It took SSC nearly a decade to bring the Tuatara concept to fruition, but the hypercar has finally arrived as the first customer car was delivered earlier this year after a long wait.
Using the “Life begins at 300” motto, the company has dropped a new video with the speed beast on an empty stretch of road, possibly in Eastern Washington. It would appear the company closed down a section of that road to film this short clip with the Tuatara at full tilt.
Not only we get to see the hypercar in action, but we’re also given the opportunity to hear the aggressive soundtrack delivered by the twin-turbo V8 engine with a flat-plane crank setup. It’s hooked up to a seven-speed paddle-shift transmission that changes gears in fewer than 100 milliseconds while sending 1,350 bhp to the road. Mind you, the 5.9-litre engine delivers that power while feeding on 91 octane, but put E85 and it’ll churn a whopping 1,750 bhp.
Gallery: 2020 SCC Tuatara
SSC doesn’t say how fast the car goes in the video, but the company has previously said it will hit the 300-mph mark. A top speed test has not been announced yet, so we’ll have to wait and see whether the Tuatara can reach the promised velocity that would put it in the same league with the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+ and its 304.773 mph (490.484 km/h).
It’s worth mentioning Hennessey also wants a piece of the action with its Venom F5, while Koenigsegg recently said its Jesko Absolut could theoretically do 330 mph (532 km/h). Bugatti says it is done chasing speed records, so if its record will fall, the folks from Molsheim won’t develop a hardcore Chiron to reclaim the top-speed crown.
Get up to speed with the Tuatara:
SSC North America will make 100 hypercars at its plant in Richland, Washington where the mid-engined Tuatara gets a carbon fibre body and monocoque to keep the dry weight at a remarkably low 1,247 kilograms (2,750 pounds). The impressive numbers and futuristic styling come at a cost as the car carries a starting price of more than $1.6 million (approx. £1.28 million), rising to $1.9M (£1.52) for a fully loaded variant.
Source: SSC North America / YouTube