. Massive V-8s began to give way to turbocharged muscle in the ’70s, and the 5.4-second zero-to-60 time put down by the mighty 1970 Chevrolet Chevelle SS454 was tied by the 1979 Porsche 911 Turbo.

The trend continued in the ’80s, and the ’90s were all about the supercar. But it’s after the turn of the century when things got real—or rather unreal—with every single car on our list of cars from 2000 to present day bursting from zero to 60 mph before the second hand ticks three times. It’s hard to imagine that cars will continue to get quicker at the same pace we’ve witnessed over the decades, but we’re eagerly awaiting the first car that breaks the mile-a-minute barrier in less than two seconds. You know it’s coming—we’re already at 2.2 seconds with the Porsche 918 Spyder.

Here, find the quickest cars we tested in each decade, starting with the 1950s and continuing through today. Enjoy!

1950'S - 10. 1958 CHEVROLET CORVETTE — 7.6 SECONDS

December 1957

To mark the fourth birthday of the Corvette, its proud parents, the Chevrolet Motor Division, have announced the 1958 model which has undergone some extensive but not too important changes on the surface and a few rather interesting ones underneath. Starting right at the plastic body, the use of aluminum reinforcements in the cowl structure, inaugurated in mid-'57, has been extended to include the so-called "rocker panels" under the door openings. Bumpers are now bracketed to the frame in conventional American style, relieving the front and rear body panels of loads that are not rightfully theirs. These two items raise the weight "less than 100 pounds", but for racing, most of it can be unbolted and left in the pits without the SCCA batting an eye.