Volvo’s 2,367bhp Iron Knight has been named the world’s fastest truck.

Driven by Swedish truck racing ace Boije Overbrink, the 4.5-tonne Iron Knight set new official speed records in the standing-start 500- and 1000-metre categories at a closed test track in northern Sweden.

The lightning-quick truck covered 500 meters in 13.71 seconds, and 1,000 metres in 21.29 seconds, with an average speed of 81mph and 105mph respectively. At its fastest, the truck reached 171mph.

Everything apart from the truck’s powertrain had been hand-built from the ground up, revealed Volvo Trucks technician Olof Johansson

"Specialists from several different Volvo Trucks departments worked closely together to develop a truck with unsurpassed performance," he explained.

"The fact that we succeeded in securing not just one record but two is absolutely amazing."

Driver and one-time European Truck Racing Champion Boije Overbrink had already beaten five speed records in his 30-plus years of truck racing.

He described the Iron Knight as ‘perfection’, adding: "It's beautiful to look at and is an unparalleled powerhouse when you floor the accelerator."

At the time of writing, the records were being reviewed by the FIA, the international motor sport association.

Watch the Iron Knight set both of its world records below: