The company formerly known as Shelby Super Cars, now known as SSC, has already released the replacement for its extreme supercar, the Ultimate Aero. This replacement car is dubbed the Tuatara. You didn’t think that SSC would let its one-multiple-world-record-holding supercar just ride away into the sunset, did you?
If you did, you’re mistaken, as SSC has just announced a special edition model of the Ultimate Aero, dubbed the Ultimate Aero XT, which boasts a power plant never before seen in an Ultimate Aero and styling to match the might behind the seats.
This model will literally be a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it model, as there will only be a small number of examples built. From a quick glance, it looks like this special edition SSC will give the Ultimate Aero a proper send off into retirement, but is this new XT worth all of the hype?
You’ll have to click past the jump past the jump to see what we think of it.
SSC North America, better known as the parent company of models like the record breaking Ultimate Aero and the recently unveiled Tuatara, announced it will be dropping the Shelby name from its title, opting to only use the SSC nomenclature. Apparently, there was way too much confusion when it came to whether or not Jerod Shelby (SSC’s founder) was in any way related to automotive legend, Carroll Shelby.
Jerod Shelby, Founder and Lead Designer, said in an official press release: "After several months of successfully launching our new corporate name and solidifying further International brand awareness for SSC at the Dubai International Motor Show and Top Marques in Macau, it was the right time to officially announce our name change."
"We have always wanted to focus on the pride associated with being an American built supercar and the timing is right," Shelby stated. "We have previously launched the Tuatara in both Shanghai and Pebble Beach and these two events in Dubai and Macau ensure the appropriate branding we are hoping to achieve for our company worldwide."
We don’t necessarily see how only using SSC will stop the annoying "relation" question from being asked, especially since SSC stands for Shelby Super Cars anyway, but with vehicles like the Aero and the Tuatara diving into the supercar market, Jerod Shelby will more than likely get his own following.
Going through all of the glorious supercars of 2011 was no easy task, especially since it felt like every random country of the world was developing their own supercar. Each vehicle we came across deserved to have their time to shine on the list for best supercar of 2011, but as time went on, it was clear which ones stood out above all of the rest.
A couple of the supercars on the list shouldn’t surprise anyone, especially since they were created by one of the top supercar makers in the world. Then there are the relative newbies to the group that have received enough recognition to warrant praise from the average car enthusiast, but the final vehicle would probably not be recognized by many and its home country may actually cause ridicule to ensue. The end result, however, was enough to give it a spot on our list.
Hit the jump to check out which of the supercar bad boys made it to the top of our list for Supercar of the Year.
SSC’s answer to Bugatti’s record breaking Veyron came in the form of the ultra-fast and expertly designed Tuatara released about a year ago. This supercar boasts of an insane quad-cam, twin-turbo 6.8L V8 barreling out a colossal 1350HP and a proposed top speed of 275 mph! Basically, this car is shaping up to be a heart-stopping, Veyron-slaying super car of epic proportions, and now we can match the killer looks and power with the advanced interior recently developed by SSC.
This futuristic interior was developed following the aerospace design found on the exterior. In fact, many of the interior elements found on the Tuatara resemble specific elements of the exterior. For example, the two small, informational HUD displays situated on the left and right of the driver are inspired by the Tuatara’s rear winglets and the central AC vents were inspired by the Tuatara’s twin central exhausts. The holes pattern on the top of the central console area are inspired by the hole patterns on the Tuatara’s exterior body panels and the door pulls even have their exterior counterpart in the flying buttresses from the rear sides of the car.
Shelby Supercars has released new details on the new generation Aero that is set to take on the Veyron SuperSports record. The SSC Aero II is powered by a 6.8-liter four-cam twin-turbo engine that develops an impressive 1,350 HP at 9,000 rpm. Top speed will be in the 440 km/h area or 273 mph. The current world record was set by Bugatti and is 267 mph.
The Aero II will be offered with ABS, traction control, power steering, and Brembo carbon ceramic brakes. It will also be given an active air brake system inspired by airplanes. It will go on sale at a price of $970,000.
Top Gear’s thoughts on the supercar: "A crush on your body, a blur on your vision. As magnetic and sinister as peering over the edge of a cliff at crashing waves hundreds of feet below. A headlong rush - a physical one towards the far-distance, and a metaphorical rush towards the edges of your own self-restraint that, for me at any rate, exposes a gaping shortfall of skill to make the best of torque that can, because there’s no traction control, produce extravagant wheelspin in the first three gears and occasionally in fourth beyond 100mph."
