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The SSC Tuatara was designed solely and exclusively to reach extreme speeds.
The hypercar's V8 twin turbo engine has an output of 1750 hp.
Photo: SSC North America
Road 160, just west of Las Vegas, runs between Mountain Springs and Pharump for a good eleven kilometers in a straight line through the Nevada desert.
The British racing driver Oliver Webb wrote a particularly crazy chapter in automotive history there.
He raced on the section cordoned off for this action with a hypercar of the type SSC Tuatara 532.93 km / h.
Never before has a production car been measured at such a speed.
The new, official speed record, however, was set at 508.73 km / h.
This in turn is due to the special regulations that apply to such record hunts.
They stipulate that the vehicle must cover the same distance in both directions within an hour.
The average of the two top speeds achieved is then considered a new record.
The car only reached the Affenzahn of almost 533 km / h on one of these two trips.
The hunt for superlatives in speed is not least a marketing measure.
Manufacturers promise that their own product will stand out among the many super sports car models.
The fastest can only ever be one.
In times when the end of the internal combustion engine is being discussed, there is also a hint of car nostalgia when SSC boss Jerod Shelby speaks about the world record: "We have now made automotive history," says the 52-year-old.
"And we hope that this will inspire others to fight each other and push new boundaries."
Others may consider such words to be quite out of date in view of the climate crisis and congested streets.
A car of extremes
At the SSC Tuatara everything is designed for high speed.
The two-seater's chassis, body and rims are made of carbon fiber laminate, and the car weighs a moderate 1247 kilograms.
The selection of the driving modes shows that this vehicle only knows extremes.
You can choose between "Sport Mode" (according to the manufacturer's website for driving in the city) and "Track Mode" (which was activated during the record drives) on the touchscreen.
For the Tuatara, SSC worked with the Californian high-performance engine manufacturer Nelson Racing Engines to develop a V8 unit with a displacement of 5.9 liters and twin turbo charging.
It develops 1750 hp.
In addition, there is a sequential seven-speed transmission that enables gear changes in less than 100 milliseconds.
The sophisticated aerodynamics of the vehicle, which is only 1.07 meters high, and special wings on the rear fenders prevent the Tuatara from taking off at speeds of more than 500 km / h.
For comparison: passenger planes or even fighter jets are a maximum of 300 km / h when taking off.
The SSC Tuartara was designed by Jason Castriota, who previously worked for Saab and now works for Ford.
He gave the swept and sleek, crouched car wing doors and a comparatively luxurious interior with lavish instrumentation and leather seats.
The black racer is therefore somewhat reminiscent of the Batmobile, the vehicle of comic hero Batman.
SSC has experience with records
SSC North America, the manufacturer of the record-breaking vehicle, was founded in 1998 in Richland, Washington, USA.
It is named after its founder Jerod Shelby (not related to sports car designer Carroll Shelby).
SSC stands for Shelby's Super Cars.
SSC currently has 24 employees.
The company attracted attention back in 2007 when it first sent the world's fastest production car out onto the slopes.
The SSC Ultimate Aero hypercar reached 412 km / h at that time, the record was valid until 2010. Then the French manufacturer Bugatti, which belongs to the VW Group, set a new record with the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport: 431 km / h.
Around this time, work on the new tuatara began at SSC in America.
This, in turn, has now replaced the Swedish Koenigsegg Agera RS, which set a speed record of 457 km / h in 2017.
Now a small series is to be built
It is possible that the next top value could follow soon.
SSC driver Oliver Webb was at least combative after his drive in Nevada.
"Something else could have happened," said Webb.
However, too strong a crosswind prevented an even higher speed.
In any case, the car was not yet at its limit.
In July, the car was presented to the public for the first time at the Philadelphia Auto Show.
It should be up for sale soon.
SSC plans to build a total of one hundred copies.
The unit price is said to be 1.9 million US dollars.
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