SSC Tuatara is the world’s fastest production car

The world’s fastest car has been knocked off by an upstart in the Las Vegas desert. And the new benchmark time may stand for years.

The world’s fastest car comes from a brand you’ve probably never heard of.

Named the SSC Tuatara, the American built supercar was clocked at 508km/h — smashing the previous record of about 488km/h set by the Bugatti Chiron Super Sport 300+.

SSC Tuatara set a new world record for the fastest production car at 508km/h.

The Tuatara’s actual top speed was 532km/h, but the official record is made up of an average of two timed runs, one in each direction to account for wind resistance.

The mind-melting speed record was achieved on a closed section of highway in Nevada, outside of Las Vegas. It’s the same place the European-made Koenigsegg Regara RS set its 447km/h record back in 2017.

The SSC Tuatara actual top speed was 532km/h.

SSC is the brainchild of Jerod Shelby — no relation to the legendary Carroll Shelby whose name is applied to the most wild Ford Mustangs.

Shelby believes the Tuatara’s record is going to be hard to beat.

“We came pretty close to meeting the theoretical numbers, which is astonishing to do in a real world setting on a public road,” said Shelby. “America’s new claim to victory in the ‘land-based space race’ is going to be tough to beat.”

But if someone does manage to surpass the American’s record it might not last for long according to record breaking driver, Oliver Webb.

Oliver Webb piloted the Tuatara during the record breaking run.

“There was definitely more in there. And with better conditions, I know we could have gone faster,” said Webb.

“As I approached 331mph (532km/h), the Tuatara climbed almost 20mph (32km/h) within the last five seconds. It was still pulling well. As I told Jerod, the car wasn’t running out of steam yet. The crosswinds are all that prevented us from realising the car’s limit.”

The Tuatara insane speed is thanks to a mighty 5.9-litre twin-turbo V8 engine making roughly 1300kW, which is more than 10 Toyota Corollas combined.

A huge twin-turbo V8 engine gives provides extreme grunt.

Extensive aerodynamics help keep drag to a minimum, making the top speed possible.

But there is bad news if you want to put that speed to the test yourself – the first batch of 12 vehicles sold out. The company will build a total of 100. Prices start $US1.6m ($2.26m) for the base version and rise to $US1.9m ($2.7m) if you want the full aerodynamic pack.

Originally published as SSC Tuatara is the world’s fastest production car