That’s a fantastic description if we’ve ever heard one. And now that TopGear has revealed more details on the SSC Ultimate Aero II, we expect the official debut to come soon. Stay tuned!
The highly-anticipated arrival of the Bugatti Veyron slayer, the SSC Ultimate Aero II, is fast approaching. We’ve seen a few spy photos of the America supercar, but now it looks like Top Gear Magazine may have done all of us better. A lot better.
In the October issue of Top Gear, the magazine was given full access by Shelby Supercars to get as much load as they can on the Ultimate Aero II, the one car that is expected to make a run at the Veyron Supersport speed record for a production car.
Needless to say, we’re all geeked up to see the American powerhouse in action, and while the sight of the Jason Castriota-designed machine is still a ways away, we can take comfort in salivating over the new photos of the Ultimate Aero II that will make their way to the October issue of Top Gear magazine.
There are a few cars in this world that can make a room full of supercar owners stand in wide-eyed disbelief and at a loss for words on the exotic that they’re looking at. One of those few cars is the SSC Ultimate Aero II. Now, we finally get a look at what the new American supercar looks like.
Similar to how Ferrari did a secret unveiling for a select few customers for the 599 Roadster, SSC did the same at the Pebble Beach Concours, bringing a few supercar owners – notice the parade of exotics these owners came in – for the sneak peek of the Ultimate Aero II.
And when you’re a company that broke the speed record for production cars set by the fabled Bugatti Veyron, you know that expectations for the sequel are about as high as they can get. And now that Bugatti has once again one-upped them – the Veyron Super Sports now holds the speed record at 268 mph – it goes without saying that SSC just might have something special brewing with the Ultimate Aero II, and you only need to look at the reactions from these exotic car owners to believe that.
When Bugatti unveiled the Veyron 16.4 Super Sport, Shelby Supercars announced it will not enjoy the title of the fastest car in the world for a very long time as the American company has plans to bring a new generation Ultimate Aero. Compared to the current Aero, the future model will come with a more aggressive design and a sportier look.
There are no official details yet on the car’s specifications, but as it is expected to brake the current 267 mph record, it will be lighter and more powerful than the car it replaces. The current SSC Ultimate Aero is powered by a mid-engined, twin-turbo 6.2-liter V8 engine that delivers a total of 1183 HP and is capable of hitting a top speed of 256 mph. So, we expect the new supercar to deliver somewhere between 1,300 and 1,400 HP.
Stay tuned! Official details will be revealed on September 8th!
The holy grail of speed has always been the production car speed record. Car companies shoot for this record - if they can - in hopes that they can put their names in the history books. Some of them have succeeded and some have failed, but either way, these machines are fantastic.
Most of the cars on the list are very expensive and only built in limited numbers. You would be hard pressed to find any one of the top ten machines on normal streets. Hell, you would be hard pressed to find these cars on local tracks.
In order to get on the list, the car must be street legal, so no Formula One cars or land speed machines. The laws for getting on the list are also very tough, as there are no set rules. Nonetheless, the current fastest production car hit a speed of 267 miles per hour. Can you guess which car that was?
A while ago Shelby Supercars announced their plans to develop a new supercar that would be even faster than the recently launched Bugatti Veyron SuperSports. They still haven’t provided many details on the forthcoming SSC Aero, but they did say the car would debut in September and they offered up the very first teaser image. Okay, so it’s not much of a teaser image, but at least we got a little something.
The current SSC Ultimate Aero is powered by a mid-engined, twin-turbo 6.2-liter V8 engine that delivers a total of 1183 HP and is capable of hitting a top speed of 256 mph. However, in order to run faster than the current 267 mph record, the next Aero will need to be more powerful and lighter. So, we expect the new supercar to deliver somewhere between 1,300 and 1,400 HP.
"We’ve been working on a new project to debut before the end of the summer. Not much can be said at this time except that we’ll be upping the ante on all fronts. Having famed American designer Jason Castriota as our lead design enables SSC to reflect its engineer and performance in its aesthetics. It’s impossible for us to be more thrilled about having him on board and we’re anxious to show the world what we have up our sleeve."
