SSC North America: The American Kings of Speed
In the rarefied air of the hypercar world, dominated by century-old European legacies and multi-billion-dollar corporations, there is a small, fiercely independent company from Richland, Washington, USA, with a singular, audacious mission: to build the fastest production car on Earth. This is SSC North America. Founded by Jerod Shelby (no relation to Carroll Shelby) in 1998, the company formerly known as Shelby SuperCars is a David in a field of Goliaths. It is a story of relentless American perseverance, brilliant engineering, and an unwavering focus on achieving the absolute pinnacle of automotive velocity.
The Genesis: A Dream of Speed
Jerod Shelby was an entrepreneur and amateur racer who dreamed of creating a homegrown American hypercar that could compete with and beat the European elite. He was not a billionaire or the heir to a corporate dynasty; he was an engineer with a passion. He assembled a small, dedicated team and began the painstaking, decade-long process of designing and building a car from a clean sheet of paper. The goal was not just to build a fast car, but to build the *fastest* car. This singular, obsessive focus would become the defining characteristic of the brand.
Core Philosophy: Pure, Unadulterated Velocity
The core philosophy of SSC North America is the pure, uncompromising pursuit of top speed. This is not a brand focused on hybrid technologies or creature comforts. It is a brand focused on two things: immense power and cheating the wind. SSC's approach is a testament to raw, American horsepower, utilizing massive, custom-built, twin-turbocharged V8 engines that produce otherworldly power figures. This brutal power is then wrapped in a meticulously designed, low-drag carbon fiber body. The result is a machine built for a single, glorious purpose: to slice through the air faster than anything else on four wheels.
The Cars That Captured the Crown
SSC's history is defined by its two groundbreaking hypercars, each a record-setting testament to the company's vision.
The Ultimate Aero: The Car That Shocked the World
In 2007, the automotive world was dominated by one name: the Bugatti Veyron. It was considered an untouchable engineering marvel. Then, from the quiet town of Richland, Washington, came the SSC Ultimate Aero. It was a raw, visceral, and unapologetically American beast with a twin-turbo V8 producing nearly 1,200 horsepower. In September 2007, on a closed public road in its home state, the Ultimate Aero officially clocked an average top speed of 256.18 mph, shattering the Veyron's record and earning it the Guinness World Record for the fastest production car. The small American upstart had defeated the might of the Volkswagen Group. It was a monumental achievement that put SSC on the global map.
The Tuatara: The 300-mph Masterpiece
After a decade of development, SSC unleashed its masterpiece. Named after a New Zealand reptile with the fastest-evolving DNA on the planet, the SSC Tuatara (2020-Present) is a stunning work of automotive art and engineering. Designed by the legendary Jason Castriota, its carbon fiber body has an incredibly low drag coefficient of just 0.279. At its heart is a bespoke, 5.9-liter twin-turbo flat-plane crank V8 that produces a staggering 1,750 horsepower on E85 fuel. In January 2021, at the Johnny Bohmer Proving Grounds in Florida, the Tuatara officially averaged 282.9 mph over two runs, reclaiming the title of the world's fastest production car. During its runs, it even achieved a one-way speed of over 295 mph, proving its capability and cementing its place in the record books.
The Striker and Aggressor: A Focus on the Track
Building on the Tuatara's success, SSC has introduced two new variants. The Tuatara Striker is a high-downforce version, featuring a massive rear wing and aerodynamic enhancements that triple the downforce at 160 mph, designed for ultimate track performance. The Tuatara Aggressor is a track-only, no-rules version, allowing owners to customize their car with options for an even more powerful 2,200-horsepower engine and a brutal, competition-spec exhaust system. It is the ultimate, untamed expression of SSC's power.
SSC's Market Position: The American Dream of Speed
SSC North America operates at the absolute pinnacle of the automotive market, building a handful of bespoke cars each year for a very select clientele. It is a true American success story, a testament to the idea that a small, passionate team with a clear vision can take on the biggest names in the industry and win. The brand stands as a proud symbol of homegrown engineering, a defiant and record-shattering force in the world of hypercars.