SSC is to reveal its long-awaited Tuatara hypercar at Pebble Beach later this month, but has part-revealed the car in murky preview shots.
The brand last showed an early version of car at the 2011 Pebble Beach celebrations. At that stage, it had a claimed power output of 1350bhp, courtesy of a 7.0-litre biturbo V8.
SSC claims the car's top speed will be "easily" in excess of 278mph. The firm plans to make a bid for the world record for highest speed in a production car - a record set in late 2017 by Swedish hypercar maker Köenigsegg in its Agera RS.
Rival American hypercar maker Hennessey claims that its Venom F5 can reach 300mph, so it’s likely that SSC’s top speed ambitions match this. Tyres have, until now, been a limiting factor in how fast a car can go, but Hennessey CEO John Hennessey revealed previously to Autocar that “Michelin is going to give us its full technical support to make sure we have a proper tyre for the speeds we want to run”.
SSC claims the Tuatara will have an “unmatched drag coefficient”, with the car’s slippery shape aiding it in reaching the record-breaking speeds it’s targeting.
In addition to this, SSC claims the car’s handling characteristics lend themselves to track use. There’s no word on whether the car is being lined up for the planned FIA hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship, scheduled for its inaugural season in 2020, although if the car did compete, it would have to cap its power output at 965bhp.
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