SSC North America

SSC North America (formerly Shelby SuperCars Inc.) is an American automobile manufacturer founded in 1998[1] by owner Jerod Shelby (no relation to car designer Carroll Shelby). The company is based in Richland, in the Tri-Cities, Washington and specializes in the production of sports cars.

"Shelby Super Cars" redirects here. For the company formed by Carroll Shelby, see Carroll Shelby International.
SSC North America
FormerlyShelby Supercars
TypePrivately held company
IndustryAutomotive
Founded1998 (1998)
FounderJerod Shelby
Headquarters
Richland, Washington
,
United States
Area served
US and Canada
ProductsSports cars
OwnerJerod Shelby
Websitewww.sscnorthamerica.com

Company

In 2004, SSC released their first model the SSC Ultimate Aero, a mid-engined sports car equipped with a 6.35 litres (388 cu in) twin turbocharged pushrod engined V8 which produces 1,287 bhp (960 kW; 1,305 PS).

On September 13, 2007, the "Ultimate Aero" gained the official Guinness World Record for fastest production car. The Ultimate Aero has a top speed of 412 km/h (256 mph).[2] On June 26, 2010 the title was again lost to the upgraded Bugatti Veyron Super Sport that held the official Guinness Certified World speed record for production cars with a top speed of 267.856 miles per hour (431.072 km/h)

In 2015, SSC ended production of the SSC Aero. On 10 October 2020, their newest production car, the SSC Tuatara, allegedly broke the world speed record at an average of 316.11mph on a closed public road in Nevada (yet to be verified independently), outside of Las Vegas. The Tuatara achieved a one-way speed of 331mph, on the same closed road. The SSC Tuatara is powered by a custom, twin-turbo V-8 engine manufactured by Nelson Racing Engines mated to a robotized 7-speed transmission. The SSC Tuatara starts at $1,625,000 and is capable of producing 1,750 horsepower on E-85.

History

1998 - Company founded by current CEO Jerod Shelby

2004 - First Ultimate Aero prototype completed in at company headquarters in West Richland, WA

2006 - Ultimate Aero sets record on Road & Track magazine's slalom course, breaking previous record held by the Ferrari Enzo

September 13, 2007 - SSC Ultimate Aero sets record for fastest production vehicle as verified by Guinness World Records, reaching a top speed 256.18 MPH averaged over two runs in opposite directions.

July 10, 2008 - SSC announced it would open its Dubai showroom in February 2009.[3]

2008 - SSC announced plans to unveil the Ultimate Aero EV (Electric Vehicle). SSC expects to roll out its first prototype in February 2009.[4] The car was advertised in the original press release as rechargeable in 10 minutes from a 240 V outlet, which has been criticized as impossible in some articles. The press release has since changed.[5]

August 23, 2010 - A USA Today article details the rivalry between Shelby and Bugatti for the title of World's fastest Car and CEO Jerod Shelby announces a next generation version of the SSC Ultimate Aero is in the works.[6]

July 17, 2011 - SSC announces their next generation sports car has been named Tuatara (pronounced twa-tar‐ah). It uses a proprietary 6.9 liter V8 engine and is said to produce a rated output of 1350 hp and a maximum output of 1700 hp.[7][8]

2012 - Shelby SuperCars changes their name to SSC North America as a result of a settlement with Carroll Shelby Licensing and Carroll Shelby International.[9]

August 2012 - SSC announces a special edition of the SSC Ultimate Aero called XT. With the new SSC Tuatara on its way, SSC is retiring the SSC Ultimate Aero ending its production with a limited special edition. To celebrate its run SSC is launching the final special edition named SSC Ultimate Aero XT. The car will be built in a limited run of just five examples and will utilize some key assemblies that will feature in the SSC Tuatara, for instance, SSC's proprietary developed 6.9 liter all-aluminum twin-turbo V8 engine unit and several other features to go along with the new engine unit such as enhanced cooling, transmission upgrades as well as a seven-speed paddle-shifted gearbox. The engine is officially rated at 1,300 horsepower and 1,004 pound-feet of torque.[10][11]

2013 - A Prototype SSC Tuatara is unveiled at the Dubai International Motor Show and titled the "Crown Jewel" of the event

2015 - Last Ultimate Aero XT is delivered and production of the model is complete

2018 - SSC North America announces release of 2019 SSC Tuatara at Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance.

2019 - Tuatara production underway with first deliveries anticipated for Q3 2019.[12]

2020 - Tuatara allegedly earns the world's fastest production car record with 316.11 MPH with 2 runs averaged out (331 and 301) on a (closed) public roadway with street tires and non-race fuel. Some sources, however, have claimed that SSC falsified the speed displayed during the world record video, claiming that the Tuatara was travelling about 25% slower than claimed.[13]

Models

SSC Ultimate Aero

The first prototype SSC Ultimate Aero was completed in 2004. The two original prototypes were equipped with a supercharged 377.6 cu in (6,188 cc) Chevrolet Corvette C5R V8 engine. The supercharged engines originally produced 782 horsepower but were eventually modified to produce up to 908 horsepower with theoretical top speeds of up to 242 mph (390 km/h).

Following the original two prototypes, SSC replaced the supercharged engine with a new twin-turbo V8 that eventually produced 1,287 horsepower. The twin-turbo setup can be found in the majority of the SSC Ultimate Aeros produced. On September 13, 2007 the Ultimate Aero became the world's fastest production car as certified by Guinness World Records with a top speed of 256.18 mph averaged over two runs in opposite directions.

