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Without a doubt, the SSC Tuatara is seeking the fastest car title in the world. American automaker SSC took time to develop the Tuatara, and we think the car won’t pass the conceptual stage after first debuting at Pebble Beach in 2011, when SSC was still known as Shelby SuperCars Inc.
The Tuatara is now packing a 5.9-liter twin-turbocharged V8 engine, and you can hear it in action as the Tuatara stretches its legs out on an empty road.
The video is less than 50 seconds long, but it says a lot, right? Not only did it reveal the Tuatara’s ability to hit top speed, it also gave us a hint of that glorious V8 engine. Honestly, we expected a little more savagery and noise from the blown mill, but it sounds magnificent nonetheless.
The SSC Tuatara is the brainchild of Jerod Shelby. No, this Shelby is unrelated to the iconic Carrol Shelby, but both men share the same passion for speed. Shelby SuperCars was established in 1998 and is now known as SSC North America. In 2006, the automaker introduced the SSC Ultimate Aero, a car that had the title of the fastest production car.
The SSC Ultimate Aero clocked at 256.18 mph (413 kph), a feat that had not been heard in a production car at the time. Three years later Bugatti came to town with the Veyron Super Sport and took the crown home. The Veyron Super Sport reached 267,856 mph (431.07 kph) and was declared the fastest legal production car on the street by the Guinness Book of Records.
Bugatti did it again in 2019 using a long-tailed version of the Chiron. He broke the Veyron’s speed record by breaking the 300 mph barrier. The Bugatti Chiron Super Sport + reached 304,773 mph (490+ kph) and is now officially recognized as the fastest production car in the world.
But SSC is not done. The company introduced the first Tuatara to leave the assembly line in February 2020, and it appears that SSC is poised to wrest the speed title from Bugatti. According to SSC, the Tuatara has a top speed of over 300 mph and is the most aerodynamic supercar in production today.
Jason Castriota, the man behind the 2007 Maserati Gran Turismo and 2006 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, among many others, wrote the slippery body shape and has a drag coefficient of 0.279 Cd. The Tuatara has a fiberglass monocoque body and chassis. lightweight carbon to save weight. True to form, the Tuatara tips the balance at around 2,750 pounds.
Of course, he has the muscle to back up his jet fighter-inspired style. The SSC Tuatara is powered by a 5.9-liter, twin-turbocharged V8 engine developed in conjunction with Nelson Racing Engines. With a steady diet of E85 gasoline, the SSC Tuatara is pushing 1,750 horsepower to the asphalt. Fill it with 91 octane fuel and you’ll still get 1,350 horsepower from the blown mill. The engine is coupled to a CIMA seven-speed semi-automatic gearbox that spins the rear wheels.
SSC North America only manufactures 100 Tuatara limited execution units from $ 1.3 million to $ 1.9 million each. But is it fast enough to regain the speed crown? We’ll have to wait and see.
