Sam Krahn 
It’s been 10 years in the making, but that’s hardly slowing down the SSC Tuatara hypercar. The Washington state based company has been making big moves this year ever since the production vehicle was revealed in full last February. Now, the company has revealed some insane acceleration footage, and revealed some tasty new details to Top Gear. See what 1,750 hp can do below.
Mind blown? Good, because according to Top Gear, you just witnessed was 60-120 mph in 2.5 seconds. Company owner Jerod Shelby told the publication one of his tuners called him after picking up that data off satellites, and didn’t believe a rear-wheel-drive vehicle was capable of acceleration like that. Sounds pretty good with its 8,800 rpm redline, doesn’t it?
The Tuatara’s powerplant is a 5.9 liter twin-turbo flat plane crank V8 made in conjunction with Nelson Racing Engines. A company that’s otherwise offering crate engines to the tune of 1,000 and 1,500 horsepower. But they seemed to save their best efforts for SSC.
This is especially quick considering the car can do this on street tires, as the test footage looks to be on a closed road. Remember, the SSC Tuatara has 1,350 hp in standard form, but pushes 1,750 hp when running on E85. That’s all in a car that weighs just 2,750 lbs. It has some truly insane traction to be able to put that much power down with so little wheel spin. With acceleration like this, it’s easy to see why they are gunning for a top speed of over 300 mph. A feat that only the likes of Koenigsegg and Bugatti seem to be feasibly pursuing right now.
In addition, Shelby told Top Gear he has always planned to create a second model to slot below the SSC Tuatara, but still carry the familial appearance and performance. With only 100 examples being made in total, SSC intends to make the second model more attainable in price and quantity built. Unfortunately, we don’t really know anything else about this second model, other than the fact it is coming.
All in all, SSC looks like they are on track to deliver one of the fastest hypercars ever made, and produce another supercar to slot underneath it. Quite the company. Makes you wonder, then, why they chose the Tuatara to be named after a 2.5 foot long brown lizard from New Zealand.
The American hypercar was designed by Jason Castriota, who has previously penned stunners such as the Ferrari P4/5 by Pininferina, Saab PhoeniX concept, and even the Ferrari 599.
