Who says older drivers are too slow? 71-year-old Chuck Bigelow has just snatched the world production car record with a speed of 256.19mph.

Bigelow was at the wheel of the Ultimate Aero from American exotic car manufacturer Shelby Supercars, the first time an American manufacturer has held the record since Ford whose GT40 captured it in 1967.

GALLERY: SSC Ultimate Aero

Click images to enlarge, more belowWhat's even more impressive is that the record run was held on public roads, albeit closed ones, in Washington State, America, requiring Bigelow to negotiate an S-bend at a minimum of 210mph in order to have enough room to accelerate through the measured mile. As Guinness World Record rules stipulate, the Ultimate Aero made two runs in either direction within one hour. Thanks to SSC's bespoke twin-turbo V8 producing 1183bhp and 1094lb/ft of torque, the car clocked 257.45mph on the first run and 254.92mph on the second.

Averaged out this gave a top speed of 256.19mph, beating the record held by the Koenigsegg CCR by 15.09mph and the Bugatti Veyron (which has never been officially tested) by 3.63mph. However the makers of the Ultimate Aero are confident that the car would go quicker on a dedicated track, having calculated that it would remain aerodynamically stable up to 273mph. Of course this is still a long way short of the fastest British car ever built, Thrust SSC, which holds the World Land Speed Record of 763mph
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