It is essentially a compilation of 12 songs taken from the band's first two initially UK-released albums: six from Stray Cats and five from Gonna Ball, plus the title track, "Built for Speed", which had not previously been released in the UK.

It was the most successful record for the band, with the videos for songs such as "Rock This Town" and "Stray Cat Strut" reaching MTV regular rotation status. The title track can also be heard in the 1984 film Surf II.

In a contemporary review for The Village Voice, music critic Robert Christgau gave the album a "B-" and said that, despite Brian Setzer's exotic, modernistic guitar touches, "the mild vocals just ain't rockabilly. You know how it is when white boys strive for authenticity—'57 V-8 my ass." In a retrospective review, Mark Deming of Allmusic gave it four-and-a-half out of five stars and wrote that the melodies and playing are strong enough to withstand datedness on what is "song-for-song the group's strongest album, despite the cut-and-paste manner in which it was created."

All tracks written by Brian Setzer except as indicated.

Note: "Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie" is often miscredited as having been written by Mike Chapman, who recorded a song of the same name with his band Tangerine Peel. However, Chapman's "Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie" is a completely different song than the one the Stray Cats recorded; they just happen to share the same title. The Stray Cats' "Jeanie, Jeanie, Jeanie" was originally done by Eddie Cochran, and was written by George Motola and Ricky Page (regardless of what the original Built For Speed album or other various Stray Cats collections may claim).

...
Wikipedia