Remember when the Bugatti Veyron nudged 1000bhp and the world gasped? That may be just ten years ago, but how quickly we've become accustomed to such power is nothing short of daft.
The latest far-into-four-figures contender is this, the svelte though seemingly styling-free LM2 Streamliner. It's the work of Lyons Motor Company in the US, who will pull the cover off it - an action we imagine will be very smooth indeed - at next week's New York motor show.
You want stats? Its twin-turbocharged V8 drives all four wheels through a seven-speed sequential gearbox.
It produces 1700bhp at a dizzying 9000rpm, while 1610lb ft of torque - the equivalent of four Ferrari 458s, or 24 Renault Twingos - is available from just 4000rpm. It's fair to say this should be a rapid car.
And with carbon fibre body panels sitting atop a carbonfibre chassis, it weighs as much as a Golf, at a claimed 1406kg. Its performance is predictably outrageous, then, with Lyon's quoted figures being 0-60mph in 2.2secs, 0-100mph in 4.1secs (!) and 0-200mph in 11.1secs.
It reaches the magic two-zero-zero via an 8.8-second quarter-mile, we're told, crossing the line at 174mph in the process. Its top speed is quoted as "290mph est". There are stability control and ABS systems in a presumably fruitless attempt to keep the heebie-jeebies at bay.
And the simplicity of its styling is matched under the skin, Lyon promising a 99 per cent reduction on a typical car's wiring, with everything controlled via a ginormous 16-inch touchscreen, though quite how its signals are transmitted we're not told. LED headlights and electronically adjustable suspension complete the tech highlights.
If you're wondering why a car with performance that far outstrips even the world's fastest - the Hennessey Venom GT - has slipped under the radar, then you do so with good reason. It's not quite real yet. A prototype will be on show in NYC next week, though; significant as it's the city which will be home to Streamliner manufacturing.
"The LM2 Streamliner is the first American hypercar that will counter the best performing and exclusive vehicles from Europe," Lyon says. For that, read Pagani, Bugatti, McLaren and Ferrari. What chance success?
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