Manoli Katakis 
As the SSC Tuatara looks to crack the 300 mph barrier (officially), we recently caught up with SSC North America founder and CEO Jerod Shelby about what the world can expect next from America’s hypercar company. In short, a top-speed re-run is going to happen, followed by a campaign at the Nürburgring.
One may wonder how well a low-downforce hypercar designed to go fast in straight lines will do around The Green Hell. However, Jerod Shelby and the rest of SSC North America have yet to reveal the track-only, high-downforce variant of the Tuatara.
“We will build 100 units of the Tuatara Coupe… and we have follow-up versions in the works for the Tuatara… we currently offer a top speed model of the Tuatara and a high-downforce version, and that can be a street version or a track-only car,” said Shelby in an interview with MC&T. “And we’re almost selling more track versions than we are top speed cars… they look more aggressive, diffusers are bigger, and the wings are bigger.”
SSC hasn’t officially revealed any images of the high-downforce Tuatara, but that’s expected to change soon. If you’re keen on seeing what it looks like, you’ll have to check MC&T in the coming days.
Despite currently holding the production car top speed record, the track-focused Tuatara, according to Shelby, is what the hypercar is made for.
“This car is more suited for road racing settings,” he said. “The braking, the cornering, the acceleration, all of the above, make this a very good track car. And we’re very excited about that and that’s going to be our next focus.”
As for what’s next, don’t expect SSC to make an SUV or a truck anytime soon.
“*laughs* no, not currently. Haven’t thought in that direction. I know there’s a lot of manufacturers thinking in that direction… 5-10 years from now maybe we’ll be in that market, but not as of today.”
When the SSC Tuatara is established, Shelby says his company plans of following up with a “Little Brother” supercar, that will cost a fraction of the price compared to the flagship hypercar.
As for what Jerod Shelby has in his garage, it’s a rather approachable choice.
“I get to drive the Tuataras all the time… I don’t really have any exotic cars,” said Shelby.” This is probably boring but I drive a newer Chevrolet Suburban… other than that, I’m a big fan of the Audi R8. I’ve always been very impressed with the engineering and performance of that car they produce for the price. I don’t own one… I think I get my excitement driving the Tuataras.”
The SSC Tuatara will start at around $1.6 million to $1.9 million, depending on the variant that customers opt for. From there, they will get to choose between 14 pages of options and personalization.
