Shelby SuperCars made a big splash with its Aero and Ultimate Aero supercars. Here was a small American company challenging the Volkswagen Group’s Bugatti Veyron for title of world’s fastest production car. The Veyron was developed with great care and expertise, as well as with a no-expense spared development program.
Undaunted, SSC’s Ultimate Aero achieved that goal, setting a Guinness World Book of Records-verified record on October 9th, 2007 with a speed of 256.19 mph. Bugatti commissioned the Veyron SuperSport to reclaim the record, and on June 26th, 2010 it did just that, with a 267.856 mph time.
SSC is moving on from the Ultimate Aero now though, introducing a next-generation supercar. Today, the company announced the name of this car, and it is a bit different to say the least – Tuatara. That is pronounced twu-tar-ah, and it comes from a reptile hailing from the country of New Zealand. What kind of name is that? It brings to mind Pagani’s selection of Huayra for its new supercar.
The new Tuatara is part of an effort to be more sophisticated, and the change is readily apparent in the car’s design. The Tuatara gets a sleek, futuristic and concept-like appearance that contrasts with the crude design of the Ultimate Aero.
It is likely thanks to more development dollars at the company’s disposal – the Tuatara was designed by designer Jason Castriota. Jerod Shelby, SSC founder and Chief Executive Officer says that the “SSC’s Tuatara is about to monumentally evolve in the areas of sophistication, design, aerodynamics and sheer all?around performance.”
With 1,350 horsepower under the hood, SSC says it “ups the ante on ALL levels.” Does that mean a new run at the world record is in the works? Knowing SSC, that is exactly what they’re aiming for with this car. Interestingly, just 12 copies of the Tuatara are said to be produced, at a price tag of $800-900,000 each. Below is a video of CEO Jerod Shelby (who has no relation to Caroll Shelby, BTW) introducing the car. Bugatti, watch out – with SSC in the hunt, your hold on the world record is tenuous.
