HOW DOES IT DRIVE?

It’s only four miles between the factory and a car park where Andy Wallace gets out of the Chiron Super Sport’s driver’s seat and I get in, but he has already shown how it makes over 900bhp at less than 4000rpm and can navigate France’s biggest speed bump without cracking its undertray.

We’re testing it on public roads “because it’s a road car,” he says. It’s just one with 1578bhp and a 273mph speed limiter.

The Super Sport is slightly more habitable than the limited-edition Super Sport 300+, which replicated the prototype Wallace took to 300mph. It’s mechanically identical but has an interior like the regular Chiron: leather-lined and comfortable.

Most significantly, the Super Sport cars have their rear extended by 250mm. The exhausts are turned vertically and separated, rather than sitting horizontally in the centre of the car, so the diffuser can be wider and stretch closer to the upper body. This extends and closes the tail, making it closer to the ideal ‘teardrop’ shape.

The numbers are ludicrous, of course. It will do 0-62mph in 2.4sec and 0-124mph in 5.8sec;