The latest trend in naming supercars these days is using weird names from ancient languages. Pagani has done it with their latest Huayra which means wind in the South American language of Quechua, and now Shelby Supercars is doing the same thing with their new SSC Tuatara.
As the company explains, the Tuatara name comes from the Maori language and it means ‘peaks on the back’ as a direct reference to the shape of the winglets on the back of the new SSC. Also the Tuatara is a lizard that has the fastest evolving molecular structure of any animal and the fastest evolving DNA on the planet.
So what does that mean when we talk about supercars? well the SSC Tuatara represents an evolution of the Ultimate Aero, a car that achieved the fastest production car title back in 2007 before loosing its crown to the new Bugatti Veyron Super Sport.
With the new SSC Tuatara the American automaker wants to reclaim that title, which means they want to go beyond 443 Km/h (275 mph). In order to make that happen the car is fitted with a 7.0-litre twin turbo engine producing 1350 HP via a seven-speed transmission, and its structure uses lightweight materials like carbon fiber and aluminum.
Final figures are not out yet, so stay tuned to find out what the Tuatara is capable of.
Video: SSC Tuatara
18 Jul 2011
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