SSC North America (formerly Shelby SuperCars Inc.) is an American automobile manufacturer founded in 1998 by owner Jerod Shelby (no relation to car designer Carroll Shelby).
The company is based in West Richland, near the Tri-Cities, Washington and specialized in the production of sports cars based on a Pontiac Fiero-derived space frame.
They built the SSC Aero, a kit car based on a Pontiac Fiero spaceframe chassis, equipped with a twin turbocharged pushrod engined V8s. Its turbocharged 6.35 litres (388 cu in) V8 produces 1,287 bhp (960 kW; 1,305 PS), which made it the most powerful production car in the world, until the arrival of Koenigsegg One:1 (1,341 bhp (1,000 kW; 1,360 PS)) in 2014. On September 13, 2007, the "Ultimate Aero" took the title of fastest production car. The Ultimate Aero has a top speed of 412 km/h (256 mph).
On June 26, 2010 the title was again lost to the upgraded Bugatti Veyron Super Sport that now holds the world speed record for production cars - 267.856 miles per hour (431.072 km/h).
In late 2010, there was a design presented as the SSC Tuatara. It is to feature a custom-built V8 engine. The engine was installed in an Ultimate Aero for testing, and is reputed to have also been installed in a Pontiac G8.
|
Type |
Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 1999 |
| Founder | Jerod Shelby |
| Headquarters | West Richland, Washington, United States |
|
Area served |
Worldwide |
| Products | Sports cars |
| Owner | Jerod Shelby |
| Website | sscnorthamerica |
History
On July 10, 2008, SSC announced it would open its Dubai showroom in February 2009.
In 2008-7-12, SSC announced plans to unveil the Ultimate Aero EV (Electric Vehicle). SSC expects to roll out its first prototype in February 2009. 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.
On August 24 the "rivalry" between Shelby and Bugatti for the title "World's fastest" was featured in an article on usatoday.com providing information that Jerod Shelby the owner of Shelby SuperCars Inc. has made an official announcement of the next generation of the SSC Ultimate Aero to be unveiled in September 2010. The official Website of the company has since also been updated with a tease about an upcoming unveiling of the next generation SSC Ultimate Aero which SSC implied could break the new Bugatti record once again.
On July 17, 2011 SSC announced their next generation sports car has been named Tuatara (pronounced too-ah‐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 with the eco mode turned off.
In 2012, the company changed the name to SSC North America, as a result of a settlement with Carroll Shelby Licensing and Carroll Shelby International.
In August 2012, SSC announced 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.
The main sales outlet and factory is under construction in West Richland, Washington.
