SSC North America announced a 2,200-horsepower version of the Tuatara this spring, as well as a version with a new aero system.
SSC is the evolution of Shelby SuperCars. The company has pushed the automotive speed envelope since the 2000s, when they entered the Guinness Book of World Records after their first model, the Ultimate Aero, hit 256 MPH. Since that time, two other exotic designers have entered the fray—Koenigsegg and Bugatti—and the members of this speed demon trio have played a spirited game of record-breaking leapfrog since.
Late last year, SSC took the prize when a Tuatara screeched to 331 MPH, an astonishing and somewhat terrifying speed for a vehicle without wings. The new variations on the model are called the Striker and the Aggressor. Both sound as militant as names carried by late 20th century fighter jets or cruise missiles, and both look as uncompromising.
The Striker boasts three times the downforce, at peak, of the regular Tuatara; the dramatic improvement is the result of a complex aero system that includes a fixed rear wing and submarine-like dive planes. The car’s power capabilities mirror the regular Tuatara: 1,750 horsepower.
The Aggressor is not street legal. With an optional upgrade, it can be ordered as a 2,200-horsepower car, and it uses the aero system of the Striker to keep it from taking off even without wings. Yikes.
Ten Aggressor Tuataras will be built, according to SSC. The company plans to build 100 Striker and Tuatara examples before finishing production.
