The SSC Tuatara can in some ways be compared to a fine wine or perhaps certain types of cheese. All of these things need time to mature, develop and ripen to achieve perfection. Initially shown as a concept car back in 2011, the Tuatara was finally revealed to the public at this year’s Pebble Beachand what we saw was good.
Performance specs have yet to be released but what we do know is that its twin-turbo 5.9-liter V8 is capable of producing a massive 1,750 horsepower when using E85 flex fuel. We also know what it sounds like thanks to this video from SSC.
Power is one thing but to reach the kinds of speeds that SSC North America has in mind for the Tuatara, the car has to be both aerodynamic and extremely stable at speed. Two conflicting requirements that require low drag and high downforce at the same time, yet former Pininfarina designer Jason Castriota and the SSC engineers have managed to achieve a drag coefficient of just 0.279 which handily eclipses rivals like the Koenigsegg Agera and Bugatti Chiron.
SSC plans to breach the 300-mph barrier, something no production car has done yet. Its 1,199-hp Ultimate Aero TT managed 256.18 mph while the current record holder is the 1,341-hp Koenigsseg Agera RS which achieved 277.87 mph in 2017.
The Tuatara is well positioned to challenge for the top speed crown, its lightweight carbon fiber chassis keeps the dry curb weight down to 2,750 pounds and that 1.3-Megawatt inscription on the engine refers to its insane power-to-weight ratio.
With only 100 Tuatara’s planned for production, it will be a rare sight on the roads and most will probably be stored away without ever being driven. But we hope at least a few owners will use these cars for what they were built for and it will be very interesting to see how it fares when it finally makes its top speed run.
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