Manoli Katakis 
SSC North America will only be producing just 100 of the upcoming Tuatara hypercar. What’s sure to be the party piece of any wealthy car collection, the Tuatara starts at $1.9 million USD, and delivers 1,350 horsepower on pump gas and 1,750 hp on E85. For that kind of money, customers also lay claim to the fastest production car in the world.
Recently, the SSC Tuatara achieved a two-way average of 282.9 mph within a 2.6-mile runway in Florida, edging the Koenigsegg Agera’s previous record of 278 mph. And in just four short months, since October 2020, confirmed orders of the SSC Tuatara have spiked from 20 percent to 50 percent.
“Currently our build time is about five months,” shared Shelby. “We’re about 50 percent (fully ordered).” This detail comes ahead of what’s expected to be a true 300 mph speed run, which the SSC Tuatara is mathematically capable of.
“I have a feeling that when our next announcement comes out, that’s going to finish off the allotment,” he said, not giving everything away at once.
SSC plans to build 25 units of the Tuatara hypercar per year. Beyond that, Jerod Shelby has been trickling information about a more “entry level” supercar that’s expected after the Tuatara finds its footing in the market.
“The ‘Little Brother’ project is still very real… it’s still there and is still a plan that is a priority to us,” said Shelby.
“As soon as we feel that the Tuatara has been established out there, and the company is known because of the Tuatara, we’re going to follow up with the ‘Little Brother’ which really carries a lot of the similar DNA to that Tuatara,” said the SSC founder and CEO. “If you park them side-by-side, you can tell they’re related. But it opens the door for a much larger percentage of the population to be able to buy that car. A lot lower price and we would be producing those in much higher volumes.”
“We haven’t picked models of other manufacturers – cars that we want to compete with in price point or performance,” Shelby continued. “We want to look at a market segment that we want to try and hit, and who can afford those cars.”
Previous reports have put the follow-up to the SSC Tuatara to sell in the $400,000-$500,000 range, a small fraction of the $1.9 million starting price of the original. Power ratings will be equally fractioned, with a target output of around 700-800 horsepower. That would put it in line with vehicles such as the $418,000 Lamborghini Aventador, and just below the $625,000 Ferrari SF9 Stradale. Other vehicles, such as the McLaren 720S, come in around $300,000.
“If we start (selling Little Brother) in the United States and around the world, that also establishes the SSC brand in a much bigger way,” explained Shelby.
Of course, the diminutive “Little Brother” program name is unlikely to stay.
“We have not decided on a name yet,” he said.