SSC Ultimate Aero XT

In 2013, SSC North America announced they were going to produce a limited number of SSC Ultimate Aero XTs. This vehicle was an upgraded Ultimate Aero and included many features from the Tuatara. These features include a 1,300 horsepower version of the Tuatara twin-turbocharged V8, a 7-speed Tuatara paddle shifter transmission, and upgraded cooling, fuel, and braking systems.

SSC Tuatara

The SSC Tuatara is currently in production at the SSC North America assembly facility in Richland, Washington.[14] The vehicle is the result of a design collaboration between Jason Castriota and SSC North America and was titled the "Crown Jewel" of the 2011 Dubai International Motor Show. The car made its debut at the 2020 Philadelphia Auto Show. The vehicle is limited to 100 examples.[15] On October 10, 2020, driver Oliver Webb allegedly broke the production car speed record in the SSC Tuatara with a top speed of 331.15 miles per hour and a 2-way average of 316.11 mph on a closed public roadway with street tires and non-race fuel.[16] The claim, however, has since been disputed by several sources who analyzed the video and information given from SSC North America and have since made claims that the top speed run was illegitimate.[17][18] SSC had claimed the run had been verified by GPS data analysis company Dewetron, the same company who validated the top speed run for the SSC Ultimate Aero in 2007, however, Dewetron issued a statement to follow up saying that they did not verify the run and that none of their employees were on site, but that the company did provide basic training to SSC on usage of their measurement systems.[19][20] SSC’s founder, Jerod Shelby, issued an official press statement reading:[21]

“Somehow, there was a mixup on the editing side, and I regret to admit that the SSC team hadn’t double checked the accuracy of the video before it was released. We also hadn’t realized that not one, but two different cockpit videos existed, and were shared with the world.

Hypercar fans have quickly cried foul, and we hadn’t immediately responded, because we had not realized the inconsistencies — that there were two videos, each with inaccurate information — that had been shared. This was not our intention. Like me, the head of the production team had not initially realized these issues, and has brought on technical partners to identify the cause of the inconsistency.

At first glance, it appears that the videos released have differences in where the editors had overlaid the data logger (which displays speed), in relation to the car’s location on the run. That variance in ‘sync points’ accounts for differing records of the run.”

Facilities

SSC North America is based in Richland, Washington, where its assembly facility and corporate offices are located.[22]

References
  1. "About SSC". Archived from the original on 2011-11-25.
  2. "Shelby Supercars' press release". Archived from the original on 2010-01-03.
  3. "SSC Middle East Exclusive Showroom to Open In February 27th 2009". SSC North America. July 10, 2008. Archived from the original on December 28, 2015.
  4. "SSC 'Going Green' In New SuperCar Development". SSC North America. July 12, 2008. Archived from the original on October 13, 2008.
  5. Yoney, Domenick (February 1, 2009). "Shelby Super Cars revises incredible claims (again!), now almost credible". Autobloggreen.com. Retrieved 2009-05-12.
  6. "Bugatti, Shelby compete to be speed kings of the road - USATODAY.com". usatoday30.usatoday.com. Retrieved 2016-11-02.
  7. "SSC Tuatara". SSC North America. Archived from the original on September 21, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  8. Weiss, C.C. (April 29, 2013). "SSC completes engine testing on Tuatara supercar, teases 1,700 hp". Gizmag. Retrieved June 2, 2016.
  9. Neff, John (June 29, 2012). "Shelby SuperCars gets a new name". autoblog.com. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  10. Vijayenthiran, Viknesh (August 3, 2012). "SSC Sending Out Ultimate Aero With Tuatara-Powered XT". motorauthority.com. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  11. "SSC Announces Limited Production of Five Ultimate Aero XT's". SSC North America. August 2, 2012. Archived from the original on August 6, 2012. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  12. Padeanu, Adrian. "SSC Tuatara Enters Production; First Car To Be Delivered In Q3". Motor1.com. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  13. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSNRKBj_hUE
  14. "Tuatara Production Underway | SSC Press Release". www.sscnorthamerica.com. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
  15. Alaniz, Anthony. "2020 SSC Tuatara Debuts With 1,750 HP, Wild Looks". Motor1.com. Retrieved 2020-02-08.
  16. "SSC's Tuatara is the fastest car in the world with 331mph top speed". Top Gear. 2020-10-19. Retrieved 2020-10-29.
  17. "Did the SSC Tuatara REALLY Set a 331mph World Record? - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  18. "What Controversy? SSC Tuatara World's Fastest Car Speed Record Validated by GPS Analysis". MotorTrend. 2020-10-27. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  19. "SSC Tuatara World Record Analysis: FACTS - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  20. "SSC North America on Instagram: ""We validate our engineering by building a car capable of going 330 mph. We validate our passion by accomplishing this, despite years of…"". Instagram. Retrieved 2020-10-27.
  21. "Dewetron Says It 'Neither Approved Nor Validated' The SSC Tuatara's Run (UPDATE: SSC Confirms Editing 'Mix-Up')". Car Throttle. Retrieved 2020-10-28.
  22. "Contact | SSC North America". www.sscnorthamerica.com. Retrieved 2019-07-11.
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