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SSC Tuatara did not break 500km/h barrier in 2020, manufacturer finally concedes

The US hypercar maker claims an 'honest error' was responsible for its misleading claims, and says it will reattempt the record 'transparently, officially, and undoubtedly.'


US-based manufacturer SSC has finally acknowledged its Tuatara hypercar did not break the 500km/h barrier in 2020 – almost a year after it made the bold record-making claim.

Following a road-car speed record attempt in October 2020, SSC declared its low-slung V8-powered hypercar had averaged 508.73km/h over two runs on a closed-off Nevada highway.

However, inconsistencies in onboard footage subsequently pointed out on YouTube – including analysis from Shmee150 – led the company’s CEO Jerod Shelby to concede there were “some doubts” about the veracity of the run.

Mr Shelby vowed to reattempt the feat with better testing equipment, and a follow-up in January 2021 saw the vehicle reach 455.3km/h.

While this was enough to unseat the Koenigsegg Agera RS as the world’s fastest road car, it again fell short of the 482km/h (300mph) SSC claimed the Tuatara was capable of.

SSC has never formally conceded its original top speed claims were inaccurate – until now.

A statement on SSC’s social media channels overnight said: “We have seen your questions for months now and understand your frustrations.

“If it hasn’t been made clear up to this point, we would like to acknowledge officially that we did not reach the originally claimed speeds of 331mph (531km/h) or even 301mph (484km/h) in October of 2020.

“We were truly heartbroken as a company to learn that we did not reach this feat, and we are in an ongoing effort to break the 300mph (482km/h) barrier transparently, officially, and undoubtedly.”

Continuing attempts to reach the milestone were hampered in May 2021, when the car carrier transporting the test vehicle crashed, leaving the SSC Tuatara inside badly damaged (shown below, courtesy of The Drive).


William Davis

William Davis has written for Drive since July 2020, covering news and current affairs in the automotive industry. He has maintained a primary focus on industry trends, autonomous technology, electric vehicle regulations, and local environmental policy. As the newest addition to the Drive team, William was brought onboard for his attention to detail, writing skills, and strong work ethic. Despite writing for a diverse range of outlets – including the Australian Financial Review, Robb Report, and Property Observer – since completing his media degree at Macquarie University, William has always had a passion for cars.

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