SSC

Even since its official launch in 2020 the SSC Tuatara has seen a lot of controversy. First of all, it was said to have hit 331 mph, becoming the world’s fastest supercar, then the record was said to be illegitimate because of some weird inaccuracies, and the Tuatara lost the title. After a few more attempts, the Tuatara finally became the world’s most powerful supercar, but not with 330 mph. Instead, it managed to hit a top speed of 295 mph in the presence of the right people - and the record was made official. But what about its power? Does the Tuatara actually deliver as much as SSC claims?

The first production car with a recorded speed was the 1894 Benz Velo that had a top speed of just 12 mph. Few verified records exist from that point until around 1950, when the Jaguar XK120 set a production car speed record of 124.6 mph (not to be confused with the tuned prototype that managed to hit 133 mph) From this point on, it became a trend for automotive publications to do their own top speed test. Even the venerable McLaren F1 was tested by Car & Driver, and in 2005 we got our first government-official speed record set by the Bugatti Veyron EB 16.4 and verified by German inspection officials in 2005. It was that moment when the official challenge between manufacturers kicked off, and since then there have only been a handful of cars up to breaking the record. This list covers the top 10 fastest cars in the world, ranked from slowest to fastest.

While most people might automatically assume some of the fastest cars ever made are from Europe or Japan, that simply isn’t the case because you’ve got some pretty serious speed machines conceived right here in America. This list is comprised of cars from both mainstream automakers and boutique manufacturers who produce just a handful of super-exotics per year. Spoiler: The fastest American car also happens to be the world’s fastest production car currently!

Topping out as the world’s fastest production car in 2022, the SSC Tuatara is one of the most iconic American cars of this decade. Now, it seems that SSC owner, Jerod Shelby, has something on his mind to keep the crown in-house. A recent report from Motor Authority claims that the Washington-based hypercar company is planning an electrified version of the Tuatara with an AWD system. Does this mean it’ll be even more capable?

One of the biggest news of 2020 was SSC Tuatara’s alleged 330-mph top speed run. The news ended amid controversy as many said there were inconsistencies between the automaker’s claims and what actually happened during that run. In the end, SSC had to admit it failed to achieve 330 mph, and, on its next attempt, the Tuatara hit a top speed of 282.9 mph. While the number is nowhere near 330 mph, the Tuatara still broke the Agera RS’ previous 277.9 mph top speed record.

SSC wasn’t happy with that result, and it took the Tuatara back on the track for another attempt. The result was more than satisfying as the supercar got even closer to the 300-mph mark.

With an average top speed of 282.9 mph (455.3 km/h), the SSC Tuatara is currently considered the fastest production car in the world. 

The 2020 SSC Tuatara is the production version of a supercar that SSC North American has been developing since the late 2000s. Previewed by a concept car in 2011 and a pre-production model in 2018, the 2020 Tuatara is finally ready to go into production in 2020.

Aimed at supercars like the Bugatti Chiron, Koenigsegg Jesko, and the Hennessey Venom F5, the 2020 Tuatara features a V-8 engine that generates up to 1,750 horsepower and promises to hit a top speed in excess of 300 mph. The supercar costs more than $2 million and is limited to only 100 units. Let’s find out more about it in the review below.

SSC Tuatara was in the news for being the world’s fastest production car. We’ll not get into the drama that unfolded regarding the record-setting run since the company has some other news for us. SSC has unveiled two iterations of the 1,750-horsepower Tuatara called the Striker and Aggressor. What’s special about them, you ask? More power in one and higher power-handling capabilities, especially downforce, in the other. Crazy, right?

Quite recently, the SSC Tuatara set out to have another go at the 300 mph (482.8 km/h) barrier. However, there was an unexpected setback, which resulted in the American hypercar being wrecked. The accident happened in Utah on April 13, when the carrier flipped over due to the high winds on I-15. Actually, this is the very same #001 car that claimed the title of the fastest production car back in January.

The SSC Tuatara’s claim as the fastest production car in the world appears to finally have some legitimacy to it after the American hypercar clocked a record-setting, two-way average speed of 282.6 mph at the Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds that’s located on the premises of the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. The new attempt at the top speed record comes a few months after SSC came under heavy scrutiny for claiming that the Tuatara had reached a top speed of 331.1 mph. Inconsistencies with the videos that SSC released to the media led to people questioning the validity of SSC’s claims, to which the automaker responded by saying that it would attempt another record run. Well, that record run has happened, and unless SSC makes another monumental snafu in verifying the validity of this new record run, it does appear that the Tuatara hypercar is now the fastest production car in the world.

The dust has barely settled on Nevada’s Route 160 where SSC’s latest hypercar, the Tuatara, reportedly broke the world speed record for a production car after reaching 331 mph on October 10th and the American automaker is set to return to the highway or a different stretch of road to do it all over again. As doubts mounted over the credibility of SSC’s claims, CEO and Founder Jerod Shelby himself vowed to give it another go in a bid to clear his and the company’s name following the "stained" record attempt.

SSC made headlines earlier this month when it announced that it had set a new world record for production cars with the Tuatara. The American company revealed that its latest supercar hit an average top speed of 316 mph during a two-way run on a closed road in Nevada, taking the official record from Koenigsegg and also breaking the unofficial record of the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+, the first production car to surpass the 300-mph mark.

But famed YouTubers Shmee150 and Misha Charoudin are questioning SSC’s record-setting run and video, suggesting that the speeds shown in the onboard footage aren’t real. The company issued a follow-up statement, but it did not address the errors discovered in its videos. Should SSC run a new record-setting attempt?

Having set a new world speed record for production cars at 316.1 mph in October 2020, the SSC Tuatara is the supercar of the moment. It took SSC almost nine years to turn the concept car into a production model, but we can finally see why. Not only the fastest car on the planet, but the Tuatara is also among the most powerful thanks to a race-spec V-8 engine that cranks out 1,750 horsepower on E85 fuel. The issue with the Tuatara is that it’s extremely exclusive and expensive, but SSC wants to fix that with a "baby Tuatara."