Veyron Super Sport

Make
Bugatti
Segment
Coupe

Shelby SuperCars' Ultimate Aero held the title of world's fastest car for three years. That passed to the Bugatti Veyron Super Sport in 2010, which it has held ever since – bar a recent episode that saw Guinness strip the supercar of its title for a couple of weeks before regaining its senses. But it appears the American supercar-maker is on track to regain the title with its second model, the Tuatara. According to SSC founder Jerod Shelby, major assembly development is entering its final phases.

More importantly, the newly developed 6.9-liter twin-turbo V8 has passed rigorous tests, and will come as standard in the hypercar with 1,350 horsepower and 1,280 pound-feet of torque on tap running on standard 91-octane gasoline. With an all-carbon-fiber body and one-piece carbon-fiber wheels attached to a billet-aluminum/carbon-fiber chassis, the Tuatara weighs in at just 1,250 kg, meaning it has more than one hp for every kilo of weight. SSC claims the Tuatara can easily be tweaked to churn out over 1,700 hp, which would give it a monstrous power-to-weight ratio. And projected performance figures are equally impressive.

0-60 mph should be reached in 2.5 seconds, the quarter-mile in 9.75 seconds, and 0-100-0 in 11.25 seconds. The carmaker also states the Tuatara will comfortably run at its proposed top speed of 275 mph, having tested the new powerplant at loads that far exceed anything the Tuatara will ever experience. Shelby describes his new car as "versatile, efficient, docile, savage" and one that can act as a daily drive while having the capability to break the Nurburgring lap record. Orders have already been placed for the Tuatara, which we expect to break cover later this year.