First Production SSC Tuatara

SSC Tuatara

With the production of customer Tuatara hypercars well underway at SSC North America headquarters in Richland, Washington, the public has its first chance to witness the product of over a decade of design, engineering, and development as Larry Caplin and his organization, CF Charities, of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania reveals his 2020 SSC Tuatara, the first of one hundred exclusive units to be produced, on February 7th, 2020 at the Philadelphia Auto Show.

The SSC Tuatara is a hypercar that alters reality on several automotive design and engineering fronts. The Tuatara project, code named "Exceed", began in 2009, when SSC North America Founder and CEO Jerod Shelby began to look to the future for a successor to the company's record-breaking SSC Ultimate Aero, which held the Guinness World Record for Fastest Production Car in the World from 2007 to 2010. From there, he assembled a collaboration of industry leading individuals and firms to enhance the SSC engineering team.

"The resulting aerodynamics package sets the Tuatara apart from our competitors. Not only does the car boast a class leading 0.279 drag coefficient, but also maintains an identical aero balance from 100 mph to well over 300 mph, resulting in an incredibly stable and predictable car that instills absolute confidence in the driver." - Jason Castriota

​The SSC Twin Turbo V8 revolutionizes the potential of hypercar powerplants. Producing 1,350 horsepower with 91 octane or a massive 1,750 horsepower with E85, the SSC V8 pairs with a CIMA 7 speed transmission, integrated with a state-of-the-art Automac AMT system, providing sub-100 millisecond shifting capabilities in Track Mode.

The aggressive capabilities of the Tuatara may be apparent through the astonishing aerodynamics and power it boasts, but the vision of the car was to achieve the rare ability for the car to transform its capabilities at the touch of a button. Integrated into the Tuatara are advanced automated systems, granting the driver the ability to completely alter the suspension, ride height, handling, acceleration, shifting, and overall drivability: Sport Mode and Track Mode 

​With an extreme level of performance at the driver's disposal, operator and passenger comfort and connectivity is key to the unprecedented experience that the Tuatara has to offer. Dihedral opening doors offer both spacious cab egress and stunning curbside attraction, as well as ease of use. At the press of a button, the hydraulically actuated doors open effortlessly, welcoming the individual to a well appointed cockpit. Safety is immediately apparent as exposed carbon fiber encases the cab. 

​Each and every detail of the pure and purposeful interior has been designed to maximize the ability to focus on the task at hand, redefining all paradigms of speed, distraction free. 
On the center console sits a readily available touch screen system, offering the driver all of the vehicle's toggles, controls, diagnostics, and entertainment in a practical user interface. At the touch of the screen, the driver has access to the multiple driving modes, tire pressures, complete diagnostics, climate control, music, and more. 

SSC North America will produce one hundred Tuatara hypercars, all manufactured at the company headquarters in Richland, Washington, USA. Manhattan Motorcars of New York is the exclusive Northeast United States Authorized Tuatara Dealership. An extensive options list gives customers a chance to make each Tuatara truly unique, with high speed and track-centered configurations available.