A CENTURY OF SPEED

What better way to celebrate our birthday than with our most valuable photoshoot ever, gathering together 100 years of Britain's fastest cars?

- SIMON HUCKNALL

In the pantheon of motoring endeavour, a sporting vehicle's maximum speed has arguably held greater sway in manufacturers' marketing departments than any other performance metric. It may be less relevant now, when even the lowliest city car can comfortably exceed the national speed limit, but for most performance-car makers a high top speed remains a badge of honour - even if experiencing it properly nowadays means a visit to a German autobahn or Australia's Northern Territory (or your local prison cell, if you're particularly foolhardy).

Poles - and 200mph - apart, the Vauxhall 30-98 and Bugatti Chiron bookend our journey. Below: behind the scenes of a memorable day