Porsche Carrera GT1

Bugatti’s mantle as purveyors of the World’s Fastest Automobile won’t last through decade’s end if Porsche has anything to say about it.

Stuttgart’s engineers are reportedly hard at work on a roadgoing iteration of a future Le Mans contender, dubbed the GT1. The super car is expected to call upon every one of its 950 horsepower en route to a top whack of 254 mph, pipping Bugatti’s Veyron by a pair of speedometer increments.

Based on the carbon fiber chassis of the out-of-production Carrera GT, the GT1 is said to incorporate new front and rear end fixtures, but the powerplant remains up for debate. Sources indicate that it could be powered by a twin-turbo 5.5-liter V-8 derived from the Cayenne SUV, or it could simply be a force-fed version of the Carrera GT’s V-10.

Either way, expect a high dollar, high profile dogfight between Ettore’s and Ferdinand’s people in just a few years.